Shell, oil painting by Irene Rajagopal. Classical and meditative.

Painting, as a way to stay.

by Irene Rajagopal

(Silent Sea, oil on linen panel, 8.5 x 11.4 in)

I paint what lingers—

light, stillness,

the breath between seasons.

A slow journal of seeing,

where colors gather,

warm in the palms.