Nancy’s photo challenge asks us to post one or more pretty pictures, so I’m sharing the painting I did last week. It looks nothing like the tutorial I “followed,” but I’m pleased with it, especially the purple/blue flowers. 🙂
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©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
My smile for this week is about painting. I’m loving my hobby and did two new pictures over the holidays. The above was supposed to be wildflowers, but I did my purples too low and the whole thing looks like half of an octopus. The turquoise I mixed is so pretty though, isn’t it? No more spatter-paintings! That stuff gets everywhere. 🥴
Next, here’s a meadow under fluffy clouds, except I blended my sponges too much and my clouds don’t look distinctive. Sad. This one didn’t use brushes… sponges and Qtips! I’m happy with the field of flowers. 🌼🌸🌺
More artsies soon. 😍
©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
I painted this last weekend and am pleased with it. It’s interesting that following along with the Art Sherpa’s YouTube tutorials generates such a variety of results. That’s part of the fun though. I just received the new paints and canvases I ordered (thanks stimulus cash!), so I am all set to art it up. This weekend I will paint one or two more pictures, probably some flowers, maybe a butterfly or bird. They won’t be perfect, but that’s okay. I am enjoying this hobby a lot!
My goal is to look forward and do more things that bring me pleasure while avoiding stuff that doesn’t. Simple, no?
Have a good day! ✨
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©️2021 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
Via Rory…
| 1. Why do they say “It’s not rocket science?’ Because they’re being mean and snarky. |
| 2. Do you feel that everyone has an artist in them? Everyone has a spark of creativity ~ it could reveal itself in art or writing or decorating or cooking or even modes of thinking. |
| 3. Do you prefer writing during the day or the evening? If I could, I’d write all day, though probably not super late at night usually. |
| 4. Do you hoard clutter or constantly de-clutter? De-clutter. I hate mess and the accumulation of junk. |
| 5. Are you a confident person? It depends on the situation. I’m confident in things I’m good at, such as writing, editing, playing board games, making friends with little kids and doggies and kitties, etc. I’m not confident at dating or anything athletic, since I’ve constantly failed at those things. |
| 6. What is a hobby you wish you had more time to enjoy? Painting! |
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©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
PCGuyIV continues his weekly prompt series by asking us today: With the exception of blogging (assuming it’s a hobby and not your profession), do you have any unique hobbies or pastimes?
I did the above painting at my daughter’s house over Thanksgiving and I’m really pleased with it! I’ve painted before, but this is the first project I’m proud of. I did some at painting events over the past few years, but those are a bit rushed for me. When we do them at home, we can pause the video and take our time. Plus, I like to choose the easy designs to follow since I am not that artistic. Diane is super talented, so she can do the more difficult ones. I enjoyed this so much that she bought the supplies for me, and now I can do more by myself! 😍
The best painting videos are produced by the Art Sherpa on YouTube, in case anyone is interested. 🎨
I’ve dabbled with other creative hobbies in the past, such as designing my own crewel and needlepoint pictures, beadwork, tee shirt painting, cake decorating, etc. None of those hold much appeal for me now. Partly it’s due to my eyes getting so tired/itchy, and partly it’s due to slight arthritis in my hands. But these small painting projects work great for me! ❤️
The above beauty is one Diane did. I may try a similar project soon.
By the way, I don’t consider writing to be a hobby. First, it’s more of an obsession, like breathing; and second, I hope to make money at it. The good news is I’ve already made a whopping ten cents from my poetry on Medium. Woohoo!💰
PS: My rainbow tree painting also counts as my Weekly Smile. 🙂
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©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
I’m taking the easy way on today’s challenge word from Tourmaline…
Boo! 👻 🎃 Vote Blue! 🧢🦋🐬🌎💦
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©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
Welcome to Blog Carnelli! This is a fun, no-pressure, no time limit prompt. The idea is to use the six degrees of separation concept (that everyone is only six or fewer people away from Kevin Bacon) to connect books, movies, and songs.
Today I’m starting with the last item from my Six Degrees 2 post. That was the novel My Trashy Romance by Terry Black. I’m using the word black to connect to the first entry in this post.
1. “Paint It Black” by the Rolling Stones. This 1966 song has darkly themed lyrics about depression and death. It’s one of their greatest hits, maybe because most people can relate to feeling hopeless from time to time.
2. The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro. This is a suspense novel centered upon a Degas painting that the heroine has been commissioned to reproduce. She suspects that the piece is itself a forgery and becomes involved in a tangle of lies and thieves.
3. Faking It by Jennifer Crusie. This romance novel is a fun romp through the world of art fakes and forgeries. Tilda, the heroine, and many other characters are constantly pretending to be people they aren’t.
4. We’re the Millers, a film starring Jennifer Aniston. This comedy centers on a drug dealer who needs to go to Mexico and pick up a shipment or else be killed. To be inconspicuous, he recruits a stripper (Jen) and a couple random teenagers to pose as a family.
5. “Fly Like an Eagle” by Steve Miller Band. This 1976 song talks about revolution and the impoverished. Yet, despite these heavy themes, the narrator would prefer to simply fly away to the sea and be free of it all.
6. Wesley the Owl by Stacey O’Brien. This is a heartfelt story of a little broken bird and the biologist who cares for him his whole life. It’s a love story and it’s wonderful. I highly recommend it.
Okay then. That wraps up my third post on Blog Carnelli. I hope you enjoyed it and will join in with your own. Since I want to keep track of my connections in order not to repeat any, I created this handy little table in Word. In real Carnelli, if you repeat any item in a round, you are out of the game.
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©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
I love museums. I don’t much care what kind either because there’s generally something of interest ~ I’ve even been to the tiny International Surfing Museum in Huntington Beach (I don’t surf). Perhaps this is because I was born in New York and my parents took me to a lot of museums there when I was a kid. They bring me joy and are associated with (mostly) happy memories.
My favorite artist is probably Van Gogh. I love Starry Night, Twelve Sunflowers, Irises, Wheatfield, and Cafe Terrace at Night, among others. He used a lot of yellow and blue together, and I read in my aesthetics class that many people find this the most pleasant color combo. Even Vincent’s still-life fruits are eye candy to me. Lemons! His skies are alive with swirls and whorls and stars that are outsized in brilliance, giving me the feeling of how majestic and complex a night sky can be. Likewise, his fields and gardens are lush and waving, as if a breeze just passed by. And then there are the people (including himself) whose faces convey stark emotion, often bone-deep weariness. Or madness…
But it isn’t only art museums I enjoy ~ history and science ones are great too. I’m always up for a planetarium exhibit, just don’t ask me to remember any of it the next day. Some facts stick in my brain and some don’t. Loved the natural history museum back in NY when I was a kid (and also am a fan of Ben Stiller’s Night at the Museum movies). The Human Body Museum was creepy but interesting. Back when I was Las Vegas bound, I planned to visit the Mob Museum. Still want to someday.
Of course there’s always the book museum, aka library, that’s the best one of all. 😍
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©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
Photos of Paula taken at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (top) and The Broad in Los Angeles (bottom)
“Interesting,” he said, gazing at my sketch. “You chose to portray her as bereft, suggesting abandonment and grief.”
I shrugged. “It’s the feeling I got from her pose, is all.”
He lifted his coffee mug and his gold wedding band gleamed in the bright light. “No one else drew her this way. The white gauzy covers and drapes seem to suggest a happier mood. Perhaps you’re projecting yourself into the work.”
Stung by his implied criticism, I stared at my canvas, ignoring him. As he walked off to chat with other students, I glanced at the sketches to the right and left of me. He was correct. They’d both portrayed her as soft and dreamy, her face suffused with love and hope. Perhaps she’d spent the night with a new man and was imagining their future together.
I watched the teacher smile at a student, the blonde who’d joined our class late. He even picked up her pencil and added a few touches to her work. He’d done that to mine too, in the beginning.
I turned away and packed up my supplies.
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Written for Fandango’s Flash Fiction Challenge #76.
©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
Image credit ~ Huong Lan Nguyen at Pexels
Song sung blue… it’s time for the next City Sonnet prompt! Earth blue is apparently a deeper blue than azure but not as dark as navy. Who knew?
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©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.
Images are mine.
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