Passages

Does anyone remember the book Passages by Gail Sheehy? I think it was a 70's thing and was pretty popular in its heyday. Speaking of aging, that expression just did it. I don't know where it came from! Some say the saying originated in the mid 1500's and may have been first recorded in 1751. Just trying to put time in perspective for you.

I don't think I ever actually read the book from cover to cover, just the passages that jumped out at me. I always wondered if that was the real inspiration for the title. You can't really digest the whole thing in one sitting. The essence of the book comes back to me now as I focus on how many of my goals and dreams have changed over the years. Sometimes I have even achieved a few of them as one passage leads me to my next journey. The key is to keep our dreams alive no matter in which phase we find ourselves.

Passages and dreams apply to our own artwork as well. Style, preferred medium and subject matter changes over time. Even the way we sign our work can be a metamorphosis. The watercolor painting shown above is no exception. I worked really hard on it to get to the point when I could finally say "I am finished." Trying to capture the mood of the inpenetrable rain forest was easier said than done. But I'll keep trying and maybe some day I shall overcome.

"Without dreams, artists would perish" - Roger Asselin