“How’s the horse?”

My friends know to ask me this after we’ve talked Art.

“I was a monkey yesterday.”

They look at me smiling.

“Not only was I a monkey riding a horse, I was a Greedy Monkey riding a horse.”

I can’t stand it when I become Monkey.  It usually happens when I don’t prepare Mr. First properly and respectfully for a transition.

“I don’t know what you’re doing but I don’t like it,” Mr. First tells the Monkey.

He shows me by rounding his spine and becoming a teeter totter of kicks and bucks.  The more I force and want the rounder he gets.

Being monkey means I start to grip with my legs, pull on the reins and lean forward.  It comes from wanting the final result so badly I don’t realize the mess I’m making.  How to resolve an argument with a 1200lb horse?

Relaxation.

There is no beauty without relaxation.

The moment I relax my body, lengthen my legs and soften the hands he gives me what I asked for.  Yet I wanted more.  Greedy Monkey wanted “again”.  Greedy Monkey never got again and finally had to accept the lesson Mr. First was teaching her.  Ask often.  Settle for little.  Praise a lot.

Whenever paintings are going wonky I think of Greedy Monkey.  Paint a lot.  Settle for little.  Pat yourself on the back.

Then I imagine this little monkey below.  Look at his form, the smile the relaxation!  Soft hands and loose reins.  Horse and Relaxed Monkey at play.  I need to give him a brush and torch!  If I’m going to be Monkey I want to be this colorful monkey!

But there’s more!

While searching the internet for images of a monkey on a horse, up popped Feng Shui Monkey Meaning.  Power, loyalty and strength meet clever and flexibility.  A rise to success.

Maybe being Greedy Monkey for the day had its benefits after all.

XOXO,

Francesca

PS:  Mr. First and I are back on speaking terms and doing well.