The story of the painting, Gathering Thoughts, by Steve Henderson at Start Your Week with Steve:

The ocean is a place of peace and tranquility, interspersed with motion, movement, and the endless sound of the surf. The first response of many, upon entering a beach, is to kick off the shoes and walk — on the sand, into the waves, alongside the surf.

Time to think is a precious commodity, but one accessible to all of us because it doesn’t require money. Gathering Thoughts, original oil painting by Steve Henderson; licensed, open edition print at Great Big Canvas, iCanvasART, and Framed Canvas Art.

Phones are put away. Worries are set aside. The cares of the day and the week and the month seem diminished in the presence of so much water and so much sky.

In Gathering Thoughts, a young woman dances with the sea, a soft smile playing along the top of her mouth, her focus and concentration on the foam and color in front of her feet. Meditation in this setting is a dance in itself — one doesn’t concentrate, heavily, on anything, but rather lets one’s thoughts move and undulate in accordance with with the movement of the sea.

Time alone, thinking, is a precious commodity that is free. And while the ocean is an easy place to fall into this sense of meditation, gathering thoughts is something we can do in many places, at many times during our day and lives — we just have to find what works for us, and where.

When it’s time to think, grammar is one of those subjects most of us want to avoid. But the good news is, you can write well without knowing grammar terms, and Grammar Despair shows simple solutions to vexing problems. Paperback and digital at Amazon.com.

It is a skill, an activity, a pursuit worth seeking and doing, because in gathering our thoughts, we step away from the insanity of modern madness that demands so much of all of us, and gives so little in return.

Gathering Thoughts is an original oil painting on canvas, gallery wrapped so that it is ready to hang on the wall as is, without a frame. It is available for direct purchase through the Steve Henderson Fine Art website by simply clicking on the Add to Cart button for secure processing through PayPal.

Gathering thoughts is also available as a licensed, open edition print through Great Big Canvas, iCanvasART, and Framed Canvas Art.

Read the rest of the newsletter, and sign up for a free weekly e-mail to your inbox, at Start Your Week with Steve.

Please contact Carolyn@SteveHendersonFineArt.com to inquire about any of Steve’s original oil and watercolor paintings or licensed open edition prints.