August 2013

August 2013

As the sunsets on another August , lets pause for a moment, and take it  in – another winter gone –  heralding the start of new life in the wild from here on the rains will fall soon , nature will again regenerate !.

August is my favorite part of the year, as an artist, the light at this time of the year  is indescribably beautiful – If we look through our eyes and not just “with“  them – you will find  magnificent colors in what appears to be a grey and dry appearance.  Nature  comes alive for me now –there is a haunting beauty to it all and an ambiance that is so typically Africa ! .

There is a special feeling to it  - a powerful energy to this seemingly harsh environment, that has enticed us and those like us for centuries -we have  chosen to be here. In The Zambezi Valley now the Mopane has changed to that rusty brown color, and there is an aroma, a distinctive blend that swirls around and  through us like an invisible energy  – making us feel we are truly home!

As I sit here in my studio – I am fascinated at how similar life is to a painting

In a painting, we form an end result in our mind, we may even sketch it – but how we get there with the brushstrokes, the blends of colour, the textures – the directions of the strokes are what forms our ultimate painting!  In fact just a bunch of black lines on paper aligned in various ways, actually ultimately can turn out to be a beautiful image.

So to – does everything we do in life, the way behave, what we say, the way we make people feel  - like the blends of colour, and strokes of different sizes of brush –  we become what we are! We are perhaps the artist of our own lives!

August is a time of many momentous occasions in my life and the lives of some of those who surround me. Aside from the fact that my daughter’s birth is in this month, and mine for that matter, as well as my wedding anniversary - it is also the part of the season that reminds me of a very special person in my life.

Eight years ago this time,  my brother left us on the next journey that we all take – in the greater order of things it was the way it was meant to be – although perhaps at the time we didn’t understand that –

Sim played such an incredible role in so many peoples lives and he shines through us all still today, but especially through his children.  A man of the moment, a man deeply connected to nature –  his time that he shared with us was adventurous and wild. As most of the actual memories will fade for some of us, the love for one another that we shared strengthens – the effect he had on mine and many other lives, makes us glow inside and smile knowingly, and whilst we may have forgotten some of the things he said, we will never forget the way he made us feel!

“Sim - your painting is a work of art  –  and we will cherish it forever!”

For so much of this gift we have called life, we live in the future, on an eternal search for something that is not here – lets remind ourselves that life is here, it is now – and how we conduct ourselves right now is what counts

“All my life I have been knocking on the door, only to find that when it opened – I was on the inside!”-Rumi

Perhaps if we can learn from all of this we should learn - Money cannot buy you what’s important in life - that we are here right now, be in this moment, love with passion, and most of all remember, that we are constantly painting our picture, so do it with love as love is our wealth – and above all do it with joy!

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Love is a promise that is always kept, a fortune that can never be spent, a seed that can flourish in even the most unlikely of places.  It is this radiance that never fades a mysterious and magical joy. It is the greatest treasure of all – one known only by those who love.

Will Maberly  August 2013