30 days hath September

I got a nice, heavy box full of painting junk from Dick Blick yesterday.  LOADS of new colors, and only two of them mildly exploded in transit.  My problem now is that I want to use ALL the new colors AT ONCE.  Actually, that is my second problem.  The first problem is that I can't seem to paint anything I like.  I think this is post-Irene nonsense.  Hurricane Irene devastated Vermont.  My home state.  The state to which I hope to return.  The photos and videos I have seen are absolutely heartbreaking.  Here is a picture of my mom inspecting some minor road damage:

Yeah, I said minor.  And here are two pictures my dad took of Route 4 in Killington:

Unbelievable.  I feel so helpless, being so far away.  Last night I thought I would be able to paint my way to a happier place, so to speak, but I ended up painting over the same panel twice because I didn't like how it turned out.  And today I am going to paint over it again.  My head and my heart are too stunned by all of the devastation.  I have been knocked off kilter, and I can't paint.  Bleh.

But today at work I was typing the bio of one of our artists, Tabby Ivy, and her artist's statement totally resonated with me.  If she weren't a friend I would steal it for my own.  This is what she said:

"I have come to welcome the calm that comes to my life when in the midst of creative expression.  Oil painting has become my vehicle to convey on canvas a mood, scene or thought that broke through the everyday to touch my soul.  The end result is often a surprise, but if successful depicts a truth from within."

Yes.  Exactly.