I had thought it would make a nice gift for a friend but no. What person would want a gift of five little girls, all in terrible states of mind? Not a happy picture. Even if it were an original painting, I don't think anyone would appreciate that gift.
So what was it that immediately attracted me? Most likely, the very reason no one else would want it, especially as a gift! The attitudes of those little girls..... They are expressing on the outside how I have been feeling lately on the inside. Living in a beautiful place doesn't always guarantee that life will go smoothly.
As long as we are alive, we will have problems. Problems with people we love and people we barely know. Down periods. I was also catching a cold when I bought that painting. I had no electricity again last night. I was sneezing in bed, thinking about the painting of those unhappy little girls, staring at me in the dark...... For some reason it gave me comfort. Maybe because it acted as a mirror for my feelings. Maybe because it reminds me that everyone who lives has hard times, some more than others. But it is just a fact of life. Maybe I need that little painting to remind me to have patience when I come upon a bad period. That good times will come again. The electricity comes back on. The cold fades. Good relationships return. Up, Down, Up, Down. The merry-go-round of life......... Nothing is permanent except death. Many people believe even death isn't permanent.
Hi Patricia,
ReplyDeleteI, too, find that painting/picture interesting! To me, the girls (sisters?cousins?) don't look as much sad as they do uncomfortable and maybe apprehensive! I would be too! Anyway, I enjoyed looking at the picture and reading your thoughts. Interesting find!
Karen in VA
Hi Karen, Thanks for commenting. You have more contact with children than I do and so I will go along with your assessment. p
DeleteDear Patricia
ReplyDeleteYou remind me of that great song by Joni Mitchell: the seasons, they go round and round, and the painted ponies go up and down - we're captive on the carousel of time. She was pretty young when she wrote it, the song stops when the boy reaches age 20 - I wish she'd add a new verse now she's 70 to give us some advice. A few other great songs to hum when I feel sad: Let it Be; Que Sera, Sera; and Dream On.
Yes, I love that Joni Mitchell song..... Thanks for reminding me of it. p
DeleteI think somebody made the girls get dressed up and have their picture painted. They look like they want to get back in their jeans and tee shirts. Funny thing is, the artist decided to paint what he saw.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like a good theory. We will never know..... p
DeletePatricia, I think the picture is lovely, but I do believe the young girls were not happy about posing while it was painted. Otherwise, that might have been perfectly happy. This is day two of my idea to retire to the Lake Chapala region of Mexico, and I thank you for your poignantly candid blog. I lay awake last night thinking that I as a single woman, I am sure to experience hard times in Mexico, as well as anywhere else. Electric outages was one thing that crossed my mind, and another was the rainy season. How often do electrical outages occur? How rainy is the rainy season? I decided that rain can't possibly be as bad as all the snow we had in the Northeast this past Winter. LOL. I am looking forward to reading your other blogs. Thank you for sharing your daily life there.
DeleteHI Roberta, Thank you for commenting. If you come down, let's meet. There are many single women living here. I live in an older neighborhood and so we get a lot of outages, like once or twice a week, sometimes more often. Other areas don't get as many. How rainy is the rainy season? When it rains, it will rain very hard. Then it may clear up in an hour and be beautiful and sunny. It probably will last until sometime in October. I am trying to get used to it. But I am so spoiled because most of the time the weather here is beautiful. I think you would love it here. p
DeleteI have spent much time this evening going through your blogs, and have thoroughly enjoyed them. I think from your photographs that I would love it there. I read your blog about the Canadian couple who were murdered in your neighborhood. That was unsettling. Did they ever find who did it? I also found an article on Reuters about 18 dead bodies that were dumped in Lake Chapala by a drug cartel. The article also mentioned some local kidnappings by the cartel. Is that accurate? Is it safe to be out after dark? I saw statistics on crime rate by country, and Mexico certainly ranks far below the US. I would very much like to visit and check out the area for myself. I would love to meet you and the other single ladies living there. I'm a bit disappointed with the male/female ratio though. LOL.
DeleteHI Roberta, Yes, there are some downsides here. One is the crime. Last week a 92 year old man was beaten in his home with his own cane and bobbed. And yes, there are mostly single women here and lots of gay men. These are just facts of life....p
DeleteSounds to me like that painting was worth 250 pesos after all.
ReplyDeleteJimS., Seattle
HI JimS. Yes, I think I have gotten that much use out of it already. Thanks for commenting. p
DeleteI absolutely LOVE that picture. I know I would have bought it in a minute because it's intriguing and open to so many interpretations. We have lots of artwork displayed at the hospital I work in. Right now, there hangs a particularly eerie/creepy mixed media picture of little girls at a circus with dancing bears around. Has a title something to the effect of "Beware of Dancing Bears and Other Strangers". I'd love to buy it but I'm not sure I want to spend $500!!! LOL! Pat, I think you made a great choice!
ReplyDeleteHI Lorrie, Thanks for commenting and the laugh. I would never spend 500 dollars on a painting that I liked. I was concerned about spending twenty dollars. p
ReplyDelete