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"Great art is the outward expression of the inner life of the artist, and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world." 

 Edward Hopper

As an artist, I have a lot of paintings in my house.  Not all are mine, I do buy other artists’ work from time to time.  My favorite piece is a watercolor, painted by an artist who I only know as “Mary E.”  I bought the painting at a children’s art show many years ago.  The only thing I was able to learn about the artist was that Mary E. was a fifteen year old girl.  The painting, which I call “Kitty”, is of a kitten with the sweetest little face I have ever seen.  When I look at that painting, I am reminded of the innocence of youth - I truly believe that only a child who adored her kitten could capture that angelic expression on the kitten’s face the way artist Mary E. has done. 

I do believe that art reflects the inner soul, or as Edward Hopper would say the “inner life” of the artist.  When we see a piece of art that speaks to us and that we are drawn to for no apparent reason, it’s probably because something the artist is expressing connects with something we are feeling as well.  In this way, art connects people with their own inner life. 

Like Mary E., my youngest granddaughter, Olivia, is also fifteen.  On a recent visit to my house Olivia mentioned how much she loved the Kitty painting, saying that it brought tears to her eyes.  She was visiting from North Carolina and confessed she was a bit homesick and missed her cherished kitten Pearl. The Kitty painting touched those feelings of love for her kitten back at home that she was missing so much. 

After Olivia’s visit was over I was tempted to send her the Kitty painting to hang in her bedroom.  But then I got to thinking – she’s my youngest grandchild and she is growing up fast.  As childhood fades, so does a little bit of that wide-eyed innocence which is so beautiful but so fleeting.  I can’t extend Olivia’s childhood, but I can still catch a glimpse of that sweet innocence every time I look at that painting.

I’ll send the painting to Olivia someday – but for now I think I’ll hang on to “Kitty” just a little while longer!

"Olivia at 2 yrs. Old", watercolor