Gathering Storms

"Gathering Storms," 16" x "20 acrylic on gallery-wrapped canvas

Violence seems to rule our lives these days, at home and in the world, as storms gather on all horizons.

The only places where people are smiling, completely out of touch with reality, are in the stupid TV commercials, trying to sell happiness, no matter the product.

Gathering storms--the war in Ukraine, with a real threat of another world war on the horizon. The infuriating proof of the Jan. 6 treasonous riot at the capitol, with another coup threatened. The string of mass shootings, as the NRA ownership of Congress, looms as more disaster at anyplace, anytime. The variant spreading pandemic, and climate change threatening human extinction. 

I find relief and peace from the maelstrom of threats and bad news only in reading the insights of religious mystics, in happy moments with families, in traveling the back roads, and in painting.

Even it takes effort to shake off the gathering storms. But again, I somehow returned to the valiant colors of The Ukraine, in a similar effort to my earlier smaller watercolor, "Storm Over Freedom."

Here it is, after a week of work, dedicated again to the Ukrainians fighting for freedom and survival against the war criminal Russians and their neo-Hitler.

Calm

"Why Worry?" 5 x 5 acrylic on canvas

"Peace, peace, there is no peace..." --Jeremiah 6:11

In stress-filled times like these as a pandemic and politics rage on, we need calm more than ever, for our mental and physical health, yet it can be hard to find.

Medicine, for blood pressure and anxiety, works some, but not always. I've said for quite a while, not really jokingly, that painting is my therapy. When I'm working on art, the rest of the world goes away as every painting is a series of problems to be solved, to be created.

I've also found other sources of daily peace, daily calm as well. Every morning as I sit down with coffee in an easy chair, I have two immediate visitors in my lap, one on each leg, Snoops and Sophie, our rescue cats.  I have an "equal catortunity" lap. Petting or stroking them, while they purr does wonders for enjoying present tense and morning sunlight, preventing doom  scrolling media.

So today's acrylic painting lesson combines calmness, inspired by Sophie, though she's prettier than this.

Centuries Calm Cat-astrophe watercolor series no. 9

"Centuries of Calm," 5 x 7 Calm Cat-astrophe watercolor series no. 9

"This too shall pass."
We don't know how, but the  pandemic, racism and t-Rump will pass, as they have for thousands of years.
Impatient homo sapiens is just to short-sighted and impatient to keep that in perspective. We think we're important, when against the ages of time, we're just a blip.
That's one of the lessons of cats. Four thousand years ago, they were gods in Egypt. Ask yourself why? What was it that caused the ancients to worship them? I suspect that their calm, relaxed and in control aura was part of it. And don't cat owners still worship them, in a sense, today? Why? 
And unlike inanimate gods, idols, these gods know they're regal, and demand our obsequities (I've wanted to use that word a long time), which we willingly offer.
Judging by history, cats don't have just nine lives...essentially, they're immortal.
So for the ninth  Calm Cat-astrophe watercolor series  (could this be the last one, matching nine lives?), here's today's watercolor 

Tuxedo Calm Cat-astrophe series no. 8

"Tuxedo Calm," 5 x 7 calm cat-astrophe watercolor series no. 8, 140 lb Fabriano Artistico extra white cp

Uptight? Stressed with the everyday pandemic, racism and tRump catastrophes?
That's when it's time for some calm, to break out of the ordinary, put on formal wear, get ready  early for a special evening, and then lounge around, enjoying the anticipation.

Snoops, my model

That's the feeling I get when I see our cat Snoops, a tuxedo cat, actually the first cat I can actually call mine, though he chose us rather than the other way around.
Yes, he gets up tight a lot, but he really knows how to get calm. He'll roll on his back, put the paws curled up, and tile his head back and just enjoy the moments. Secure, trusting, relaxed, calm. We have lots to learn from our felines. 
Thus today's "cat-astrophe" watercolor series no. 8.

Colorful Calm Cat-astrophe series no. 7

"Color me Calm," 5 x 7 Calm Cat-astrophe watercolor series no. 7, 140 lb Fabriano Artistico 

Cats come in all colors, patterns, shapes, personalities--like colors. The more you mix them, the more variations you discover, the more surprises you find. Genetic principles apply, but variations seem limitless.
You never know exactly what colors you'll get when you start mixing them, beyond a few simple physical principles, because water adds another variable to the chemistry.
In the catastrophes of pandemic, racism and political chaos in America, those same examples seem to apply today.
I know that colors can in certain contexts be alarming as with a Nazi or Confederal battle flag, but in the midst of alarming times, colors, literally light incarnate, for the most part, bring happiness, ideas, calm, like cats. And we need color and calm more than ever.
Today's Calm Cat-astrophe is something different, an experiment in color and cats.

Golden Calm Cat-astrophe, number 4

"Golden Girl," Cat-astrophe series, nol 4, 5 x 7 watercolor, 140 lb Fabriano Artistico extra white cold press paper

Have trouble sleeping these days of pandemic, racist and political catastrophe?
Need calm? Have you watched a cat sleeping?
They're all curled up, secure. Even if you call their name, or somehow wake them, their eyes open, and look at you, but without any worries or alarm.
Humans need more than ever to consider the calmness of cats sleeping. Just looking at them helps lower your stress.
Our Sophie is what they call a "Ginger" cat, but I see more gold than ginger.
Thus today's calm cat-astrophe number four, "Golden Girl."

Calm Cat-astrophe, number. 3

"Calm 'n Composed," Cat-astrophe series No. 3, 140 lb Fabriano Artisitico extra white cold press

You can afford to be calm in catastrophes if you have your senses about you.
Just because your ears  pick up the most delicate of sounds, and your eyes are sharp and focused on every movement, doesn't mean you're not calm.
You're alert, and always prepared to instantly react if need be, but there's no need for worry, because you know you always land on your feet.
No wonder the Egyptians, and others, considered you a god...a superior being in calm control.
Amid the catastrophes of pandemic and racism, we have much to learn from our feline creatures.
Thus today's watercolor, number three of the calm cat-astrophe series.