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How will you paint your canvas?

Tales from the front pew

There’s something rather intimidating about a large, blank space, especially when it beckons to be filled with something.

I know this because the other day, strictly on a whim, I made an interesting purchase. Walking down the crafts aisle of a local department store, I noticed several art supplies — canvases, brushes, along with oil, watercolor and acrylic paints. This flooded me with feelings of nostalgia, as I come from a long line of artistically gifted people.

I grew up surrounded by my mother’s paintings of landscapes and still life scenes, some of which she sold and others that graced our walls. My brother was also an exceptional painter — his oil painting of a ram climbing on a rocky hill held a place of honor above our living room sofa. My oldest sister, Carolee, embraced art in her later years, and had exhibits and private shows in Las Vegas, where she lived.

Not to be left out of the fun, when I was a preteen, I dabbled a bit in art myself, mostly painting scenes from Christmas cards to give family members during the holidays. My personal favorite was one of Victorian-era skaters sailing across a frozen pond, flush-cheeked and smiling. I gave that one to my grandmother who kept it propped up on her piano.

All these thoughts and memories went through my mind as I stood in the store aisle. Should I give a nod to my heritage and start dabbling again? Why not? And so, I went home that day with two large art canvases, several paint brushes, and a set of 24 small tubes of acrylic paint in assorted colors. Next came the hard part — what should I paint?

I decided to open this up for discussion with my husband, Bob, and daughter, Val. The way I saw it, that was only fair because if I decided to hang any masterpieces on the walls, they’d both have to look at them, too. Bob thought a few minutes.

“Why don’t you paint the cats?” he asked.

“Well, for one thing, we’d never be able to get that acrylic out of their fur,” I said.

“Ha Ha, I was referring to a portrait,” he replied. “Or do you only call it a ‘portrait’ if you’re painting a person?”

“I don’t know. If it’s a cat painting, maybe it should be called a ‘fur-trait,'” I smiled.

Apparently seeing that her father and I were getting nowhere, Val decided to help.

“Why don’t you paint some flowers?” she asked. “You could do wildflowers in a field or a vase of roses on a stand or even one of those impressionist paintings that kind of looks like a blur of all different colors in sort of petal shapes. The good thing about the last one is even if you mess up, nobody’ll be able to tell.” (She had a point.)

Yep, a blank canvas can be a scary thing, but it’s also rife with potential.

When we give our hearts to the Lord, we become new creatures in Christ with a fresh start in life.

How will you paint your canvas?

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