Weight of the world

 

While I have been losing physical weight throughout February, the weight of the world seemed to get heavier. A long and cold winter was made colder by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the increased use of terms like "World War Three" and "Nuclear War". We watch from a distance as our Ukrainian friends face incredibly uncertain times.

February felt like a slog in many ways. Despite the feeling of rolling a boulder up the hill, I was still incredibly productive. I completed 28 paintings in 28 days, including a new collection of black and white paintings now on display at 94 Take the Cake on historic Elma Street in Okotoks.

It is March 1st. The sun is shining and the energy in our immediate sphere seems to have shifted. Our oldest son, who had been creatively stuck for several months, got an audition offer out of the blue that turned into an incredible opportunity to perform in a show that will be mounted in Edmonton and then travel to Toronto. He's heading into a three month stretch of work that will be great for his acting career.

We have also been inundated with AirBnB bookings, which really helps on the revenue side. 

Heather's creative energy is also humming right now. She's booked a trip down to Mexico to do a line by line edit of her memoir with her editor. 

I continue to be in Phase One of the Ideal Protein program, slowly losing weight and lowering my body fat percentage. I'm the healthiest that I have been in about 7 years.  I'm also very positive about the months ahead with several significant live painting events and a three month exhibition opportunity in Edmonton. 

I feel incredibly blessed right now, juxtaposed against a feeling of dread and concern for what is happening in Europe. That emotionally turbulence helped inform a portrait of Volodymyr Zelenskyy that I completed this morning.  I've decided that a portion of the sale of this piece and any subsequent print sales will be donated to the Ukraine Humanitarian Relief Appeal with the Canadian Red Cross. It is something small that we can do to help provide support to a nation going through an incredibly dark period.