Tag Archives: painting of a sea turtle

Do you have the heart to Celebrate?

Watch me paint this sea turtle in less than 1 minute (time lapse)

The sea turtle in my oil painting is Matthew, a rescue animal at the marine center on Tybee Island. When I saw him he was fully recovered and swimming peacefully in his tank. Shortly after my visit he was released back to his ocean home.

Imagine if we could see Matthew now. What might he be doing, in the post-2020 dystopian world that mankind has created? Well, I imagine he’s still in a state of relaxation, swimming to his own rhythm regardless of worldly chaos, darkness, fear, malice, death, and oppression on the shore.

I saw a lot of debate about whether or not it’s OK to celebrate holidays such as Independence Day when we are hardly free at this point in time. But it is when we are enslaved the most when we must celebrate what it means to be free! When the chips are down, if we leave the table it means that we have accepted the loss. Accepting a loss of freedom is to submit to slavery.

Who desires us to stop celebrating? It’s sad that our own “side” (fellow humans who claim to wish to be free, sovereign over their bodies, choices, and homes) should align with the oppressive regimes and their mouthpieces! Shaming each other or being a voice of discouragement and despair is exactly the kind of drive toward hopelessness that abusing regimes desire. For when we are without hope, we will comply and submit. We will give up that which makes us independent and free. We will enslave ourselves.

I do not comply.

I do not submit.

I celebrate my God given rights,

and I hope that you do too.

If you missed my spectacular 4th of July variety show, in which I laid my heart on the table; and my family also committed their time and talents to the project… please watch. It may inspire you to celebrate, even when it seems as if there is nothing to rejoice over. In my show I also share my personal American story, a story that should be relatable in general, no matter which country you call home.

No ruler, king, or evil empire of technocracy can create laws or commit illegal actions over our spirit. If we are spiritually like Matthew the sea turtle, we can live by our own rhythm no matter how grim the state of the world is. There is no compliance officer who can force our hearts to be hopeless. Choosing peace, joy, and love is always our right. I celebrate this freedom.

Painting Relaxation

Matthew the sea turtle is an animal rescue who captured my heart. He’s since been returned to the wild, his ocean home in coastal Georgia on Tybee Island, but his delightful personality is unforgettable. Complementary hues such as earth tones and blues create a mellow balance that depict relaxation. Matthew’s natural coloring, gliding through peaceful waters, made this painting an easy fast project. Some subjects are so relaxed, they practically paint themselves!

Color and brush strokes also convey relaxation. Colors associated with food and nature work well. Brush strokes that dab and glide, lay smooth, and rounded- rather than short jagged rigid strokes- create a feeling of peaceful calm. Styles such as impressionism work well for this.

In “Trees and Stream“, a girl has lost track of time and is reading until the sun goes down, or is she enjoying the solitude of early morning at the break of dawn? Your interpretation probably depends on whether you feel most relaxed in the quiet morning hours or in the soft darkness of evening.

I hope that my video (above) helps you escape into a peaceful orchard for a few precious seconds, sound on for full relaxation effect.

In our first example for today’s “Compare 3”, the sea turtle was an obvious choice. The subject himself is a type of animal associated with a mellow peaceful vibe. He’s also in water; the natural properties and colors of this element make the job easy. Then, we stepped up to the orchard painting, which took a bit more thought, but we were still guided by clues (peaceful reading, resting in nature). In our last example, we won’t have animal or human personalities to show us- we must think and feel creatively.

The act of relaxation, refreshment of mind and body (a state of calm and peacefulness) can be depicted through “tranquility”. Tranquility is another way to define a state of peace and calm, of being untroubled. Many people draw upon their personal faith to meditate on thoughts and inspirations that are spiritually intimate and soothing; easing fear and anxiety, accepting a tranquil spirit. “Fruitful Vine” expresses tranquility, a deeper, more permanent state of relaxation.

Did my video (above, with sound on please) ease your spirit? We can glide into relaxation through activities we enjoy, such as being in and around water, and by maintaining a naturally mellow personality, like Matthew the sea turtle. We can also consciously seek relaxing and stress-reducing lifestyles that incorporate regular time for leisure, reading, solitude, and being in nature like the girl in the orchard. But, ultimately, the deepest and most profound state of relaxation is when we find spiritual calm, as depicted by the grapes on the vines.

When we are untroubled, we can just “be”.