who paints

There are some wonderful ways that I take after my mother. One of them is that we stay in touch with people from our past, and maintain those contacts through personal visits when possible, even if it's been years since our last face-to-face.

Case in point. In 1997 the General Convention of the Episcopal Church was held in Philadelphia. A college friend, Wendilee Heath, lived outside of Philly with her family. I don't think I had seen Wendilee since we graduated from college 18 years earlier. But we had stayed in touch, and when I made plans to spend a few days at GC that summer, we arranged for an overnight visit.

It was a wonderful time of reconnecting. That's the beauty of genuine friendship--there is substance that transcends time, space, and the life that fills the gaps between contact. It was from Wendilee during this visit that I was first exposed, in a concrete way, to homeopathic medicine and the many benefits of natural healing, natural-food eating and some of the nuances of wholistic health.

Subsequent to that visit in Philly Wendilee discovered that she had a talent for painting. She and her family also moved to Maine. She now paints full time in a variety of media, and does beautiful work, much of it inspired by the natural beauty that surrounds her home.

I confess my jealousy. I have long wanted to learn how to paint with watercolor, and an effort to do so several years ago was so disappointing (with the instruction) that I have not ventured into those waters again. An email from Wendilee this morning, and a visit to her web site may just be the lure that I need to try.

Visit her website. Enjoy the decisive, yet gentle strokes of her brush, and the eye that captures beauty. I'm eager to have some funds once again so that I can buy one of her pieces. Is there anything more stunning than birches in the fall?

Have a great, and colorful day.