She skydives. Of course she does. Every chance she gets.
We met 11 years ago through work. She was the client, I was the hired hand. We hit it off immediately, in that way that makes you think,”We must have known each other before, sometime,” but no, unless it was a past life thing, which is always fun to imagine. I’m thinking Northern Renaissance-Age of Discovery era, where she oversaw ship building, while I painted landscapes with lots of sky. Makes sense.
Instant playmates, sounding boards, collaborators, conspirators, we landed, or relanded as the case may be, in each other’s lives and careers at a perfect time. And we stayed – the kind of friends that can go for long stretches without actually speaking, but are always connected. I call her Wonder Woman. She calls me Superman, and we have, on more than one occasion, been that for the other.
We both love the sky, my friend and I. Clouds and sky – the backdrop of dreams and possibilities, escape and discovery. So, when she asked me to paint a large canvas of her sky, with billowing clouds and comforting grandeur (if that’s a thing), the sky she’s surrounded by when soaring through the air, naturally, I said,”Wait.What? Are you kidding me? Of COURSE!”
It’s a wonderful thing to be asked to spend time with your head in the clouds. It’s a wonderful thing to paint on a large scale. It’s a wonderful thing to create a window – a portal into imagination – for someone who means the world to you.
It’s a wonderful thing.
I believe that if one always looked at the skies, one would end up with wings. – Gustave Flaubert