Day 34 - TABLE

This is part of a table I brought back from the Isle of Wight last summer. An old cards table that's been in the family for a few generations. And obviously seen better days. Like the times I used to play Patience games on it. Or when my Grandma made fruit salads, surrounded by wasps, nonchalantly batting them away with a paring knife.

Here's the rest of it. All the parts present and fully correct. The hope was to put it together and restore some of its former functionality and finesse. But twas not to be. The parts, though present, were pretty much warped. And along with the woodworms' presence, alas, the table was unable to be stable. Or saved in any way. 

That is, until today. And some inspiration from this weekend's online Artist's Retreat. A story by a woman called Sue. About her family lineage, a DNA test and tracing back ancestors to thousands of years ago. 

Obviously not quite in the same ancestral league, but it made me think of the table. And the life it's seen these past fifty years or so. And the people it's been around. Like my Grandma, my Grandpa, their parents possibly, mine, my Dad's Mum and Dad, my uncles, aunties, cousins, me, my brother and his kids. 

It's a table that could tell some stories anyway. So I thought I'd eek it out of the garage and see what I could do. With a few brushes and some paints. And an idea of working with the marks in the wood to paint a picture across the generations. And see what emerges.

Here's what happened anyway. The beginnings of a painting. And what felt like a prayer. For what's been, what is and what is to come. Healing, restoration, thankfulness, fruitfulness and freedom.