by Betty Ann Whitney, Poetry Editor for Sol Magazine

The Gift

To the more romantic of us, art is a mood... an emotion... a particular experience we feel inside.

At the E. Conger Library Gallery this month there are forty-one paintings on exhibit for the theme, "Waterworks" -- each expressing an artist's mood.  For this theme I submitted two paintings, one being the feet of a child at the seashore, entitled "Wet Feet.”  The other, "The Watercloset," is a painting of a chair decorated with handpainted designs.  Placed in the seat of the chair is a single, large white daisy.  Sometimes beyond the work itself, the artist reveals a personal appreciation.  It was with a personal feeling of love that I'd painted this scene.

Today somebody called from the library to tell me that a visitor was interested in purchasing one of my paintings.  She gave me his phone number.  Right away I called.

Frank told me that he wanted to buy "The Watercloset" as a gift for his wife.  He told me she loves to go into the fields to pick flowers.  He said he had recently purchased a chair for her, and that she thought it so special she hadn't wanted to sit in it.  He told me that he will place the painting just above her new chair as a special surprise.  Frank seemed to have great feeling for the littlest things of life.

It was an exchange that we made at the gallery today as Frank handed me the money for my painting.  "I know my wife will be pleased," he said.

Many things pass the course of a day.  At the gallery Frank and I separated the "me" and the "you" in our quiet communication-- a connection made through a simple painting-- one created with a heart of love.