I have read “the Prophet” by Kahlil Gibran several years ago. It was a gift from one of my best friends. I believe that he thought and wrote a really beautiful and inspiring book and still today every time I read a piece of it I feel peaceful and warm.
He wrote about a lot of issues, among which love, children, death, giving, laws, pleasure, beauty and much more.
I would like to light on this part, it matches completely with what i’m going to write in this post.
He wrote: “When you part from your friend, you grieve not; for that which you love most in him may be clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain”.
During the Christmas holiday we were in Italy where we also celebrated my younger son’s baptism.
The time of the holiday was short and we dedicated most of our time to our families, but we tried the best also to meet with our best friends. Lunches, dinners, snacks …
the time together was amazing as always…. In a few minutes I deeply realized that love, over the distance and over an ocean, will always be true love.
Nothing changes in one year if the people truly love each other…of course our lives are changed by every experience, but the feeling to be part of your friend’s lives doesn’t change.
After I came back I started to paint a square canvas. I used gold and silver leaves as a background. After I finished I was looking at the canvas and I imagined faces on it.
Those were of my smiling and unique best friends. One by one I started painting their faces directly without any sketch. Just instinctively.
I put color on them, shapes and symbols.
And here is the result…. it’s a crazy, happy, colorful, heterogenous, lively, intense and warm canvas.
Friends…this is what you mean to me,
you are unforgettable ❤️!
Raffaella Perego 