Sharing My World and Other Things

I’m a little undecided about what I want to post today, so I think I’ll play along with Cee and share a bit of my world, but I think I will also meander a little. Because it seems like a good day for that. It’s cloudy out there and if only we could get a nice gentle rain so I could sit on my front deck and listen to the raindrops hit the gazebo canopy, it would be perfect. So here goes whatever might come!

List 2 things you have to be happy about? I got up this morning. I have the freedom to do pretty much what I want today. And more – the green outside my windows, the warmth and furry girls inside my house, the friends just up the road, my kids – far away but yet so close. The list could go on and on.

I am also happy playing with my alcohol inks, enjoying the online classes I’m taking from Sheryl Williams, from whom I’m learning so much; part of that learning is finding out how much more there is to learn. From one of our recent assignments in this month’s classes, this Monarch butterfly. I need to do more of these, to learn to get my lines finer and straighter, but it was a lot of fun in its imperfections.

If you could take a photograph, paint a picture or write a story of any place in the world, what and where would it be? Oh, this is an impossible question to answer. There are so very many places that I would love to visit and photograph, some of which might be used for future paintings. I admire Cee’s desire to take a photo of a volcano from a helicopter and it sounds like it would be a memorable experience, but there are so many other things I would like to see too.

The butterfly led me into a world of insects, so I did a ladybug. All the paintings in this post were done on 4-1/4″ ceramic tiles.

Should children be seen and not heard? There are times and places where yes, children should be seen and not heard, just as there are times and places where adults should be seen and not heard. But in a family/friend situation, children should also be heard, and should be encouraged to speak thoughtfully, to participate in conversations without trying to dominate. As much as that’s possible with children – sometimes they just need to be the center of attention too.

When children are out in nature, they should have their questions, their squeals of delight, their thoughts, heard.

List at least five of your favorite first names. For girls, I’ve always liked Amy and Sarah. Kathryn, of course, because that’s what we named my daughter. For boys, Michael, Geoffrey (spelled this way, the way we spelled my son’s name). There are others, of course, but I’m pretty traditional when it comes to names. I think some of the names children are being given nowadays could be difficult to live with as they grow up. But hey, it’s all about making your choices and doing what you believe in.

I found a photo of this blue butterfly that I thought was so vivid and so pretty, I had to try it too. When the Artistic One and I went on our cruise, part of one of the on land excursions was to a butterfly house, and we saw some of these, but I could not get a good photograph, so this one brought back memories.

My heart is undecided whether more realistic painting is what I want to do, whether I want representational but loose, or whether I want to just go for it and let whatever comes out satisfy me. Perhaps a little of each. Time will tell. After the insects I decided to try my hand at some flowers – very loose flowers, whatever happened as I dripped and blew the inks on the tile. There were times I was ready to toss them all, to pour the alcohol on the tiles and wipe them clean, but I persevered and in the end was not completely dissatisfied.

There was one flower though, that was much more realistic and required brush strokes rather than just dripping. This one was inspired by a tutorial done by Diane Marcotte in Cathy Taylor’s Pigments of Your Imagination. The tutorial was about using resists (masking fluid) to allow white space for the flower to be preserved when the background was poured. I opted to wipe on a very light background, and using ceramic tile rather than the Yupo paper I was able to stroke my flower on top with alcohol ink brush markers without the use of a resist. I then stamped on the green, but I really wish I had started with a different background and foregone the green stamping. Perhaps I’ll play with it a bit more.

All of this experimenting has made me question what’s important in many respects. Is it important for me to take the time to play with an artistic endeavor that both frustrates and satisfies me, or is it more important that I spend more time on responsibilities, like housework? Is it important that what I create look like something recognizable? Is it important that I always eat a healthy meal, or is equally important that I give in to a whim and eat something that is not a well-balanced, healthy meal, but that calls my name at that moment? Is it more important for me to enjoy my time with myself, doing what pleases me, or should I be putting myself out there more, socializing more, participating in community more?

What is important, in the end? I think – at this moment, anyway – that what’s important is what suits each of us and what satisfies each of us individually, so long as it is not infringing on anyone else. However – that old WASP work ethic does rear it’s head every now and then and whisper criticisms in my ear. Sometimes I heed that voice, but often I tell it to just bug off!

Filling life with enough – that’s important, right?