Letting My Paintbrush Do The Talking

Between the blog and the book, catching up on email and chit chatting with friends, I spend a lot of my time talking -- either with my inner writer voice (like now) or with my actual voice. Today, I made some quiet time for myself and spent the better part of the day painting.

Painting is such a great escape for me because it's creative and cerebral but not taxing or stressful at all. It's just me, my brushes, my paints and the canvas...and I can go wherever I want with them. When I paint, I feel peaceful and focused at the same time. It's like I'm having a quiet conversation with the colors and textures, leading the charge in creating the thing I've envisioned but also improvising and letting my ideas flow freely.

Yup, the same person who spends time lifting weights, boxing, and shooting hoops also dabbles in oil paints. WunderGlo is not just a jock, ladies and gents.

Once I came up with the "Love Life" concept for my paintings, all the hard work was done, really. Each painting is a variation on that idea. I create different background designs, use different blending techniques, employ different color schemes, but I've always got the same overarching theme: a bold, bright declaration of joy. Given the fact that I've just finished my seventh round of chemo without skipping a beat, I can't think of a better way to express myself these days.