Huzzah for my first real journal entry.

This particular entry is kinda pointless considering my measly 4-5 followers at the moment but I'm gonna write it for posterity anyway, haha.

I'm also writing it so I can remember what day I started doing my latest painting.

This one is big. The canvas is probably (can't think of exact measurements) 4' tall and 3 1/2' wide so I've got a lot of space to fill. I decided to start painting when I remembered a poem that my great grandmother used to love that was read at her funeral.

The Camellia

There were camellias growing along our street.
summer and fall I see their dark green leaves,
And in late winter, I watch them blossom.
Pink and rose and deep, deep red,
Or sometimes variegated with golden centers.
For days or weeks they wear their aura of beauty
And then, why then the blossoms fall.
They do not cling to the bush,
They do no turn brown or ugly.
They just fall.
So lovely are they in their death that
Sometimes I float them for a day or two
In a glass bowl.
Gift of beloved friends of the past.
Dear God, let me live like the camellia,
Green leaves speaking of life eternal
Blossoms resplendent in beauty.
And, dear God, please let me die
Like the camellia, not cling,
Not grow sour with age,
Or leave this beautiful world
Tortured by guilt or pain.
Let me drop silently like the camellia,
Knowing that I will bloom again
In the garden of eternity.



It's been one of my favorite poems ever since. And an anthem to live by.

So I hope I can do the poem and the woman I remember when I read it at least a little bit of justice with the painting. Considering it's like my 3rd oil painting and only my first of this size (or anything other than abstract) that will be a feat... haha.