{Day 344}

“The final test of a painting, theirs, mine, any other, is: does the painter’s emotions come across?” ~Franz Kline

Yesterday I had the honor of Skyping into a modern art class that my dear friend teaches.  We learned about the American painter Franz Kline.  The pictures she held up reminded me of brushed Chinese calligraphy…gone awry.  Their graphic strokes spoke loudly from the page.  While these bold pieces of art look simple enough they often took Kline several months to paint.  It got me thinking.  Maybe it’s the things that others find “simple enough” that are the hardest for us to be faithful completing.  It’s the routines that are important but lack the glamor.  But simple things can make a bold statement.  A statement that could effect someone’s life in a powerful way.  They may not even recognize it at first but that doesn’t detract from the value of it.  From far away Kline’s art looks simple.  Your action may seem small.  Yet up close the brush strokes show the detail taken and your little actions show what you really care about.  Just as the negative space in any piece of art is as important to the piece as the highlighted part so too what we leave out of our lives is just as important as what we put in.  What are we putting in our lives?  What should we take out?  What would our lives look like if they were a painting…

My dear friend Christa helped me style this outfit and we thought it would be fun to show you how you can change things up by just adding different accessories like the hat or scarf. 🙂

(Photos by: Christa Taylor)