Paintings 4

 
Paintings from the Heart Flowers are nice: nobody ever complains about receiving flowers. They warm the house at Christmas, bring the outdoors and light to the sickroom, offer thoughts and comfort, sometimes when they are most needed. Even painted flowers can serve their purpose and the gift of a painted bouquet is rarely turned down. However, nothing can compare with l’offrande du coeur / the offering of the heart. Occasionally, we wear our hearts on our sleeves and sometimes we offer heart, sleeve, garment, and the whole personality to the one we love. So, here is an offering of hearts from me to you, whoever you are, from my house to your house, wherever it may be, and from my sleeve to your sleeve, or wherever you keep your own heart, in the open, for anyone to steal, or deep in a hidden place, where even you may have set it aside and lost its whereabouts. “Have a heart!” we sometimes say. And sometimes, rightly so. But if a person is to have a heart, where do they go to get one? Well, there’s always the graveyard or the hospital, but not everybody, living or dead, is willing to part with that precious set of muscles that pumps the oxygen round our body, that lets us know when we have cut our finger while making a sandwich for a loved one, or that tells us when we have fallen in love (heartsick) or eaten too much (heartburn). So: where do we go? To a heart tree of course and here is a painting of the one in my garden. Note the little hearts blossoming at the end of the branches. Need one? I can soon pop one into an e-mail and send it to you (whoever you are and wherever you may be). If you don’t want to go out in the garden, especially in winter when the temperatures are low (-27 Celsius, for example) and when the heart tree may, or may not be in blossom, then you can always put a heart tree into a pot and carry the pot into your house so that the heart tree is inside all year round to keep you alive, and well, and smiling. Of course, not everybody can afford to buy a heart tree. For some people, they can be delivered free of charge; but for others, oh my word, there is just no end to the list of expenses that must be taken care of if a genuine heart true is to dwell among them and keep them happy and caring for the well-being of themselves and others. If this is indeed the case, then the long-suffering unworthy must make do with the blood-red autumn leaves on a neighbour’s trees ... ... autumn leaves, like hearts, can be worn on the head or the sleeve ... however, if none of this works, then the sufferer (of heartache or heartbreak, usually) can always buy a dog (as long as the dog will come home with you) or paint one (if the dog will stand still on the page long enough to leave its spirit and image imprinted there .... This is my dog Beau. As you can see, he was kind enough to bring me a heart, maybe even his own, when I was most in need of one. So, I was going to snip a little hole in my chest and place it in when I thought “No! I’ll leave it here on the page and leave it to share with anyone who needs a caring, loving, possibly canine heart for whatever reason.” (... to be continued ... )