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    The balance of how life could be

    The biggest job we have is to keep our busy lives in balance. How does God bring balance when life pulls us to one side? Many of us hit the floor running—a book to edit, a job that requires our attention, a house to keep clean. Not to mention the people who live in the house—family members needing our attention.
     
    These two watercolors are examples of how life could be. One is full of things and the other one scaled down, both with the same design, but each with the same problem. it’s not the texture—terracotta pot, weaved basket, density of leaves, geraniums, or stacked items—fruit, wine bottle, cups, and duck. Those are not the problem.
     
    The problem is one side holds all the weight and pulls the eye to the left. It’s easier to remedy the balance on a painting than on a life out-of-balance with so much busyness.

    The design works with one little trick. Believe it or not, it’s that one fragile curved stem with a lone geranium that is pulling the bulk of the painting back to the right.

    A trick I learned years ago, if I paint aspen trunks leaning to one side, I’ll use a strong branch from the tree reaching across the painting to the middle or other side. It will pull the groove of trees back into the picture. That alone will trick the eye to believe they are standing straight.

    Norman Rockwell was famous for doing this. An old man tumbling and seemingly falling forward out of the picture, the artist would add a young crying child rearing back on the shoulders of the old man. This strong change of direction would actually pull the man back into the picture.

    When your life is out-of-balance, God will use a simple flower or a crying child to pull your attention back to the heart of you.

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