Life is Art...

      I painted today. A picture from a picture. Was it art? Is it art? A picture from a picture. A still life. Mugs from the House of Humble. It has a beautiful ring to it doesn't it? Oh mine is an interpretation to be sure. But still... I saw more than the picture itself. I looked at the photo and I saw a story. Or maybe I saw less. I don't know. But I saw. Obviously some else saw first. Maybe even composed the whole thing. They gave the arrangement meaning first. There was definitely an intent. Did I copy? I doubt someone would even know that it was inspired from the same thing. It is not the same. But is it art? Imitation is the highest form of flattery ...or so they say. Isn't everything a copy in some way though. Only God can truly create an "original."
      I saw it differently though. I saw it through my eyes. I threw everything I have seen before in to it. I infused it with my memories, my dreams, my fears. The House of Humble. Cups, mugs, a mix, not a set. Humble. Ordinary, made special. Pretentious to say but a metaphor for life. My life. The life I wish to be content with. Humble. Mismatched, cluttered, purposeful, haphazard yet planned.
      I saw lanterns, the beautiful multicolored ones like from a fairytale, lit as a memorial for a life cut too short... or maybe simply complete. Up and away they went over Mobile Bay. A group of young boys caught a catfish, laughing in the water as the lanterns drifted above them. Fish leapt and leapt and leapt.
      The sunset was amazing. Pink air. Cotton Candy air. Making everyone soft and dream-like. Rays of light in distinct beams with grey clouds shifting from car to duck to clown while we watched. Pink fire rippled across the waves. Dancing. Grace over a meal. Fingers touching. Home.
      A wedding reception is going on across the street from my house. I see all the happy people smiling, waving sparklers and honking horns. Each one standing there has something going on inside their head we can't see. But for now there are smiles, tears of joy, flashes from the photographer capturing the moment... to be savored years later. remembered differently perhaps. A picture from a picture. The House of Humble. Gratitude and resentment.
      Life is Art. A picture is more than a picture. Life is precious and fragile and heartbreaking.

Today life was art.