My Creativecomp Entry: Aquila's Nebula, 30"x 40" acrylic on canvas painting

This painting is very special to me. Probably one of the most meaningful paintings I will ever create. I am not even completely satisfied with how it turned out, but the story behind it makes it truly memorable.

A couple years ago, I made the decision to quit my full-time work and dedicate myself solely to my art. Feeling strong and confident, I embarked on my quest. I got my art into a Co-operative Gallery and geared up for the Christmas season! It was also just a few weeks from the opening of the ski season and I was thrilled to get back out on the slopes.

A few weeks past and!....nothing happened. I didn't get any sales! I got tons of compliments, but not one sale. I immediately got scared. I immediately started asking myself, what have you done?! I started planning my next steps...updating my resume and thinking about all the jobs I needed to apply for. I second-guessed myself and was ready to give up, before I had even started.

That is when "fate"(or my own subconscious) intervened. On my fourth day on the ski hill, after a long day of hiking and shredding, I decided to go home for the day. I was riding a cat-track down to my car and saw a beautiful patch of untouched snow and figured I would get a couple last fresh turns. I was going to go home and shower and drop off my resumes that afternoon. Before I knew it, I had lost control and fell. It was nothing special - just like any typical tumble. To my surprise though, the tip of my ski got wedged into some unconsolidated roots and the rest of my body continued to fall until I heard this ungodly sound...like a broomstick being broken in half....SNAP...it echoed through my leg and I didn't feel much at first. I managed to right myself and could tell something was definitely wrong, when I tried to get up on my feet. I started shouting for ski patrol and they came to my rescue.

Fast forward a few hours and I was at the hospital. A broken fibula, right at the base of my leg. My ankle was broken and they were not yet sure if I would need surgery. I was sent home (with no pain killers!) and started to reconcile what had just happened. I guess I wasn't going to apply for any jobs for the next few weeks...

The next few days I started to feel the worst pain I had ever experienced. After a few days of agony I went to a different hospital and they immediately looked at me and said that my cast had been wrapped too tight and that my ankle was not in a 90 degree position. They cut off my cast and my foot had started to form an ulcer from the lack of circulation. No wonder I was in such pain. They fixed me up and prescribed some painkillers and I went home.

I was feeling much better at this point and had determined to start painting, since it was all I could really do. It was awkward, but I started painting this picture. I love painting eagles and had started dabbling in space paintings, so I got to work.

While painting, I started to think about what had led me to this position. I realized that I had been too rash in my decision to bail on my dreams and it had been a mistake to immediately turn back to what I had known(the security of a job). I realized I had been given a gift, another chance to try again.

My thoughts turned to the blessings in my life....My family. I started to think about my Grandmother. She was living about 5000kms away, on the other side of the country. She was a strong and smart woman, always one step ahead intellectually. Funny and sarcastic and blunt, she was a great woman. She had been in a walker her whole life and a wheelchair for the last couple decades, after her hips were damaged by forceps at birth. She had survived cancer, a stroke and had recently been moved from her home to a nursing home, as it was getting very difficult for her to get by without help around the clock.

I was awash in so many emotions...sadness, gratitude, admiration, guilt (that I was living on the other end of the country instead of with my family, helping her)...most importantly, pure LOVE....I cried.... I blubbered and I painted and I didn't stop until it was finished. It took a few hours and then I stepped back from it. My phone rang.

I had a feeling I knew what was about to come. It was my Mother. Nanny had passed. I somehow knew already... I had felt her over my shoulder as I painted. We had already said our goodbyes. I felt so loved and supported and not even a little scared, while I painted this picture. I am not religious, I don't know what I believe... but I know she was there with me when I made this.

To make a long story short, I did want to keep this painting for myself...but I know my Nanny wanted me to share it. I put it up in the gallery and 2 days later, someone bought it. They said it spoke to them and they had to have it in their home. They also left me a note to thank me for the art and a pair of earrings that they had made (they are an artist, too). Then, within a few days, 3 more of my pieces sold! I made enough to cover my expenses for the rest of the winter and had even more sales, after that!

Things have leveled off, and I am not making sales at that rate anymore, unfortunately. I even went back to work part-time, since. I am now off work, pregnant and I will be staying home to raise the baby and to continue my art. I even tried to paint this scene again, with a "better" eagle (it sold too!)...but I like the first one better! What do you think? Here is the second one, "Aquila's Flight":

I would like to get that feeling back and writing this has helped me...so I am going to go paint <3