January the 19th has been a beautiful day where you needed a scarf and hat for the cold, but a beautiful cloudless blue sky was to be seen that reminded me so much of the same skies, I saw so often in Banska Bystrica, which always felt heavenly for me. At 4.30pm now a heavy fog has dropped and brought back the winter cold. I read a small sentence Leonardo di Caprio had placed with images of Australia burning on Facebook, and he had said.” THERE IS NO TIME MORE IMPORTANT THAN THIS, TAKE A MOMENT TO SHARE THE BEAUTY OF OUR PLANET. These words and thoughts accord with mine, and I’m sure millions more too, but this is why if anyone saw my art gallery on our website, they would see so many wild animal paintings I love to do. This feeling of beauty expresses itself through all my paintings, but beauty abounds everywhere for everyone, no matter where they live. Experts at the Royal Botanic gardens of Kew in London say, it takes at least ten years for a shade tree such as an Oak or Elm to mature to the stage where it just begins to bank carbon. All being well after a 100 years, it will bank about 20 tons. But half of the new planted trees will die within five years, because they don’t get the care they need, and WE DON’T HAVE A HUNDRED YEARS as these are the latest thoughts of Sir David Attenborough saying, CLIMATE CHANGE IS HUMANITY’S GREATEST THREAT IN A THOUSANDS OF YEARS.
With each of us, events can happen that changes our thinking within seconds, and such circumstances and feelings can be very powerful. Such a feeling that changed my thoughts straight away, came to me this week. I had just painted two small portraits of one my daughters, who has a baby girl of four months old. I could not choose just one image, where my granddaughter had her eyes closed and one with her eyes open, so I painted each together. I showed them on my iPad to my friend Elena in Banska Bystrica saying, I’m not sure what to put in the background. Ten minutes later Elena sent me an inspirational idea showing me images of Japan’s Mount Fugi, a pagoda, flowers and even a quote in Japanese saying, LOVE IS THE ANSWER. I placed the quote in Japanese and English in the painting. So what’s so powerful, my daughter and her husband who went to Japan a few years ago for a holiday were so touched by the spiritual ways and many sights they saw. More though my daughter had a beautiful image of a Japanese lady tattooed on her back, and both her and my son in law said, they would love to live there. Elena did not know of this powerful feeling between my daughter and her husband. But this inspirational idea of Elena’s changed everything of what now this would mean to the painting and for my daughter and her husband. I’m trying to relate to the reader in seconds something can happen that can put your mind and whole being onto another path, but accords with what your feelings say is right.
Francis Ford Cappola the film director, who made the famous film “Apocalypse Now” about Vietnam said, “ He had this idea about making this film where with his wife, they decided to re mortgage their home to raise money to begin this idea. At that time, it was just his idea with no financial backing from the film industry. He said, it was this great feeling of A MOMENTUM that was carrying him and his wife. Later when filming began and he was running over budget with time he had to film, he was told it will cost him four million dollars to repay his backers, if the film failed. History shows it was a success.
It reminded me in 2011 when I flew out to see the Banska Bystrica authorities to get permission to build a canvas 4 meters high by 6 metres wide on wheels, so I could push it out into their historical square. They said, “What happens when the rain comes, then the snow, do you have a plan B? ” I did then seem like the crazy English eccentric. I said looking a bit mystified, “NO I HAVE A NO PLAN B, BUT EVERYTHING WILL TURN OUT ALRIGHT.” I have to assume it was the same momentum Francis Ford Coppola received. I’ve spoken of this momentum that can carry you a million miles, it has happened so many times throughout my life, and I’ve learned to know and understand, it’s a powerful spiritual energy that can touch us all.
In 1963, I’d not long left school, I was watching the TV and it was showing the opening ceremony of a further section of the M6 motorway. I saw the then transport minister driving alone up an empty motorway. But with the gift I’ve been given that day I turned to my mother saying, I’ve just seen on the TV this motorway gridlocked with thousands of cars saying, this motorway is of no use at all, as it’s not wide enough to take the amount of traffic in the future. My mother just listened as she knew about the gift I’d been given. If I use Francis Ford Coppola’s metaphor a momentum, this power didn’t stop there. I was shown a motorway from the very North of the U.K. six lanes wide right down to the South coast. The first two lanes were to be only used for family cars, the next two lanes were for caravans and lighter vans, then the further fifth and sixth lanes, would be used only for heavy goods vehicles. All speeds to be restricted. The message prophesied, this motorway would be needed and would run to all major cites in the future, to allow goods move faster and more economically. This powerful energy did not stop there, as I was then instructed to draw plans of this idea and send it to a top newspaper of the day, which was the Daily Express. The message said it would cost no money to build as the revenue would come from a toll. Families would pay £5.00 to safely drive to any coastal resort, but driving in safety as no heavy wagons would encroach into their lanes. Heavy goods vehicles would be treated fairly, with their transport costs keeping the cost of travel down. So with my drawing ability a drew a plan out as I was clearly told. As you can guess I got no reply, and today the present government talks of transport routes to all major cities. I have been shown and still are being shown glimpses into the future. The M6 motorway today has been for the last thirty years the worst and most in efficient and most over crowded motorway in the country. It’s a nightmare to drive, especially when you travel past the city of Birmingham, as its grind locked all the time.
This gift, I’ve been given has been ignored all my life by those, who fear or cannot understand such thinking, but I believe I’m in that right time and place where lightning has to strike to open the right door. The momentum of the letters, I’ve spoken of in last two previous blogs continues, because neither recipients who have received the letters, must not think it’s their decision alone as to whether this message goes forward. Three more letters are being sent tomorrow to three powerful Newspapers, one in Tehran, one in the UK and a third to the Washington Post in the U.S.A.
An hour ago my friend Ivor and Annette were going to drop the the letters off, as they came to my home town to visit their small church. Annette was not well enough to travel this Sunday evening, but Ivor said he would drive the seventeen miles to my home early in the morning. What does this say to me? A quote I’ve used before. THERE IS NOTHING MORE POWERFUL THAN AN IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME, NOTHING CAN’T STOP YOU TO CREATE SOMETHING YOU BELIEVE IN.
Comments