'dedicated to the person who read bunny next to me' original acrylic painting on canvas

painting this was, on the night i did it, the most true expression of my aliveness. i was here. i enjoyed a moment. there was beauty and meaning in my life.

this painting very nearly didn't exist. 

i experienced a joyful moment, reading on a park bench in the sun, and someone sat down and read their own book next to me. we never spoke but i felt a silent connection to my fellow reader. the sun was setting and the bumble bees were having a party in the clover-studded grass. i drafted notes for a poem about this summer moment, and i took a photo. 

looking back at the photo later, i felt the nudge to paint it. immediately my brain said "what about these pieces you haven't finished? what about that work in progress? you shouldn't start something new!"

but i remembered something ashley trabue said in this interview: [the art] is just part of the process of being alive.

it had to be painted. by doing this, i showed myself that i take my joy seriously enough to immortalize it, and i take my creative urges seriously enough to act on them. i am alive, despite everything, and that's no small thing. 

or, like the english teacher in dead poets society said:

We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman, “O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?” Answer. That you are here – that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.

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collecting this painting also gives you:

• a couple small surprise goodies (like stickers or small prints from my archive)
• a handmade membership card for the pixie collector club, including information about a few perks
• probably a few cat hairs despite my best efforts 😅 the fluffy studio assistant is eating allergen-reducing food, and tends not to bother allergic people in my experience.
  

it will be packaged (very carefully) with reused materials because it's nonsensical to me to throw out the packaging materials i get, only to then go and buy new ones. waste not want not.

measurements: 30x40 cm

the canvas is 1.5 cm thick.

interested in a payment plan? go to my members hub and join one of the payment plan tiers — see more info there, and email me at pixie@pixiewithpens.com if you have additional questions!

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