Yesterday I treated myself to an artist date at The Reach in Abbotsford with an artist tour and talk by Canadian painter Takao Tanabe. The paintings on exhibit spanned his artistic interests in abstract impressionism and traditional sumi-e, acrylic and water colour, the landscape of prairie and west coast.
Before the tour, I read this quote from his artist’s statement:
. . . the views I favour are the grey mists, the rain-obscured islands and the clouds that hide the details. However much we desire order and clarity in all the details of our lives, there are always unexpected events that cloud and change our course. Life is ragged. The typical weather of the coast is like that, just enough detail to make it interesting but not so clear as to be banal or overwhelming. It can be a metaphor for life.
I thought of these words as I listened to the artist tell stories of his life in art, as I contemplated his paintings. It was a wonderful artist date and sacred pause at the end of my week.
An artist date is a great way to fuel your creativity, and I recommend this exhibit that continues at The Reach until September 7. You can also check out the website established by the Burnaby Art Gallery to focus on the work of Takao Tanabe called Chronicles of Form and Place. Or take a moment for reflection, and enjoy some of his paintings in this video below:
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April Yamasaki 
Lovely! I, too, find art a wonderful outlet and expression, a time of prayer for me. I’ve been keeping an almost daily discipline of art making/prayer time for over a couple years now. Very rewarding and nurturing to the spirit by the Spirit.
What a wonderful “almost daily” discipline — the “daily” tells me this is a regular practice, and the “almost” tells me that there is also a healthy flexibility. Sounds like a whole and holy way to live.