Ladies Magazine Design March-April 2014 | Page 35

©  llustrated by
I
Laura Merchant

Inspired
anew
by those
thoughts,
she resolved
to finish her
work. Determinedly,
she dipped
her brush
in the colors
and vigorously added
detail. In her
excitement,
she pressed
too hard and

the brush cracked in her fingers. It
was an old and brittle brush, but in
her current, tired state, it was a disappointment.
This incident jogged her memory
back to only a few weeks prior. She
had been broken, frustrated, and
disappointed. At that time, the young

artist had been overcome with a sense
of failure. All night she would stay
up to complete her art—working and
striving for perfection in all that she
did. Still, they weren’t good enough.
She felt that she couldn’t go on as
an artist. She wondered what good
she was, and whether she would ever
fulfill her potential.
Presently, overwhelmed by these
emotions, she dimly remembered the
encouragement of a friend—telling her
to keep striving, keep persevering. She
had been created for a purpose and that
was what drove her. What else could
she do but go on? So she painted.
The sun was now rising. The woman
lifted the shade and gazed out the
window in fascination. Colors of
the sunrise poured into the room.
She turned to gaze again at her
painting and was overcome with
satisfaction. The work was finished.
Everything she had considered an
imperfection the night before had been
transformed into integral parts of the
design. Without them, the painting
would not be as beautiful. The artist
sighed and smiled. An awareness
of accomplishment consumed her
thoughts. After she rests, she will paint
and grow again. a
Laura Merchant has a
B.S. in graphic design and
illustration from Indiana
Wesleyan University, along
with a Masters of Theology
from Urshan Graduate School. She
currently lives in Missouri with her
husband, Jon, and works as a
full-time graphic designer.
Mar/Apr 2014 • Reflections 35