The Worst Thing Isn't Ever The Last Thing

I went to a funeral yesterday of a great man who had a long, happy and healthy life.

It's always interesting to hear a one hour summary of a life which, in this case was 867,240 hours long.

That's a lot of hours. You can't tell that whole story.

Since the service took place during Holy Week, I thought the pastor made some really great observations.

One of the things he said several times, about the meaning of Easter and on human life and the life of the soul, was this:

"The worst thing isn't ever the last thing."

He had a funny, repetitive cadence and I was glad that I heard this several times because it took some thought.

It was both profound and optimistic. Sobering and hopeful at the same time.

As I rolled it around in the rock tumbler later in the day, I thought of course of how perfect a metaphor it is for art.

A few backyard happy hour coloring sessions ago, I was watercoloring different versions of the coffee cup in Perfect Blend with my Koi watercolors and an Aquapainter. Here's the first one I did.


I was just practicing, so I didn't make a card or anything - just playing with color.

Because I forgot to bring a paper towel or a chamois to clean my brush on, I actually started cleaning my brush on an extra stamped image I had planned to color. Yes, I'm that lazy. When the birds are singing and the sun is shining, there's not much that will get me to walk inside, so I do whatever I need to do.

But to get the muted colors you see above, I had to get the saturated colors off my brush, so I used the cup. I squiggled off the greens on the left side of the cup and the deep purples on the right side of the cup and the blues everywhere else. This helped me not muddy the colors I was going to use on the softer version above.

Then I came inside and put everything in a big pile as is my custom.

In going through the pile after we got home from the funeral, I tossed the garish palette/coffee cup in the trash. It was hurting my eyes.

After walking past the trashcan a few times and seeing the sort of Liberace'd up coffee cup, I thought - maybe I should give it another chance. Let the worst thing not be the last thing. Maybe a crazy bright, messily colored coffee cup didn't have to go to the landfill.

So I got the Koi set back out and added a yellow glow, some deeper shadows and a greeting from Another Thanks and I decided that indeed, the worst thing was not the last thing.

I sort of like little Liberace. What do you think? It would definitely wake you up in the morning!

Immediately preceding this funeral, I had a serious technological blackout - a fiber cut nearby cut my entire neighborhood off from internet service, and oddly, also from cell service.

Sometimes a quiet few days and just the right message come together nicely.

I try to tell my stamping students this all the time - don't give up - keep working. Even if you don't like it later, at least you've learned something. I just never said it as well as that pastor did. Now I know. Keep it pithy. :)

Loveyameanitbye.