Week One

Gilded Summer, Week One
4” x 5”
Oil Paint, Layered Glass and Mirror, Gilded Frame

This painting captures the quiet beginning of summer. Freshly cut locks of my hair rest gently on a plantain leaf, atop my beloved quilt, as we sit beside the river. The composition holds a sense of release, yet also of a deep comfort. Bright, sunlit colors mirror the shimmering brilliance of loving nature, and of learning how to let it hold you. It is a lesson my father taught me long ago, and one I will continue to carry. Just like how I will always let this painting carry this moment of time for me, forever.

This is the first week of summer.
I choose my frame, and a bright sky blue as my base.
A color that felt honest, open, and full of hope.

It’s hot outside, but I found a quiet spot by the river.
Beneath the shade of a beautiful tree.
And, before the day moved forward.
I took a deep breath, and cut my hair.

I laid the locks on a plantain leaf.
Let them rest beside me on my quilt for a moment.
As I began to preserve them the best way I know how,
In paint.

I felt the river watching.
The admiration it had for my release.
I wanted to give this place a part of me, but keep something to carry forward too.
A reminder of this exact moment.

The leaves danced above me.
Casting flickering shadows that moved like memory.
Shifting the sun brightly onto me, warming me.
Until I stepped slowly,
Into the river

I dipped my bandana in too, and brought it to my skin.
Just like I saw my father do when I was a child.

He taught me to love this.
Not just nature, but the way it holds you.

My love for the trees, and for the rivers, the animals.
And the golden light.
It all comes from him.

Here, along the riverbed, I feel most like myself

So I paint.
I paint to preserve this day.
These colors.
The shift.

And as the details form, my mementoes feel alive.
Vibrant.
Hopeful.
Like the cool sparkling water on a hot summer day.

This painting will hold it all.
The water.
The warmth.
The memory.

And the choice.
The choice to begin again.