Everyday Canvas

Books, Paintings, Invisible Treasures

Prompt: When you run out of book case space, where do you put your over flow of books?

---

I hate to say this but they are all over the place. We have several bookshelves in almost every room. The only rooms that don’t have free-standing bookshelves are the kitchen and the living room. Inside the kitchen, however, I have a drawer where I keep age-old cooking books. In the living room, too, we have side tables and a cocktail table with open bottoms that were meant for books, which are filled up with books and some DVDs.

Ever since the e-readers sprung up, my buying print books have diminished, though not stopped. I used to give away the books to the library, but now the library has stopped accepting them because they are inundated and perhaps the donated books make extra work for the staff. So, I am at a loss with what to do with all those books that take up space.

Prompt: "A good painting to me has always been like a friend. It keeps me company, comforts and inspires." Hedy Lamarr Do you feel this way about a good painting?

----

I guess our emotional dependence on art began with the cave drawings of the early men. All arts offer expressive solutions to our emotions by becoming a way for people to access themselves.

A painting usually opens up the hidden parts of the human experience that cannot be effectively expressed by words alone. Loving a painting can be a release, an affirmation or a consolation.

I feel like that about a few paintings. Two of them are of my children when they were little. Another one is of an ocean. The ocean always meant things to me I couldn’t fully express, although I have written several things on the subject. But just looking at that painting, makes me feel different things each time my eye catches it.

Prompt: "The greatest treasures are those invisible to the eye but found by the heart." Judy Garland What are your thoughts about this quote?

---

A true treasure is unseen as it is held like a secret inwardly. It sometimes takes the form of strong beliefs and faith, and at other times, it is the perseverance and the good wishes for all creatures even during the most difficult times. This comes from the love of all creation, which is always there inside the heart.