New paintings and regular art updates.
Doodle, art, thinking.
Yes those are some of the tags I’m using for this. Then sadness, black and white, lines, drawing.
I had some sad news today, a reason behind what happened to someone. A shape to the hurt. Knowing is not a resolution, and it’s just made me sadder. So I will keep making art and trying to distract myself. That’s all I can do.
Reading a friends blog about the mid term elections in the USA it made me wonder about the whole thing. I posted this response to her post:
Interesting news on the ‘tinternet’ I keep seeing videos of what people are up to in different states but I saw one where republicans who include some ‘oath takers?’ will be guarding ballot boxes, especially between midnight and six am, to make sure no one tries to put lots of votes into the boxes… An extention of ‘stop the steal’? And they said they might carry guns!! Weird, is this democracy? No pun intended.
I seem to be getting more and more commentary about the elections, but in a way I’m quite interested, I know it’s none of my business, but there are so many world issues including war and global warming and climate change isn’t it about time the world’s largest democracies had a grown up and serious discussion about the whole world instead of soap opera style politics.
Once I had a drawing (this took thirty minutes), I played with different filters to create different effects. This was using the negative filter on my phone. I have so many sketches and sketch books that I think I ought to store together. I also have thousands of photos on my phone. It’s a way of keeping memories and meaning. But sometimes the photos you really want are the ones you never remembered to tske…
When the exact size and shaped leaf falls on your picnic plate. I moved it over to line up with the stem. I had to take a photo
Today was a good one. I sang, I laughed, I cried and I felt supported by friends and by the world. I found a plastic heart that had fallen off a picture and was stuck with bluetack to the bottom of my slipper. But that bit of plastic was whole, not broken. A sign? Perhaps, I took the decision to accept it as that and it made me smile.
I feel guilty that I haven’t painted. I think I need to get my brushes out. Painting is my reason for being. It’s not negotiable, I have to paint, or at least draw. It will happen, I’m just not sure when. As the days get darker I always find it more difficult, especially painting under artificial light. By the way, I must have a hundred brushes around the house, I think they multiply when I’m not looking!
I was looking for an image to use for this post and found this. Where the light through prisms in the mobile in my window was casting rainbows on these brushes. I hope I don’t get artists block, sometimes I just can’t paint…
My mind is swirling
Bits gang up against each other
Jumbled and shaken
Flying in different directions
One day I feel OK.
The next, confused and sad
So I draw and doodle
Sketch and map my mind
I will keep going
And see what I find….
This drawing is another meditation. As I spiralled around drawing complex patterns I thought about aspects of mine and my siblings life. By thinking about her as I drew I could concentrate without getting too upset. I let myself think about how things could be different, and that she may have been spared. I don’t know if it was a comfort but I had been watching a programme about quantum entanglement and the possible multiverse. I am not an astrophysicist and I have no idea if this theory would have any effect on variations of people/places/times, but it gave me a little strange comfort.
Imagine a glass box of fireflies all flying around. Cold light from their abdomens? Could you use it as a torch, or would they all settle down in a corner and go to sleep? I wouldn’t want to catch them and trap them so I will use LED lights instead.
We have choices, we don’t have to trap or kill anything, we don’t have to be cruel. We can try and do better than we do. Realise people are not perfect. Learn to forgive if we can. Let the fireflies fly free.
I’m finally, after almost three weeks, starting to feel a little like I want to do some painting or creating digital art again. Things have been really bad. It must have been hard to read some of the things I wrote. Death is not easy to cope with, and not having answers about why something has happened makes it even harder. But amongst the misery my little artist inside me has kept me going. It’s like the thread Ariadne gave to the hero Persius, to find his way out of the Minotaurs maze. It’s always there, even when I’m not doing any art. It helps me X
Six months ago I remember things were fine. The Rhododendrons in the Dorothy Clive Garden were in flower, we had the whole summer to enjoy. The sun was shining and covid seemed to be on the wane. Now things are not so good. Autumn has arrived and life has thrown me some curve balls. We are heading towards darker days and the summer is speedily disappearing. But I have decided I have to be OK. Just doing things like getting my covid and flu jabs seems positive. Protecting myself and people around me.
Mallaband-Brown