11, no! 12 first steps to Joy explained

I believe it takes a sort of death to gain life. So it takes a journey through pain and loss to reach joy and fulfillment.

A series of paintings- hopefully to number 50- are inspired by the idea of the gap in the journey. 

The time between resurrection and ascension in the Christian Bible speaks of the days Christ rose from the dead, and walked on the planet before rising to the heavens.

 It was the brief moment when the joy in earthly gifts was wrapped in a farewell nostalgia of sorts. 

I wonder if I was stuck in that time, if I was conscious of the journey, could I re-frame my purpose... and celebrate- celebrate- celebrate the path to Joy?

 My dad used to ask me before bed, as I was being tucked in, "what have you learned today?" And the answer would be easy on the tip of my tongue or it was to be scoured out of my brain... but there was always an answer.

 It was assumed that I had learned something. So it is in that spirit that we can view each day, each moment as a learning experience.

All life's hardships are "tuition". All life's joys are moment's of insight.

In this manner, I hope to take this 50 painting project and lift my eyes.

I will assume that there is a path to Joy in every day, in every moment.         God bless us all!

Thank you to the new owners! All the work above is now in private collections: L. Charlier, K. Grossi, P. Shensky, A. Linden, L. Harrison, S, Strauss, G, Grossi, L. Styles, E. Clavette, C. Gonzalez