doodle: hidden fountains
Years ago, when wandering through the art museum in Stuttgart, I stumbled into a small exhibit of Dutch paintings. While people crowded around well known Van Goghs, Vermeers and Van Heemskercks, what caught my attention was an unpretentious little painting that hung alone in a dark corner of the room.
I forget what time period the painting belonged to. I forget the name of the painter. But the painting itself remains alive in my memory…
It was called “The Orchard.” At first glance, the canvas seemed to be filled with a bunch of random, generic looking trees. There was absolutely nothing in the picture to suggest that they were unique in any way. Spring blossoms were now long gone and their leaves bore the darker green tints of summer, not the freshness of springtime. The artist had chosen to paint these trees at a time when they looked their most ordinary, not when they looked their best.
That odd fact pulled me towards the painting. Why hadn’t the artist painted the orchard in full bloom at springtime, or under the harvest moon when their branches were heavy with fruit, or late in autumn where their leaves were ablaze with color?
I stood as close to the painting as I could and studied it. Other details I had previously missed now began to emerge. I found a hint of smoke rising from smokestacks just behind the clump of trees. Hidden by the topmost branches, the smoke seemed to blend and disappear into the clouds in the sky. I could now see that a bustling, industrialized city lay just beyond the orchard.
The details in the leaves, the beauty of the trees and the quietness of the orchard now began to take on new meaning. It suddenly became a green oasis; a place away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, a quiet haven in the midst of a noisy world.
A quiet peace touched my soul. I did not want to turn away from this painting. I stood there all alone; profoundly grateful for the silence, solitude and time I had with this painting and my thoughts.
Something in me said, “Take your time and study the details painted into the trees.”
The level of detail the artist had dedicated himself to when he had poured himself into this painting was astounding: strong tree trunks, graceful spreading branches, detailed tree bark, clusters of leaves, details painted onto each leaf showing texture, light bouncing off of each leaf… Each leaf had been painted on with deliberate intention, not slapped on randomly or carelessly, every tiny detail profoundly important.
Just when I thought I could’t love this painting more, a tiny shimmer of color in the grass beneath the trees caught my attention.
And to my delight, there she was – a tiny little woman lying hidden in the grass!
I marveled at the way the painter had captured and communicated a vital truth, that we have a deep need for time to just be, time to dream, time for intentional breaks from the noise and busyness that surrounds us; time for rest and renewal; time for silence and solitude.
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” –Psalm 46:10 (ESV)
“Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength…” –Isaiah 30:15 (New Living Translation)
~shini abraham, ©2015, duco divina – contemplative doodling
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