{"id":3670,"date":"2015-08-11T09:21:22","date_gmt":"2015-08-11T13:21:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/?p=3670"},"modified":"2015-08-11T09:21:22","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T13:21:22","slug":"the-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/the-gift\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

He won the lottery.
\nAs a mathematician, he knew the odds.
\nHe didn\u2019t buy a ticket to win, but for the \u201cfantasy\u201d.
\nWhat were his? A Lamborghini, and big house, he said.
\nDid he purchase the car & home when he won tens of millions?
\nNo.
\n\u201cBoth impractical, really\u201d was his thoughtful reply.
\nWhat he did do with the windfall?<\/p>\n

He gave an enormous donation to a University in memory of his beloved professor.
\nSpeaking of his teacher, his gaze softened, exhibiting more emotion than he had of the lotto win.
\nYou just knew his mentor had taught more than just math.
\nHe was a gift to me, he said.<\/p>\n

Early in our friendship she asked for an art lesson.
\n\u201cI\u2019ll bring wine\u201d she quipped.
\n\u201cLaura, you don\u2019t paint\u201d a mutual friend said.
\n\u201cDoesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t \u201dshe replied with a sparkle in her eyes.
\nSparkle she did, in every room she wandered into. <\/p>\n

Over a long lunch a couple of months ago we spoke of her recent diagnosis and fear.
\n\u201cYou know,\u201d she said, pausing, mimicking her expression of moments earlier recalling a recipe.
\n\u201cI just don\u2019t have any\u201d waving her fork absently in the air.
\n\u201cI am not in denial. I just choose to be positive.\u201d
\nShe also chose to raise money for hospice.
\n10,000 dollars<\/a> in fact.<\/p>\n

We had another long lunch planned two weeks ago to chat about everything from fashion scarves to families when I found myself at her service instead.
\n\u201cI want more.\u201d I whispered to no one, tears streaming down my face.
\nI want that lunch date, and those group dinners with so much laughter.
\nI want more Laura stories and to feel the warmth of her hugs carrying her soft scent, her bracelets clinking behind my neck.<\/p>\n

Inspired by her generosity, I created a painting in her memory for hospice.
\nHer love of gardening, Italy, and the light she brought to so many lives infused in the painting.
\n\"DSC02739\"<\/a>
\nLavender 14×18 original oil ~donation gift to hospice<\/p>\n

The very moment I laid my brush upon it\u2019s completion, an email popped up from my friend Myah\u2019s Mom, about a fairy painting.
\n\"DSC02752\"<\/a>
\nFairy- original oil 6×8 ~ gift to the Windrim Family<\/p>\n

Myah did visit my studio for an art \u2018lesson<\/a>\u2019.
\n\"DSC04049\"<\/a>
\nA cricket chirped outside my studio window as our brushes swirled.
\n“How nice it is”, she remarked \u201cto listen to crickets while we paint\u201d.
\nWe talked about her passion for fairies and art.
\nFairies don\u2019t have names, seasons, a tie to colour or song, she informed me.
\n \u201cIt\u2019s not like that\u201d.
\nI wondered what her fairies were like, so she drew them for me.
\nHer beautiful drawing is still tacked on my studio wall. <\/p>\n

During her last days Myah\u2019s school friends decorated her entire stoop with hundreds of fairies.
\n\"10991228_10152593625832466_8672847243418702985_n\"<\/a>
\n\u201cMyah\u2019s Wings\u201d raised $35,000 at Megan\u2019s walk for Sick Kids months ago after her passing.<\/p>\n

Whether we have known inspiring souls a long or short time,
\nwe feel equally robbed of it.
\nFuture memories & moments stolen from us, like a pulled rug from beneath our feet.
\nWe want more.
\nMore hugs, shared laughter & painting dates. More time.<\/p>\n

But time is elusive, slipping between our outstretched fingers like grains of sand. <\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t entirely accept Tennyson\u2019s quote when I was young,
\n\u201cTis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.\u201d
\nI do know it\u2019s a gift to have known such deep rich love, and people like Laura & Myah.<\/p>\n

To honour the gift is to carry on by their example.
\nTo live life drenched in colour, vibrantly, quietly determined, embrace passion, engage, give back, be brave, fearless,
\nand perhaps believe in fairies.
\nTheir timeless gifts, like our love, live on<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

p.s
\nSeveral elements need to be considered in creating a painting for hospice.
\nMost importantly, the people who will be in it\u2019s midst, visitors & patients.
\nWhen people are ill, too much stimuli can be overwhelming, a softer palette is used, with the texture controlled to a minimum.<\/p>\n

The painting needs to look well in dim and bright light, natural and artificial.
\nThe light within the piece will glow in these varying types of lighting.
\nCerulean blue is used to create the \u2018glow\u2019.
\nI\u2019ve put it in the lavender and tiny hints in the sky.<\/p>\n

The moving sway of the field is meant to mimic a visual lullaby.
\nGreen is the most calming colour ( proven in psychiatric studies) there is a hint of it within the entire painting, even the sky.<\/p>\n

Lavender is a herb often used in sleep aid, it\u2019s scent a universal calming influence. Even the sight of the herb to those who have experienced the scent may induce the calming effect.
\n~
\nIn memory of Laura Mantovan (53) ~ Nov 23 1961- July 30th 2015
\nMyah Windrim (8) ~ Aug 27 2006 – Feb 19 2015<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He won the lottery. As a mathematician, he knew the odds. He didn\u2019t buy a ticket to win, but for the \u201cfantasy\u201d. What were his? A Lamborghini, and big house, he said. Did he purchase the car & home when … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-work","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3670"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3683,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3670\/revisions\/3683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.dawnbanning.com\/newsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}