March 24, 2008
Trusting the Universe
I was painting a watercolor picture the other day. It wasn’t turning out how I had planned though. My picture seemed…too forced or something. Uncomfortable. Contrived. I did not like what I was doing at all.
I wasn’t happy with the color or the shape of what I was trying to paint.
I loaded up my brush with some fresh paint and tested a new color on a scrap piece of paper that was sitting alongside my painting.
I liked the rich burgundy color I had mixed on the scrap paper.
I smiled to myself. My test blob looked somewhat like a pear. I did another sample blob on the scrap paper alongside the first. It too looked strangely like a pear. Out of curiosity I did a third blob on the scrap paper.
There it was again! A third pear to add to the first pair.
I ignored my original painting (which I decided I was going to discard), dabbed my brush into some yellow paint and touched each wet pear gently. The paint bled down the side of each pear. Damn. I was liking my pears. I closed my eyes and cringed because bleeding is so hard to control when watercolor painting.
I opened my eyes expecting to see a muddy blob but was overjoyed to see what the paint had actually done during my absence. Lo and behold, while my eyes were closed, the bleeding yellow paint had turned into a warm orange glow on the side of each pear. It did it all by itself. Without my help!
The orange looked like the reflection of a warm fire in the hearth.
Finally I dragged a little white paint over the belly of each pear as a highlight.
The ‘Three Pear’ accident turned out way better than the original painting I had planned, sketched, labored-over and contemplated for weeks.
I really like my Three Pear painting.
It’s amazing how wonderfully things can turn out if you open yourself up, have a little faith, trust your instincts and let the universe do its work.
Posted by trevor at March 24, 2008 04:41 PM
Comments
Call it serendipity, karma or lucky accident, it is a joy each and every time. Of course it helps if we just have our hearts open to the universe and her grace. Love your yummy pears!
Posted by: pogonip at March 25, 2008 12:04 PM