I plunge upon the hues of life, I rejoice!

        

           

http://linesandcolors.com/2013/03/08/vasari-classic-artists-oil-colors/

Auguste Roding, the French sculptor, best known for "The Thinker" has said so succinctly , "I invent nothing, I discover ". Discovering the essentials of our being can be a fortunate stroke of serendipity. That's what I've discovered  last week. I met a person of extraordinary energy, I mean creative energy. A person who has helped me discover certain aptitudes within me , some basic loves I had buried for years. I always had a yearning to learn the art of painting. It's not that I am that good at art. But this longing was there, somewhere at the back of my mind or brain or whatever! And lo, I meet this lady , a born artist with umpteen skills under her thumb.
So here I am , slowly climbing the beautiful , serene hill of art. The woods are really lovely here. And I don't have any promises to keep. So I have decided to climb. Thomas Merton, the trappist monk has once said , " Yet it is in this loneliness that the deepest activities begin. It is here that you discover act without motion, labour that is profound repose, vision in obscurity, and beyond all desire, a fulfilment whose limits extend to infinity."
And to be a student at 60, and that too to a much younger and vibrant teacher is absolutely delightful. My second innings has begun, I think. Now I can live deliberately like Thoreau who went to the woods because he "wished to live deliberatley, to front only the essential facts of life", and see if he "could not learn what it had to teach".
 The colours... , its blending on the canvas sheet, and the shapes and patterns that come into being..., oh what a feast for the eye and the heart! I plunge into those varied hues and feel sheer joy! Shelley, why did you have to fall upon the thorns of life to bleed?That's because you looked before and after and pined for what is not!!!  Couldn't you see the deepest joy that God has showered upon us? Didn't you know the Man who wore the Crown of "thorns" , and still could see the beauty beyond? That Man of Galilee, who could look at the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and could make a profound discourse on Divine Providence:"Then have no care for tomorrow,: tomorrow will take care of itself.........." !

http://www.biblelandhistory.com/israel/lilies-of-field.html

Caravaggio aka Michael Angelo knew  that! He "laboured in that art God had given [him]  because [he] wanted to extend [his] life as long as possible"!   
                                     
 For me, there are more skills to be learned. But first, the art of painting. 

Blending and shading is the first lesson I am learning. There are 

more in store. .....
     
                         Life is beautiful!