Today I have a bit of a headache and am feeling sad, so I chose to paint my go-to subject of pears. I think it’s good to have a subject you can do a hundred times without having to think too much. For me that’s my pears, but for another artist a different subject perhaps.

The reason I’m feeling down is we got the notice today that despite our best efforts and meeting and exceeding the enrollment and fundraising benchmarks the Archdiocese set out for us, they have decided to close our school anyway. This was certainly not the outcome we were hoping for. My older son and his classmates are going to miss out on their eighth grade year- a year they have been looking forward to since they were three years old in preschool. And my youngest will miss out on the beautiful close-knit community in which to grow and learn. I’m sure both boys will thrive in their new situations, but it won’t be the same.

So pears it is for tonight. Perhaps for a few days as well. We will see what tomorrow brings.

When was the last time you pushed yourself to create art even when you felt uninspired?