Tim Donahue – In Memoriam

In memoriam to artist Tim Donahue…. one of the most gifted, talented human beings I have ever (I mean EVER) encountered…we will miss you. The beauty of Tim’s life and  work will always remain treasures to me and my family.

Tim wrote an article several years ago, as we worked together on a painting he did for me. Tim’s bio and his article “What is inspiration” is here or below. Tim’s painting is below. It’s entitled, “Return To The Light ” –  (that’s Tim’s title)….

Again, the blessing of Tim Donahue will endure in our family for years to come.

Here are Tim’s own words regarding what inspired the “Return To The Light ” – work above:

What is INSPIRATION? Where and How do You find it? by Tim Donahue

Charging across the waters of Life as we do daily, it seems unnerving to witness yourself without guidance…without direction…without conviction or confidence. But WHO in this complex world doesn’t find themselves often in this situation? Every once in a while a VOICE comes out of the Blue and the Gold. You question if you should acknowledge it. The Voice feels fresh. It isn’t always smooth or clear, but it’s Clean and Exciting. It Inspires you to LOOK again…to FEEL again. You make a Choice and you follow. However cautiously, you let yourself Flow. Must you “Recognize” that voice…must you put a FACE to it? In your Heart and Soul, you KNOW. But perhaps you Turn again, just to test it. The Silence repeats itself for some time again… and it takes your breath away like nothing else…NOTHING.
So, you Learn to Listen again. You Grow to Reach like a young vine to Touch Life… and it touches you back. So This is what it is!… Life! You let the Ocean of it soak into your skin until your outer shell shrivels up with it. But you realize it’s not only Life…It’s Joy…It’s Passion…It’s Peace… It’s Forgiveness. It’s all the things that your Soul Stands For… Reality. Some things you can’t accept on this side of the Ocean, but These you know you want to Treasure! You find a portion of YOUR part of the Light. You Connect with all that is Living with You… and you Honor it. You press on in the Direction that you now not only SEE, but you FEEL as well.
You KNOW this Path. And… There it is again… The WORDS return and you Find yourself going Home over and over. Each time it is a brand new Path and yet was it forged “In The Beginning”? It doesn’t matter anymore because NOW in every Turn there are Discoveries. That’s what INSPIRATION is to me. That’s how it feels. I discover these Turns through my Art and with my “Vision” of everyday life. But it doesn’t end there… I struggle to SHARE them as much as I possibly can. Sometimes I “Discover” them (well, …maybe only after a Gnat directs me to it in his own particular way).
These “VOICES” are out there… Listen. You’ll hear them. But once in a great while one comes through like Bill Dahl’s — that makes it FUN to Listen and fun to be Aware again. He screams Personality, he cries with Wit, and he Whispers with the intelligence that it takes to show ourselves our OWN Lives — and helps us find our inter-dependent MEANING in it. But he often hides it like an Easter Egg so we can enjoy Finding it all by Ourselves. He hides it in the most obvious places…in a tiny twinkle in the eye of a puppy, in the powder on the wing of a fallen moth, in the unquestionable Grace of a doe sailing over the Fences of Life.
Just a Twinkle is all it takes to see Truth. You KNOW it. It IGNITES Us and We are propelled Together with new speed and vitality — across the Waters and back into the Clear above it. And it hits us in the face and cleanses our Souls… Inspiration.
It was one of those moments that He twinkled this dimly brilliant image into my head — and through my own gifts I have been honored to offer it to You.

Artist
Tim Donahue

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