The Unexpected

The unexpected is always upon us.

Jump with your eyes open!
In Life, Love, Art . . .
in everything we do!

Season of
Love I

30" x 30" Oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

Not knowing what paths our children will take, what’s behind door #3, or how our life will play out tomorrow is so damned scary and exciting at the same time.

I created this “Season of Love” series of paintings about 10 years ago. It was a simple concept – a way for me to illustrate to myself that the season I was in at that point in my life is where is was suppose to be – another opportunity to learn and grow. I did the series as a visual journal for myself.

Before I painted the series I looked at growing older as a disappointment in many ways, because each new year always seemed to play out differently than what I wanted or expected. I always thought youth was where all the excitement was, and in many ways it is so exciting, because everything is so fresh and new. But I do remember feeling anxious, and envious a lot of the time. Always wanting more, or something better, or, or, or, or ,or …..

Season of Love II
30" x 30" Oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

After I painted this series I could see that the older couple in the forth painting represented peace, acceptance, and comfort. I imagined someday not being so stressed out about my waistline, not caring about what other people thought about me, my possessions, my beliefs, or my social status, and simply being able to breathe in life one day at a time.

Now that my mother is in her 70’s, I can see in her much of what I saw in the painting of the older couple in Season of Love IV. She has not been in a truly intimate relationship with anyone for about 33 years now and I always worried about her growing old without having an intimate bond with someone. She put up walls around her to protect herself from pain - she kept everyone at a "safe distance" (even the man who has loved her through all these years, but she simply would not allow him all the way into her heart). Thank goodness in the last few years she has begun to remove some of the bricks in her wall. When I look at her now I see a woman who has finally learned how to laugh and even poke fun at herself. A nice, unexpected surprise at this stage in her life. She still worries about her health and becoming a burden to others, but I see something much different in her eyes these days. It's more childlike. She has even let her beautiful silver hair grow long like the days of her youth, and she likes it. She's lovely.

Season of Love III
30" x 30" Oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

Then I did a painting about 8 years ago of three teenage girls singing a farewell song for a young man who was going away on a church mission (Unfortunately, I never took a picture of it). I had sketched the scene from life as the event took place. The sketch held a certain quality to it that captured the emotions of the moment so well. I wanted to turn it into a painting as a gift to the parents of the young man who was leaving. I struggled for over a week to capture that same feeling in the painting that existed in the sketch. I finally decided to set the painting aside in the corner of my studio figuring that in time a solution would come to me on how to fix it. Instead the painting laughed at me as I worked on other pieces. So I eventually ended up turning it around to face the wall. That painting really pissed me off! Hah! A few months later I placed the painting back on the easel and decided the painting was no good, so I was going to paint over it and do something else with it instead. I grabbed a tube of raw umber and covered over the images. Then as I stood back to look at the canvas I noticed the images appeared like ghosts in the background. It sent a chill down my spine, and I got a lump in my throat. That was it! That was the solution. SO UNEXPECTED! So I took a rag and began wiping away some of the paint to reveal more. It was like magic.

Season of Love IV
30" x 30" Oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

I don’t know what’s in my future, but even if I did know what was in my future I don’t know if any of it would be worth worrying myself sick over. I suppose I just need to jump with my eyes open and make the best of it.

“Be brave. Take risks. Nothing can substitute experience.” - Paulo Coelho

Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks.
- Samuel Johnson

So what happens in your life when the unexpected lands smack dab in your lap?

- Greg Hickman



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Please share this post with others - Thanks! Melanie Banayat
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The Unexpected