Three Life Lessons From a Poppy Painting

BLUE VASE POPPIES, MIXED MEDIA ACRYLIC, 16 x 20

Life Lesson 1:

If you do not like the direction life is going, try changing your environment.

Painting:

I was going to paint poppies in a field with acrylics.

Then I decided to pluck them and put them in a vase.

The vase was better, but I still did not like the direction is was heading. I decided that I couldn't stand the super-warm undertone of the background, so once the poppies were blocked out I cooled it wa-a-a-a-y down. Maybe too cool . . . At this point I REALLY did not like the way things were heading — I hated the poppy shapes and I almost painted over the whole thing.

Life Lesson:

I need to remember that I can choose my environment. If something is not working well for me I can shift my position, or change my attitude from hot to cool.

Life Lesson 2:

If you are in a good environment, but you find yourself in new or uncharted territory, focus on the Center and hang out with a few trusted friends.

Painting:

Even thought I thought it looked horrible, I decided to take one more step. I started with the centers of the poppies. Focusing on the centers helped to define them. It gave me hope.

Life Lesson:

In life, when I remember that Jesus is the center of everything and focus on Him, I start to realize that with Him all things are possible! He gives me hope.

Painting:

Adding the greens and filler helped. But it was still missing something. I decided to add some of my favorite daisies and a few berries. My "familiar friends" started to add some life to the party!

Life Lesson:

When things aren't going well, I want to remember that trusted friends listen well, encourage, and strengthen me. It's a joy to do life together. My spirits are lifted when I'm able to process and reframe my circumstances with people I trust.

Lesson 3:

When you are tempted to give up - don’t!

Put on some praise music and take one more step.

Painting:

I almost trashed this painting because I had never painted poppies in acrylics before, and the whole thing just looked like a big mess! But before scrapping the whole thing, I decided to put on the praise music and take another step. And then another. And another. Who knew? There was still a painting to be discovered! It just needed a bit more time, love, and attention.

Life Lesson:

With Jesus there is always hope. He asks me to trust Him and take one more step. With each next step I take I invest a bit more time, love, and attention to the masterpiece we call life.