I had to get up early to shoot this photo of the sun rising over the Red River. I love this time of day, so a few moments of less sleep was no sacrifice. I’m primarily an oil painter, but recently the call of watercolor sent me into the stockpile of images I’ve collected for years—a watercolor in waiting?

I’ll post the painting if it happens. 🙂

But painting is not what’s on my mind. The other day I’d had a long, busy day, and around 4:30 my automatic cutoff, cut me off. I fell into my favorite chair, muttered, “Whew, this feels good.” That got me to thinking about how things contrast and complement. If I’d been sitting in my chair all day, I wouldn’t have experienced the joy of sitting awhile. When the weather keeps us inside for days, we enjoy a walk outside even more . . . the low notes and the high notes are what makes music more beautiful, all low or all high would be boring. A painting needs the muted grays to make true colors exciting and lifelike.

Contrasts are everywhere in nature. We take for granted the differences, the push and pull that make life interesting. The sun is brighter after the dark clouds, rain is sweeter after a long dry spell, and eating is more pleasurable after the fast . . . one might think there had been a master planner . . . oh, wait, there was.

Until next time, keep God in your thoughts and enjoy the world He created for us.

MaryJ 🙂 🙂 🙂