Pillars

Life is like a box of chocolates
And life can be a journey through the desert
Both of these have meaning to all of you I am sure
And yet the meaning can be totally different between us.

Moses wandered in the desert for forty years
Jesus only wandered for forty days. 
Did Jesus have a plan?
Or maybe Moses had more baggage to shed.

Many think of the desert as a wasteland
Sometimes it feels that way,
And yet, there is so much unique beauty in this place.
Hues of brown, red, and gold
Against a brilliant blue sky.
God knows how to blend complementary colors.

There is solitude here, one has time to think, to dream, to wander.
The desert has a sense of wildness, untamed and untamable.
I am drawn to be part of it, we share the same identity I think.
Spending hours longing for green cool spaces,
yet the desert will not let me go.

There are still lessons it wants to teach me. 

Pillars on the landscape I travel 
Are stories that need to be remembered,
And there are pillars of salt I expect too.
The landmarks of my journey through time,
The desert holds many of these for me.

And the desert holds me fast. 
My journey in this place continues
Until the next big adventure.

Cheryl McDonald 2023©

If you would like to listen to me read this poem, please click below.

Today marks the beginning of a new direction that my art wants to go.

A few years ago I played with creating artwork by using composited layers in Photoshop from some of my past photos. They were ok, but I really didn’t know what I was doing and I couldn’t seem to find a place to learn what I wanted to know. 

Last week I was given an opportunity to watch several classes online that gave me exactly what I had been looking for. Ways to harness the power of Photoshop to tell the stories I want to tell. 

My plan eventually is to combine my traditional art with photography in Photoshop to tell stories of change much like the drawings I have been doing for so many years. 

So I am going back to the images I created years ago and re-creating them in a much cleaner and more professional way. I plan to share them with you along with writing a poem to compliment them. 

This first photo composite painting is called Pillars, and it is about a journey by maybe Dorothy and Todo, remember the Wizard of Oz? This time they are crossing the desert that is marked with pillars both natural and manmade.

I wanted to capture a time of desolation and uncertainty for the heroine of this tale, and I wanted to share the beauty of a desert landscape which might express the idea that even in the midst of despair there can be something positive to hold on to. Our life landscapes are marked with pillars that are made of memories that are important in our lives. Those markers remind us of the distance we have come and hopefully they guide us to keep moving forward.

I hope you will enjoy this new direction as I play with new ideas and new mediums I can combine with past ones. I’m excited!

Have a Happy Day!

Cheryl