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Sherry V. Chidwick's avatar

When I was in a college art class, I put special effort into one particular assignment. We were to create a large-scale three-part self-portrait series made with chalky pastels. The only catch was that it had to be completely abstract--no people, no nature scenes, nothing recognizable from reality. I pondered over the project for quite some time, then decided to create a past, present, and future representation of my life. The "past" image was a whole page of dark lines--some color, but primarily blacks and grays--swirling into the center like an overhead view of water swirling down a drain. It was chaotic and hopeless and busy. The second image, representing the present, was the same on the outside, but a six-inch circle at the center represented heaven. It was so challenging to recreate the colors of glory I had envisioned. Oranges and peaches and pinks and golds, with bits of aqua blue and a misty sea green. I blended the edges until it felt soft and impossibly bright and sunny. But even using words to describe it is not enough. It was the hope of glory in the midst of my current human grind. The third portrait, the "future", was that same color mix of glory, but it was the whole entire piece, edge-to-edge. It made my heart absolutely soar to look at it. My breathing grows deeper even now, just remembering it. Glory. Reading about your attempts at art made me remember. Thanks.

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Christine's avatar

Awesome story! 🙏

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