Ever since my four-year old dressed up as Darth Vadar for Halloween, he has been wandering around the house voicing some of Darth Vadar’s best known lines, like “You don’t know the power of the Dark Side.” He borrowed a real mask from his best friend at nursery school – a mask that made the voice noises. He can mimic the great voice of James Earl Jones to an amazing likeness of that depth and richness. It is quite impressive.
So – my husband has been playing around with rhyme and together, he and Ben have a little variety on the Dark Lord’s lines. “You shouldn’t take a shower on the fart side,” is one that they cannot get enough of – – oh my. And recently, “You can’t grow a flower when it’s dark outside,” has gotten quite a bit of air time.
As we were driving to school the other day, I asked Ben to paint this particular version – and we talked about how he might do it – what it would look like. That very afternoon, he brought me his very first commissioned piece of art work – exactly what I had requested.
In case it is not clear – the little flower on the bottom left is wilting over because it has no sun. The rainbow of color in the night sky is his own interpretation. One is the moon, and the other colors are the night clouds.
I love this so much! It means so much to me. I was just writing about this yesterday – when it’s dark outside, when the political or social climate is suffocating or bewildering, when we feel like going underground because we might find more hope or promise there, when we begin to wither from the lack of nourishment or encouragement – – – along comes an artist who points out something beautiful even in the midst of our night – and we can see the brilliant colors of the night sky again.
Photo of my son’s original artwork.
