thank you, friday morning, for allowing me the best sleep in a long time, cool air to keep me snuggled under my comforter, and no plans so that i could rest up after a busy week and before a busy weekend.
last night (after securing my beautiful wedding venue, pictured above), i went to an artistic worship gathering at my friend’s art studio in downtown bryan.
i didn’t bring any paints or canvas with me, because i don’t feel like i am there yet. i wanted to start with my sketchbook. you always need to start somewhere.
sometimes i feel like i try to just fill up a canvas. and i let everything lose its meaning, its thought, its beauty.
in the same way, sometimes we just like to fill the silence with words. or music. or other activity.
i’d like to spend my day, weekend, month, year, whatever– not speaking or doing just to speak or do. but to speak and do when necessary or important.
i’ll just start with today. i’m not going to use words that are meaningless, like giving advice that i don’t really mean, or talking about the weather because i have nothing better to say.
also, i don’t want to paint if my object is going to be to fill up a canvas. i can’t handle it if it isn’t inspired. and i can’t do it if all i care about is the business aspect. i just want to learn how to integrate the two without making the money-side my chief end in life.
after all, the one who delights in the things of the Lord is the one who is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither. whatever he does prospers.
–from psalm 1
Tahnawannafilldasilence:
Brooke and I saw P.A. last night and she sends her love. We told her about your engagement and she was thrilled. Her husband Steve was with her last night and she was so cute in her adoration of and for him and they just celebrated 35 years of marriage. They are still very much in love and it should give you and Jman great hope.
Steve told us how it took P.A. 30 years to finally give into her constant urge to pursue art as a vocation. In the 30 years "life" drove the things she did including raising wonderful children and getting themselves to the point where their house is paid for and they are comfortable enough for her to pursue art without any pressures. They are now considering buying a building near us downtown that will be both an art studio and their home; how cool is that? Steve is very pragmatic and has said NO to P.A. 200 times and he is now starting to moderate. And much is because he loves her and her passion so much.
We asked her for some advice and wisdom that we could share with you, based upon her own art journey. She said that you should focus the next 6 months on the plans for the wedding and the anticipation of your future life with your "Steve". She added that though she believes you could make some money with your art now, you should look at other income opportunities as your passion for art will not leave you and you can do strategic events that keeps you both painting/shooting and slowly but surely giving you visibility in whatever community you choose. She said that you should consider the Houston area as it is affordable, has a pleasant year round climate and a very robust art community that includes real buyers. Lastly, she said, setting aside all of her other advice, you should do two back to back months with a booth at the First Saturday Art Market AFTER the wedding. She said even if you do not do it full time afterwords you will make some great connections while feeding your passion.
Great advice! We want you to know that Brooke and I will volunteer to work with you or completely for you if you want to consider doing a couple of Saturdays next spring. You should do both paintings and photography. We want to help enable your passion by taking off some of the pressure and allowing you to put a toe in the water in Houston's art scene. BTW, with us as your proxies, it will not matter if you and Jman are living elsewhere.
We love you very much and we believe in you. Let us know how we can help.
Love,
Dad