Pages

Wednesday 27 February 2013

The Other Side of Happiness

ce
face 27  

February has been a rather difficult month for me, with 2 friends passing away before their time and news of another with cancer.  I have found that doing the 29 faces challenge a great help in coming to terms with the loss. When I came across the quote in the journal page below by Kahlil Gibran, it was like a light going on.
Face 28


Happiness and sadness are mirror images of each other.  You cannot be happy all the time and you cannot be sad all the time.  Loving and having delight lays you open to sadness or hurt.  We should embrace it as it proves we are really living life fully.  Being sad is honouring what we love because it shows we have loved.  Wallowing in sadness is not good, but if we think of it as an necessary process we can get joy back.  I hope this makes sense, I am simply saying that you can’t have grief without joy.

One thing I do know I have produced some of my best art when I am hurting, for that alone I embrace my grief with joy.

I used watercolour, acrylics and Inktense pencils for these two lovelies.

Linking to 


6 comments:

  1. Richly sad, these paintings are hauntingly beautiful!! So much passion in each face...The colors and quote are so perfect.

    I am so sorry for your heartbreak and loss. Goodness knows grief is difficult. I'm just grateful it come in waves, so it's not so daunting every single moment!!

    Big hugs to you!!
    Giggles

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sorry for you loss and hope true joy finds you again soon. Lovely reflective art.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Sharon,
    your paintings are a very good way, to show your thoughts. Both are mirrors of a human emotion. Maybe my language is not good enough, I can better read than write :) But I see your pain in both and lonelyness. Thinking of you with a big warm hug.
    Erika

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi, I forgot to say: both faces are beautiful with a very great expression!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Amazing faces. we wouldn't know what JOY was if we didn't have sorrow. So yep we have to have both! lovely colour pallet as well :) Really glad I stopped by Dxx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful Sharon! So expressive and full of emotion. Sorry to hear about your difficult month, but it's great that you can vent some of your feelings in your art.

    ReplyDelete