The role of trust

I find myself thinking about the notion of trust tonight.  I spent a portion of yesterday and much of today working on a painting of the late great Stompin’ Tom Connors.  My gut told me to go in the direction of collage for the background, though I wasn’t completely sold on the idea.  Regardless, I sketched out some lyrics to several of Tom’s hits on lined paper.  I wanted that handwritten look to be part of this piece, though I still wasn’t convinced that collage was the way to go.  

I went for a walk, had a nap, and trusted that the answer would reveal itself.  In the end, I went with my initial instinct and started collaging lyrics, posters and images to the canvas.  I’m really pleased with how it turned out and that it will be heading to Hope, BC to add to Jason’s growing collection of originals.

Trust also played a role in our walk today.  Heather had seen a post about an owl being spotted in the park by the Sheep River.  We have recently been talking about the fact that neither of us had seen an owl in the wild before.  We found ourselves heading to the river park, both half thinking about the possibility of seeing that owl.

“If we were to see one,” I began saying to Heather, “it would likely be in.....”

I was glancing up at a big spruce tree and there, halfway up the tree was the owl.  We were both elated, and somewhat stunned.  It is like he was waiting for us.

I’ve also been thinking about trust as it relates to our hundreds of clients from around the world.  Providing great customer service is super important to both Heather and I, not just with the creation of the art, but the packaging and delivery of it, too.  When someone buys something from us, they trust that it will arrive safely in a reasonable amount of time.  When that doesn’t happen, we go above and beyond to make things right.  Our customers, our fans and friends, are the most important element of our business.  Trust is fundamental to our success.