The realm of the soul is the realm of dreams, of creativity, of emotion, and the true spark of life in every life. |
| www.flickr.com |
| www.flickr.com |
I love finding these kinds of gems on the net. People are so damned creative!
http://www.ikea.com/ms/sv_SE/kampanj/fy06_dromkok/dromkok.html - wait for it to load, then click on the right or left side of the picture. I have no idea what the text says, but the graphics are amazing. I think my favorite is the chicken one.
http://www.zoomquilt.org - Don't bother with the html version, the flash is the MUST-see. Again, wait for it to load, then slowly zoom through it.
The famous painting by Edvard Munch was stolen on this date in 2004. It's still at large.
This is one of my favorite works of art. It speaks to dark places in the soul, places of terror and anguish both. Powerful imagery that leaves an imprint, that stays with you when you walk away. That's the way the best art is. It leaves an impression in your soul's eye.
"Scream" isn't quite the right translation, apparently. The actual title is Skrik, a Norweigian word with common origins to the word shriek. The painting has occasionally been called The Cry. Most of us just know it as The Scream.
As to the painting's inspiration, Munch says
I was walking along a path with two friends – the sun was setting – suddenly the sky turned blood red – I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence – there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city – my friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety – and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature.
I had forgotten about these two drawings. These sprang from my pencil many years ago, almost of their own accord.
The first I call Pensive, and the second, Waiting.
Speaking of my romantic heart reminded me of these, and looking at them now, many years later, I can see her there in these drawings, my sad and yet hopeful heart.
I think I'm calling this one "done". I'm not 100% sure, but probably.
This has been a really good experiment, I learned a lot about myself and drawing/painting.
Often when I'm working on a piece that starts to go awry, or that I don't like very much, I just stop / give up. I can't tell you how many pads I have full of unfinished drawings or paintings. But since I had set myself a goal and a task with this one, I made myself keep going. It was more like something I would have done in art class... a project that you have to finish, even though it's not a great work of art. An experiment in style or color or medium.
And along the way I rediscovered pleasure in the DOING. Not just pleasure in the final product. I'm not particularly happy with the final product. But I enjoyed the process, I enjoyed remembering some techniques I had forgotten.
I also realized there is a positive side to comparison. I was looking at emcrorie's watercolors and seeing some of the technique that I'm missing, that I need to learn, and suddenly I got it, I felt it, the positive side of comparison. It was a staggering revelation. This may seem dumb and obvious to many people, but it hasn't been in my paradigm.
Comparing your work to others' can show you where you need to improve or learn something. It can show you also how far you've come. Now, you may decide not to go forward with the learning, but how else can one know where you're going, where you want to go, without comparing your own stuff to others'?
My B.S. (belief system) has said that comparison resulting in any kind of less-than automatically reflects on my value as a person. Not just that Bozo paints better than me, or Rizzo sings better than me, but that Bozo and Rizzo therefore have more intrinsic value than me. All that self-hate and self-blame and requiring perfection of one's self is so destructive. It has kept me from doing many things, from pursuing many pleasures.
I'm making a dent in it, and this project has really helped. I may do another one! :)
After the last 2 days of pendulum swinging, I need a break! Trying to change your belief system is hard work. Self-acceptance is hard work!!! And don't let anybody tell you it's easy, a snap, one-two-three just change it. It doesn't work that way.
Well, it doesn't work that way for me.
Anyway, feeling some better today, after some good crying and friends (thank you!!) and buoying, and last night a visit from my aunt and Biscuit (I'll post more about that later, with photos!). This morning, honoring the smidgy of progress I've made toward greater self-acceptance and less comparing of self to others, I'm continuing with my flower picture posting. Here is Day 3 - the beginnings of a bow and ribbon, and more shading on the flowers. Probably one more go-round will finish it.
Day two:
Added some more leaves, and more shading / color to the flowers. Next, some kind of ribbon.
After the last few days of heavy posting, I thought I'd go for something lighter today. Something creative. I'm not making much progress on my Jake story. I seem to have a mental block about it, but I will come back to it, I promised myself I would. In the meantime, I switched tracks last night and started working on a watercolor/pencil floral thing. Although I love seeing finished products, I have really enjoyed the blogs like A Watercolor Artist's Journal that show works in progress. So in spite of the fact that this may turn out to be wastebasket filler, I decided to pull my courage up over my eyes and do one of my own. This is the first installment.
I've always been a journaler. Introspection is chronic with me. I try to keep a sense of humor about it though. I mean, you gotta come up out of the mirror sometimes. But who's more interesting than yourself? As Oscar Wilde says:
"I never travel without my journal.
One should always have something sensational to read."
Heh. That's on the homepage of Watercolor Journaling. Now this is a kind of journaling that I'd like to try. Christina Lopp & Gay Kraeger teach classes in illustrated journaling using quick sketches and watercolor, and their website has plenty of examples of their own journals and their students'. It's wonderful stuff!
Many people who try journaling get stuck in that spinning thing that the mind does, using reams and reams of words. Nothing wrong with words. But as it says on C&G's website:
Watercolor journaling helps you to slow down and see the world around you. You can really notice the small details of your surroundings. Whether it be sights that you draw, or smells and sounds that you write about, journaling allows you to take a breather from life and really see.
Journaling slows time down. Because might tend to work from the right side of your brain, you can lose track of time while you capture lifes little moments.
This kind of journaling lends itself more to journeys and travels than the emotional introspection I usually do. But these are the kinds of journal pages I would feel ok about sharing with others. The kind of journal I could go back and look at over and over again, not just lock in a trunk and forget about. Visual memories. Now, if I can just get my inner critic to sit down and shut up long enough to try this out.
I started drawing this one day when I was feeling really buffeted and vulnerable. A reminder to hold within the circle of my integrity. It began as a watercolor, which I pulled into Photoshop where it was tweaked and massaged a bit.
