Out of the Fire

Cate Culver

I am an artist, a painter whose art burned up in the homes of my Mountain Ranch community.

I create art to lift the world. I didn’t always know this. People who bought my art and took it to their homes told me this. “Every morning as I sit and put on my shoes, I rest my eyes on the flowing stream you painted. The art is above my bed. The water flowing over rocks, grounds me before I start my day.”

Another owner of my art tells me, ”Your painting of the red beets and flowing green leaves is in my kitchen. The colors are so vibrant, when I am tired somehow your art keeps me going.”

To “Lift the World” is not like painting angels or sunrises. It is more like a piece of art that smiles back. It is one of life’s simple pleasures that feed you daily. It gives the viewer a lift in spirit.

When my art is destroyed, the smile is gone. Its positive energy has been transformed. Where did it go? Up in smoke that spreads across the earth and is gone.

It saddens me that this original creation is no more, and I cannot make another that is the same.

However my loss is small, others lost their past.