"Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." (The Princess Bride)
I went to a follow up critique for the pastel workshop I attended recently. I brought these two and I was asked if I was emotional when I drew them. The diagonals apparently indicate high emotions...very interesting. My response is "I am always emotional". Although people generally think I am calm and serene, I often feel things intensely inwardly.
Sometimes I wonder why we expect life to be full of roses and daisies. I think that there is a sense of entitlement that we Americans sometimes have, that life should be easy and fun. And no pain, struggle or suffering should ever be allowed. In my husband's library are a few books that deal with the age old question of why God allows suffering if he is a loving God and all that. The ironic thing is that it seems (and just google these ideas if you don't believe me) that the richer people are, the more depressed and dissatisfied they become. Children of extremely affluent parents, often turn to drugs and other modes of escape in an attempt to overcome their apathy.
Anyhow, even here, in American suburbia, where each of us live in a house that in any other country would be ample space for 50 people, there is so much pain and suffering. Cancer, death, heartache, loss of jobs and hopelessness.....
I am not sure if we can ever truly understand the answer to why these things happen, or if there is even a purpose. But I truly believe that there is a purpose and reason why things happen.
This cartoon came up on my facebook wall today. It is based on a Neil Gaiman speech, which is also linked on the cartoon.
Make Good Art
I love this. The most meaningful, beautiful, and truthful art has always been created out of distress and hardship. It seems that we humans thrive in stressful conditions, that we rise up to the occasion. War, disease, loss of loved ones, abandonment, rejection....
It doesn't make life easier for anyone. But it gives meaning to hardship.
Otherwise, the only art that might be made would be Thomas Kincaidish....
And as C.S. Lewis said:
I went to a follow up critique for the pastel workshop I attended recently. I brought these two and I was asked if I was emotional when I drew them. The diagonals apparently indicate high emotions...very interesting. My response is "I am always emotional". Although people generally think I am calm and serene, I often feel things intensely inwardly.
Sometimes I wonder why we expect life to be full of roses and daisies. I think that there is a sense of entitlement that we Americans sometimes have, that life should be easy and fun. And no pain, struggle or suffering should ever be allowed. In my husband's library are a few books that deal with the age old question of why God allows suffering if he is a loving God and all that. The ironic thing is that it seems (and just google these ideas if you don't believe me) that the richer people are, the more depressed and dissatisfied they become. Children of extremely affluent parents, often turn to drugs and other modes of escape in an attempt to overcome their apathy.
Anyhow, even here, in American suburbia, where each of us live in a house that in any other country would be ample space for 50 people, there is so much pain and suffering. Cancer, death, heartache, loss of jobs and hopelessness.....
I am not sure if we can ever truly understand the answer to why these things happen, or if there is even a purpose. But I truly believe that there is a purpose and reason why things happen.
This cartoon came up on my facebook wall today. It is based on a Neil Gaiman speech, which is also linked on the cartoon.
Make Good Art
I love this. The most meaningful, beautiful, and truthful art has always been created out of distress and hardship. It seems that we humans thrive in stressful conditions, that we rise up to the occasion. War, disease, loss of loved ones, abandonment, rejection....
It doesn't make life easier for anyone. But it gives meaning to hardship.
Otherwise, the only art that might be made would be Thomas Kincaidish....
And as C.S. Lewis said:
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