|
h e a t h e r b r e w s t e r |
||||
|
|
commissions
the doorway
I met S.W. a few years ago. She was a visitor to the Night of Artists and ended up being a customer of mine, buying several small paintings. I remembered her because she used my table to thoughtfully place the little paintings in different configurations as she considered which ones she would purchase. Since then we have become friends and share great stories.
She called me at home one day this past summer and mentioned that her husband had recently suffered the loss of his brother. That day, she was sitting on her couch with one of her dogs and had a vision of a photograph of them as children…and she thought it would make an interesting “scratch board” painting. She wondered if I would consider anything like that. I said that I probably would…but to send me a copy of the photo and I would let her know.
She sent several photos and indicated that the one she was drawn to, was the one of the boys sitting on a front porch….but would leave the final composition and size up to my discretion.
The idea sat with me for quite awhile and the copied picture lay buried in a heap of stuff on the dining room table.
One Saturday in December, the artwork seemed pressing and I was ready to work on it. Contemplating the composition took most of the morning. Should I just do the 2 boys or do I include the doorway? If I included the doorway, it would take up more space and make the boys less detailed? Perhaps the door was important. After much thought, I decided that the door was symbolic, especially with the recent passing of the brother and included it in the image.
It was around noon that I went downstairs into my studio. I put 5 CDs into the stereo and began to reproduce the sentimental image. I seemed to be in “the zone” as I worked on it, because I didn’t emerge from my studio until 9 hours later and it was totally complete. My husband wondered if I was OK and let me know that I had been down there all day without a break. I showed him the piece and told him that I felt like it was an “outpouring of love”. I went to the post office the next day to have it sent express to S.W.
A few days later I received a voice message from her. It was unrecognizable as she was in a fit of tears. Later I learned that the artwork arrived in time for her husband’s birthday (coincidence?). She said that she cried when she learned I finished it, she cried when it arrived, she cried when she saw it, she cried when she gave it to her husband and she cried when he opened it…and she cried all week long. She said that she never cries this much, but the piece was so touching to her and her husband. She also said that she could tell how much LOVE that I put into it.
I pondered that thought …and realized that perhaps the love that surrounded the artwork was coming from a higher place. Perhaps from the passed brother, through me, to his brother. How magical.
the doorway
|
|
||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
Heather Brewster Copyright 2009 All rights reserved |
|
|
