The Color of Kindness

 The Color of Kindness

-- by Ricki T Thues

Quindnes walks along the bright spring lane of his neighborhood. He nods to neighbors and shakes the hands of some. His smile is as brilliant as his paintings. His paintings are drawn from his smile.

The painter enters his ivy covered pid-a-terre. It is his studio where he creates his art. What he does is not easy, but he performs his work with ease.

Quindnes is a master of kindness.

He applies his pigment to a pure white canvas of love.

Selfishness he sketches with black shadow, a framework for the abstraction.

Warming the darkness he splashes violet into the shadow with the cool spring of romance, a brightening of the black.

With the moodiness of indigo he further brightens the shadows with solemn reflection, an opulence to the rich truth of dark reality.

Blending dark blue into the shadows introduces a stoic reliability to the scene. It will make the viewer blue with the sadness of their memories. It is the artist’s empathy. Lighter blue evokes the ocean and the sky. It suggests the promise of freedom, a voyage and a flight of joy.

The painter mixes cadmium yellow with ultramarine blue. Green leaps from his pallet. Reflections on the edge of darkness promise the energetic calm of nature. Crisp counterpoints are the emerald juniper of life.

Where is the light? It’s rays are there in the yellow castings. It is happiness and warmth, the color of sunshine. Like summer, the wings of canaries and the fresh cleansing of citrus, it restores.

Orange splashes on the surfaces of promise. Comforting and soothing happiness give depth to the light, clarifying the heading, gently encouraging the viewer toward a destination of peace. It reminds the viewer of flamboyance, creativity and generosity. Then, the brightest neon orange introduces red, suggesting the energy of passion.

The harsh contrast of the remaining shadow is tinted with the red of love. There is a fire in the darkness that promises selflessness, that expresses the passion, that resolves the abstraction. The honesty of warring ideas is tempered with caring and patience. Faith is a courtesy of love.

Some of the canvas still remains uncovered. Its white reminds the painter that he began with purity. He finishes his work with some white edges of light, restating the clean, sharp illumination of kindness.

A rainbow of imagery arches across the canvas. It is the promise of clear, unclouded kindness.

His work finished, Quindnes lies down, his smile soft on his sleeping face.