My fall days have a certain rhythm and color to them. Blaze red is the dominant hue, fitting for fall, but for me the color of September and October because it is the shade of my kitchen cabinets in our camp, and I am in the process of finishing them. The base cabinets are installed and done, the countertop is ordered. The upper cabinets are scattered on the floor of my garage... six doors on saw horses, shiny with their third and final coat of semi-gloss Blaze red, the cabinet boxes sprawled around them like wounded soldiers, covered in their primer coat which is, funnily enough, pink. Next for them will come sanding, vacuuming, and three coats of red. And still, six more small doors, wait stacked in a corner as yet, untouched.
When Isabelle is in school I am there, brush in hand, radio perhaps playing in the background, watching the paint flow from the brush, back and forth in smooth motions, witnessing how the doors change from rough wood to something sleek and glossy. I like how the wood grain still shows through, letting you know that you can dress it up, but it is still going to be what it always was. Something solid to hold onto. Something that lasts like a memory. Hopefully, like our camp will be for our family.
I do not know what it is about painting, but it has always possessed a zen-like quality for me, even now when I am getting heartily sick of it, after painting all of the rooms, interior doors, and even a set of closet doors for camp this summer, it still quiets my mind. Perhaps because it is simple... at the end I look around and I see what I have accomplished. There is satisfaction in seeing what your hands have done. Perhaps because so much in this world is not black and white, done or not done. I relish the fact that in this instance I have an achievable goal, and even more wonderful, I know what the final product, the outcome, will be. So, I seek my solace in painting when all life's what if's and everything I cannot control become too much. For now, I will narrow my focus to painting the most beautiful blaze red upper kitchen cabinets anyone has even seen.
