Blog Archives

The 4 am Blues

6/25/2018

How can I paint Joy when people are crying? I woke in the dark time of morning thinking about the paintings I had been working on the day before and suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the sorrows of the world. By 4 am I gave up on sleeping and came downstairs to write and pray.

   My image of the little white girl playing with one of my silks
              jars my sense of justice
             when I think of the little brown children
                        in jail
                        separated from their parents
                        crying with no one to comfort them.

I pray for--no, I demand--a humane way to deal with people who come to us asking for help, for safety.
I demand a government that upholds the promise in our Pledge of Alliegence: Liberty and Justice for ALL--all the people, not just white folks like me who happened to be born into citizenship.

And always there is the painful question: what can I do?

0 Comments

necessary mistakes

6/6/2018

0 Comments

It happens every time! When I haven't drawn or painted in awhile, my first attempts suck. They are awful when I'm aiming for awe-filled. Bad. Really bad.

But then the next one isn't quite so bad

And eventually I do get better. What would happen if--like a professional dancer or musician--I did not skip a day of practice?

So I've been doing Cat Scratches (Jackson makes a good model)

and Flower Failures (flowers don't get up and walk away)

Until I finally feel confident enough to add some color.

But I'm still making mistakes!

0 Comments

The 4 am Blues

How can I paint Joy when people are crying? I woke in the dark time of morning thinking about the paintings I had been working on the day before and suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the sorrows of the world. By 4 am I gave up on sleeping and came downstairs to write and pray.

necessary mistakes

contact Suzanna Leigh

Archives