Post 4: A Bright Spot Amidst the Darkness.
After Mike’s successful NBA and broadcasting career, financial distress and divorce left Mike in a low spot of life. But after a few years, a bright spot appeared— love. He met Sarah, a woman who was 23 years his junior and it was the cure to his loneliness - for a little while anyway. Age was never an issue between them; in fact, it was one of the reasons Mike felt like he had a second chance at life. They soon became engaged. For the first time in a long while, Mike believed the storm had passed. He finally saw a future filled with happiness and stability.
Mike was Sarah’s ray of light also. Her upbringing had riddled with molestation, trauma and void of consistency and safety. Alcohol and OTC medication was a daily regimen to help her sleep and cope with the PTSD. The years of this practice started to show itself with random nosebleeds and ear bleeds. Life with Mike seemed to make so much of her challenges so much easier to handle.
This new chapter gave them hope. He imagined a life where the two of them could build something lasting, something that could bring him peace in his later years. But life had a way of surprising him, and what seemed like peaceful waters was just the devious eye of the hurricane. Little did Mike know that the worst was yet to come.
Current Progress
COLOR!
Each color is mixed as I go and applied with a brush that is approximately the size of the head of a toothpick. I don’t know what is wrong with me that I love these tiny brush strokes.
Intimate feelings about the story
I can’t understand what it feels to have someone die in your arms. I have witnessed death many times and I do not fear death at all. Sarah was all too young. An entire life ahead of her with Mike. This is definitely a struggle for my brain. It makes my heart hurt. I have thoughts about this part of the story while I am sleeping. It’s all so very consuming for me. I have so much passion for my models that it even affects my sleeping! SMH
About the Painting
This is the SLOOOOWWWWW part. One tiny bit at a time. I track my hours of painting for each work. I am currently at 31 hours. I am not even half way. What colors can you identify in the skin? Could you have imagined seeing those colors? When you look at your own skin in different light, do you see those colors?
I always do some adjustment to my photography so that the colors are more intense. I am a colorful person and these bright colors speak to me. They have become my signature so to speak.
Collect early - Gigantic rewards.
By being a paid subscriber here, you have the opportunity to collect this work before it’s complete at a price with a HUGE reward. I will progressively increase the price of this work as I tell the story and complete more of the painting. IF you collect early, the painting will still be completed and the story will still be told, but you get to call it “Yours”. You will be the ONLY person to call it “Yours”.
Your purchasing reward will diminish on Sunday. Each Sunday, I will increase the cost of collecting this work.
I have scheduled this work to take me 7 weeks. I have divided the story into 7 weeks as well as the progressive pricing. The first price increase was yesterday. Collect early, save BIG!