A couple weeks ago I received an email from the Tustin Parks and Rec department asking for artists who would be interested in volunteering to paint planters as part of an annual event gearing up for the city’s art walk. Last year I participated in the Plein Air painting competition and won “People’s Choice” for my piece (https://theporch.blog/2017/08/02/commit-invest-deliver-what-to-do-when-youre-in-a-creative-rut/). This year I will be out of town for the art walk and the competition, so I decided the planter painting would be a good way to stay active in my community.

Once I indicated my interest, I received notice that I would be assigned to ZamaTea, a local kombucha and tea shop. I went to the shop to talk to the woman who owns the shop and discuss planter design ideas with her and she told me all about how the original historic building nearly entirely burned to the ground in 2011. It was eventually rebuilt due to its historic significance. I walked away from that discussion thinking about phoenīcēs (I just looked up Phoenix plural form — crazy word!) and how they come back to life from their ashes, so I decided to paint a Phoenix.

So, I’m painting this Phoenix image, and it is timely because of many things happening which are dominating the media air and web waves. In California, there are fires everywhere, but the rest of our country and our world are experiencing losses that are not associated with fires… hurricanes, floods, inhumane acts, it all feels like so much. Too much. Right? But the Phoenix reminds us that beauty and rebirth come from an end, from destruction. That’s just the way things go. Without looking, and without a plan to find hope, I ended up stumbling across a project that is just full of symbolism of hope and creation and rebirth and life and so many wonderful things.

Today I drove through some of the recently burned areas east of Orange, and it made me appreciate that I get to paint pretty regularly and activate a side of my mind that wouldn’t be active if all I had was my life sans art.

And then, as if the universe just wanted to throw me another bone or something, I signed into Pandora radio and the song that started playing automatically started with these lyrics:

“Like the legend of the Phoenix
All ends with beginnings
What keeps the planet spinning (uh)
The force of love beginning
We’ve come too far to give up who we are
So let’s raise the bar and our cups to the stars”

(thanks, Daft Punk and my Pandora “Happy” radio station)

good stuff.