Journey from old to new, 3 , Smooth Water

Smooth Water

"What are your New Year's resolutions?" "Do you really want to know?"
Well, in 1993 I made some, and that resulted into a new phase in my life. That year I managed to draw three pictures, and the following years I got stuck into painting which I had never done before. So this year's resolution is to "continue with Art". The group to which I now belong do "ART' on Tuesdays. We call ourselves the Attic Artists because we do "art" in an attic.
I continued with my journey and arrived in Napier. And lucky again I stayed with another lovely couple. Time for reminiscing and looking into the future. " Looking forward and take one day at the time", that's my motto for 2007.
On the final day I visited a friend, FR. Niko, a monk at the Southern Star monastery. I asked Niko for prayers for my terminal ill nephew, Huub. He died on 21st January, age 44, content with life, happy for what he achieved, although it could have been a bit longer. "Let the energy of love flow instead of placing it in a jar and leaving it aside", was his saying. My prayer is that he is taken up into the stream of Lasting Love.
The stream of my life retiring from rough patches enters now a valley surrounded still by dense bush, but the boulders seem to be rather smooth . The wild days of the past must have smoothed away out from the broken rocks and given way to a gentle stream.
I took once a photo from the Pelorus bridge between Blenheim and Nelson. That picture is now for me an inspiration for the next painting. "Is it a bridge over troubled water?" I will see.
Therefore I called the third and last painting of my journey," Smooth water".

John Heijnen

Journey from old to new, 2, Meditation

Meditation

Watching sunsets is a privilege. So many people are surrounded by fog, mists or polluted air. But sitting on a log or boulder,watching the sun in all its glowing colours, casting rays of gold on clouds and rooftops, that is close to paradise.
Here was I on my journey, now stopping in Rotorua. Again I was in the company of a couple whose family I knew for more than twenty years.Days after New Year were for us a time of holiday, of relaxing at the lake shore, walking through bush, enjoying hot pools, and sharing memories of good years of a long time ago.
Surrounded by all the colours of the rainbow, in the whirling clouds, broken rocks,even one with a massive hole, smooth paddocks and gentle hills, all this encompassed by a glowing layer of the evening sun, I couldn't help to be inspired to take my painting brush and start another picture as a gift for my understanding friends.
The week I was there was a time of deep rest and at the end a time of looking for a deeper challenge into the New Year. Therefore I called my painting,"Meditation".
Enjoy

Journey from old to new, 1, A way out

A Way Out

"I am going to retire at the end of 2006" I told my friends. "What do you mean by that?" was often the reply. " No more official responsibilities" I said.
Well, we all of us have the responsibility to live out the Gospel calling. We don't retire from that. My General Superior from Rome emailed to me,"Assumptionists never retire,bur change work". So I am looking out for signs that will let me know what kind of work.
On I went on a journey. New Plymouth with its beautiful Taranaki Mountain became my first stop or station. With an encouraging couple I rediscovered the waterfalls thundering from the pinnacle-source, finding their way between steep cliffs, over boulders, to calmer streams ,till they reached the black sands of the beach.
Not only did I enjoy the intimacy of the couple's family, but also their encouragement to see a way out of tension and strife. Out of gratitude I painted them a mountain scene, with stylised cliffs and waterfalls, at top and bottom.
In the gentle stream you see a kayak finding a way from the dangerous rapid to safety.
Most of my paintings reflect some of my inner life, some of my moods and often an experience from the past, before my retirement. Like the water found great resistance of cliffs and many other obstacles like boulders, softening them in the downward course, I felt the softening of the time from celebrating Christmas in the old year to welcoming the New Year. Therefore I called the painting ,"A way out".
Where does the journey lead me?
Have a look at the picture. I hope you enjoy it.