unfolding

Out of a mess forms something beautiful.A blank canvas, paint smudged on its surfacecrumpled with cellophane, left to dry.Layered over this mess, more paint applied in the shadows, the smudges, the splotches of dried paint.Look for the forms, the shapes in the mess instructs my teacher.So I study, I gaze into the shapesand begin to see them...the forms, traces on the canvas.I add color, more shape, more layer upon layera creation begins to unfoldas I see patterns, unexpected, on the surfaceenhanced by color, light and shadow.It is the shadow that brings out the beauty in the wholeSo as I close in on a yearand reflect on the beginnings of a new yeara blank canvas before meI pray I will let events shape me,and try not to control themlet them happen as they arelet them happen randomly....the places of shadow and sorrow, the places of light and colorthe places unexpectedthe places smudged or rough or wornthe places exposed. And at the end of a year, when I look back on the whole picturestepping away to view from a distanceI will see how each place, each stroke, each color, each shadow had a partin creating something new.