I attend a sort of art laboratory organized by my wife. It’s called ‘Sofia’ and we meet with a handful of other people on Saturday morning for about 3 hours. The first part of the session involves a ‘lectio divina’ while the last part concerns painting.

To begin with, we read something from the Holy Bible, reflect upon how the reading affects each participant’s daily life. At the end, we dedicate some time to our sensations through painting.

The painting part doesn’t attempt to teach anything about the technique of painting but allows the participants to express themselves freely using different media. We’ve done some drawing as well as painting with tempera and watercolour.

In order to stimulate my use of colour, I painted some bottles and jars and set them up as still life objects. I added a few natural elements that complemented the colours of the bottles. The sensation was curious because both the natural and artificial objects became acceptable.

I live in a world that is full of natural and ‘artificial’ elements. Sometimes it can be pleasant to round off the jagged edges that separate the two. I tend to be prejudiced about the artificial world and think of it as ugly.

All the traffic and cars. The noise. Litter.

I surprise myself when I accept things that irritate me. In any case, I called the painting ‘pear’.