Finding a Way Through the Clutter

This is a painting by one of my "favorites" on etsy, Annamaria Potamiti. I was browsing through her shop, seeing what she was up to, and this one intrigued me. That was even before I read her statement about the painting, titled "No Rush", which says :

"We are selling our home and are about to move. We have cleaned and decluttered, and many things are already in boxes. The house feels much quieter, and I am waiting for our future to unfold. I am happy and tranquil in the new sense of peace in our space, but I am also suspended , not quite ready to give up my past. A home is my own like my own body. I am a mother. The kitchen table feels like my physical extension."

So calm, organized, yet a little sad. I relate to this painting because of my own move. I enjoyed the feeling of moving forward, searching Brooklyn for a new home. But now that I am in the dreaded packing and de-cluttering phase, I'm finding it a bit harder to give up the past. I'm leaving a home that I have lived in for more years than any other in my life, for one thing. I was someone's wife, I had a family here with me. It was hard to make the decision to leave and not stay to hold the memories, as the woman in Annamarie's painting seems (to me) to be doing. Feeling a little like I've been left behind to save all the pieces of what once was. All alone in the house.

This is a painting of a fig tree, called "Small Blessing" that I purchased from Annamaria in 2009. Fig trees make me happy because I think of being a child and filling brown paper bags full of figs in my Grandparent's backyard. Seems so magical now.

Visit Annamaria's shop and her blog, you will be delighted!