When Magoo first begin painting I used to get very frustrated because he would just put a lot of random paint on his canvas. I thought it had no rhyme or reason. We would drive an hour each way to his painting group we he enjoyed painting but yet, he would not paint when he was at home. Weeks, turned into months and Mark, the coordinator, of the program would just keep Magoo engaged giving him canvases. Some days - 2...3...4. of them. There were days I would drive home and I would say to him “when are you gonna start painting something?” You see, my idea of painting was very different from his. I would watch for hours as all the artists would walk by Magoo’s canvas and with excitement say they couldn’t wait to see the finished painting. My frustration started to build so I had a conversation with Mark. “Mark what do you see in Magoo’s paintings? I see nothing.” was my question. Mark had a long conversation with me and by the end he asked me to google abstract art and try to see with my mind. He told me not to get discouraged it would take practice but just to exercise that part of my mind.
So I decided to remove myself completely from the class as I felt I was just a bystander interfering and so went into the lunchroom and happily read my book. Since three hours is a long time to sit and read, I would get up occasionally and check in. To my surprise one day I was able to see an angel emerging from his canvas. I got excited and I mentioned it to Magoo and then I went back into the lunchroom to read some more. Hours later when I came out he’s had a completely different painting on his easel. I asked him what happened to his angel painting and he just smiled at me. Soon I was to discover that he had painted over it. Now my frustration turned into anger. Finally he painted something and it’s gone. Again, Mark and I had a long discussion and he said some of the famous painters who had painted beautiful massive painting covered them up with another painting and it would happen many times. He said something like “they just expressed themselves not for anybody in particular they just put out the image within”. I got over the painting and went back to my reading.
Raising a son like Magoo I’ve realized that as he quietly goes through life doing whatever is put in front of him he helps me to see who I truly am and what stands in my way of enjoying peace in the moment. Learning to accept just what is, not changing it, not controlling it, not being angry with it, just accepting it! Of course I’m not perfect, I’m still working on my reactions. I am grateful that Magoo is able to express with his paintbrush sometimes things that words do not do justice to explain. Thanks for allowing us to share his Art with you. Please feel free to send us what you see in his Art and how it has touched you. I will begin to try and share some stories about some of his art pieces.