Creative Giving:
Story.
Welcome. My friend Heidi Goodmann.
Charity and compassion meet when spending time with Heidi. I admire her honesty, kindness, and imagination; these three always linger, offering inspiration, wonder, and hope.
Heidi is a visual artist, amateur runner, and math teacher in training. She found art to be a beautiful way to explore ideas, cultivate joy, and discover new ways of engaging with the world.
Painting.
Wonder what she’s up to with this canvas? Me too!
Come out to Little Bear Coffee on Central Ave. in Nob Hill to gaze and wonder with Heidi’s artwork(s). Her paintings will be on display throughout the months of August—September!
Check out her instagram for highlights @heidisummergoodmann
Poetry.
by Heidi Goodmann
Have you ever spread paint across a page?
Did you use a brush or
maybe your fingertips?
Did you give yourself permission to make a mess?
Did you believe you gave your best,
and then wonder who ever gave you that idea?
There are few things we get to do without consequence.
Have you ever spread paint across a page?
I wear an apron.
My bag is heavy!
I ask questions.
I forget answers.
I wake early… oh no, I wake late!
I am still trying to stand up straight.
I am the reason the brush frays.
I find orange on my elbow,
blue on my upper lip,
And white speckled on the floor.
These lines of concentration linger on my brow
long after the thought escapes me.
I would like to know,
Have you ever spread paint across a page?
Did you lay it on thick
or just enough to make a mark?
Tell me about the line you left behind.
Was it wiggly, squiggly, or smooth?
Did you have to steady your hand as it approached?
Was it everything you hoped?
…
Have you ever found yourself with outcomes so flexible and benign?
Did you have to start over?
That’s fine.
Were you nervous, maybe shy?
Did everyone around you ask, “why”?
Relax your shoulders, shake your hips.
Sooner or later everybody trips.
That’s fine, that’s fine!
Did you spread paint across a page?
Was it an outlet for your rage?
That’s one way to engage!
There are so few things we do without consequence.
Are you still waiting for some recompense?
Compensation wears many hats.
And comes in ways we don’t expect.
Did you miss it?
That’s fine.
I still think you are exquisite.
You were busy, busy preparing for its visit.
You don’t have to say it from a stage.
Or act your age.
I would rather see it spread across a page.
Le bonheur de vivre (The Joy of Life) is a painting by Henri Matisse. (Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia)
Joie de vivre, a French expression often used in English to express the exuberant joy of being alive
