PEACE ....

 

I made this page in response to the Manchester terror attack, and waking up to yet another, this time in London, it feels even more right to share it now.  Our youngest daughter was in London last night with her fiance but got in touch quickly to let us know she was safe.

I began to make this in the days following the Manchester bomb - we live just an hour away and have many friends there - so my first act of defiance was to use acrylics to paint the page bright pink!

You may be aware that I've been very influenced by Australian Aboriginal art - amazing patterns achieved just with dots and simple marks.  My work owes a lot to that inspiration, except that I do it with Posca paint markers rather than a stick.  The colours are deliberately bright - I'm sure I need not explain further on that one!

I was trying to paint/draw a figure who would represent all of us - the people who are trying to live in peace in a multi-cultural world, the people who reject hate and violence.  She turned out to be my usual sort of earth mother/God figure, which feels about right.  We are all just human beings who share this fragile planet.

The words are deeply felt and from the heart, especially today, as I listen to the radio and the accounts of those who were on the scene in London last night.  Once again extraordinary stories are emerging of love, self-sacrifice and heroism in the face of death and disaster.  People really are amazing and good.  Love wins.  Again.  Always.

Events like this remind us that life is fragile, so make sure you tell the people you care for how much you love them.  Its the one thing I almost always heard when I went into peoples homes to plan a funeral ... they told me "I wish I'd said ....".
Do it now.
God be with you.