Two for Tuesday ~ Waves

I painted these acrylic waves on Sunday, along with another beachy pic I’ll post about another time. This year, I’ve decided that no matter how much I dislike a painting, I’m not going to throw it out. I don’t regret the ones I tossed away last year because not only were they terrible, but also my “technique” was such that they never dried. I’m not sure why I wet the canvas before starting ~ I guess I thought you were supposed to. Anyway, I stopped doing that.

These wave paintings are 8×8, a size that’s fun to work with sometimes, especially when you have a single focal point. I wanted to really concentrate on getting one thing right, you know? The left picture was a surprise delight. I followed the tutorial, yet it came out so dark ~ then I decided I liked the darkness. The more I look at it the more I like it! I did the one on the right freehand, wanting to do a sunrise to go with the midnight wave. I love the sky so much, but, again, the wave came out dark. I’m not sure why except I kept going over it. I need to work on not blending so much and stop worrying that my brushstrokes show. The tutors’ paintings are not that blended. It’s OK to see the individual colors!

There are more 8×8 paintings I want to do ~ a couple hummingbirds. That’s pretty ambitious, I know. But I really want to try them. I also have a bird of paradise and another flower tutorial saved. I’ll probably do those before the birds. After that, I might do some 11×14 pieces with birds. I have several 11×14 tree tutorials saved, which are gorgeous and I hope I can do them justice.

Painting is good for me in several ways, as long as I make sure I’m comfortable and not hurting my neck/back. I get very absorbed in the work, even more than when I’m writing, and stuff that’s been bugging me just floats away. I’m so present for painting, in a way I’m not with anything else. I mean, I’m still thinking, but I’m thinking only about the art. It’s not even an effort to forget about work or my to-do lists or my unfinished writing or whatever other thing… it all just vanishes on its own until I allow it back in. It would be great to attain this state at will, but I’m not there yet. Hopefully, I can do that someday. I also allow myself to make a mess when I paint, which is good for me ~ very freeing.

On Saturday, I had lunch with a Meetup group. Most of us didn’t know each other well, or at all, so we made introductions. One of the women vaguely remembered me and said, oh, you’re an artist and a writer, right? I can’t even begin to describe how thrilled I was to be referred to in this way. I fought the impulse to say no and simply said yes, but I need to pay the bills so I also work as a legal secretary.

It was a really nice weekend.

~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.

Gumby Smile [tws]

My daughter and I painted on Saturday, and I am generally pleased with how this one turned out. Of course, every time I look at it, I see something I want to change, but I am going to try to move on to new paintings rather than futz with this one and make it worse. I realize the middle plant looks more like something in the ocean than any type of cactus, but whatever. Don’t ask me why the tutorial had us put a moon in the sun ~ I just do what I’m told, lol. I’m naming this guy “Gumby Sunset” due to the color and shape of the saguaros reminding me of that old cartoon. Remember Gumby?

One thing in particular I avoided this time was wetting my canvas first. Idk why I began doing that, but it turned out to be a bad idea and the paint never dried thoroughly. I also avoided too much blending, though it would have been good if I’d blended the outer edge of the red a little better. I probably should not have put red highlights so far into the blue and am resisting going over them with black. Must.Resist.Fixing!

I have already bought a bunch of new blank canvases and saved more tutorials to try. You can be sure I will post my results here if I am the least bit happy with them.

~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.

Posted for Trent’s Weekly Smile (my first in a while!).

The Rainbow Tree

Torn heart heroine
Errant arrow
Bitter throat
Traitor!
Write, rewrite…
Nowhere
Wearier, retreat, retire
Art? Earthen art?
Tree, rain, breathe
Harbor, rebirth, atone
Beware another
New habit!

~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.

Rainbow Tree posted for Reena. Anagrammatic poem written in homage to Murisopsis.

I’m a Believer

Each time I decide to paint a picture, I am absolutely sure it will turn out great. Even though after all these years I’ve painted only one piece I’m happy with, still I believe. I’m not sure why exactly this belief persists in the absence of any evidence that my next one will be a masterpiece, but it does. I guess I put a lot of pressure on myself.

I haven’t painted in a while, partly because of my OCD. For me, it’s not simply a matter of getting out my supplies and setting up. Oh hell no. First, I must check out the newest videos from my favorite painting tutor The Art Sherpa. Second, I choose my favorites and put them in order. Third, I realize I forgot to look at the tutorials’ difficulty level, so I return to step one. Finally, after I pick the painting I want to create, I see I don’t have all the right supplies, even though I’ve spent an ungodly amount of money buying stuff.

I plunge ahead, making the best of it with colors that aren’t precisely the ones Sherpa is using, dabbed onto brushes that aren’t the exact same size as hers, and possessing a complete lack of an artistic skillset. From the start, I’m fretting that my painting doesn’t look like hers. That’s OK! She says each one is uniquely beautiful. Meh. Halfway through, I’m already annoyed that I can’t get my hand to obey the command from my brain to recreate the picture in my mind.

Eventually, I finish the thing, after fussing over it for hours, redoing sections, etc. I try to like the end result, but I don’t, and in the trash it goes. That’s another four hours down the drain, time I could have spent watching a couple more romcoms…

~*~
©️2023 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.

Written for Reena’s Xploration Challenge 262 (image) and Pam’s Soapbox Thursday 1 (OCD).

Wondrous

Skeleton branches
Sweep the sky in wondrous hues
Anonymous art

~*~
©️2022 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.

Written for Moonwashed Musings Weekly Prompt 123.

Looking Back…

Lauren continues the Throwback Thursday series this week with a semi-rerun of an older set of questions (luckily, I don’t remember them because of OBS ~ old brain syndrome). We all wish Lauren good luck with her surgery next week.

1) When you were a kid, what were your creative outlets? As an adult, what have you created that you are most proud of?

I loved to draw and color and paint ~ I spent a whole summer around age 12 with a “how to draw a dog” book. I never did get any good at it, but I had a lot of fun. I also enjoyed sewing, embroidery, jewelry-making, and other crafts. My mom and I went through a candle-making phase. I didn’t write creatively that much back then, only for school really, but as a teen I got more into writing on my own.

As a young mom, I made scrapbooks, which I still have and enjoy perusing from time to time (my daughters do too). I also did a ton of needlepoint back then. Of course, now that I’m old, creative writing is the way I express myself best, though I still like to do crafts once in a while. The problem with crafts, however, is that (a) they tend to be spendy, especially beads and art supplies, and (2) they need SPACE, which I do not have an abundance of.

I’m most proud of the fact that I have written complete novels and self-published them!

2) Have you ever saved someone’s life? Did you ever witness someone’s life being saved? Did someone save your life?

Nope times three, though my ex saved me from an adrenaline shot to the heart during labor by remembering that I had issues with lying on my right side. If my OB had been there, I wouldn’t have begun passing out, but she was late, so…

3) Did you ever get lost as a child? How did you handle it? Do you get easily lost now?

I’ve never had a good sense of direction, but I don’t remember getting lost as a child. I probably stayed really close to home, or else rode my bike in a straight line and turned around. I have gotten lost as an adult, both walking and driving, and it really stresses me out. Now I use my GPS all the time and never try to second-guess it, which helps a lot.

4) Did you search out presents your parents hid from you? Did you get caught? Do you hide presents from family members as an adult? Are they ever found?

I don’t remember that this was ever a “thing” I did or that my kids did. I don’t need to hide gifts from anyone now except for Gatsby because he has a tendency to gnaw on the edges of boxes and rip up ribbons.

5) Do you have a special song that was sung to you by either of your parents? Did you sing to your children? (or pets) Care to share the tunes?

My dad was more likely to quote poetry or snippets of literature, and I don’t recall that my mom sang anything. I, however, sang all the time to my kids (unfortunately I have a terrible voice), and so they know all the old silly songs. When my youngest was around 8, her teacher asked if anyone knew “Henry the Eighth,” and she was the only one who did. Well, of course!

6) What’s something you were afraid of as a child? What is something you are afraid of as an adult?

I’ve never liked heights and in fact last night had a dream about having to stand so close to the edge of a steep drop that it made me dizzy in my sleep!

7) What do you wish you would have learned more about in school?

Everything! I love to learn.

8) Is there something outside of school you were so interested in you taught yourself about it as an adult?

For a while, I was watching a lot of tutorials on how to paint, but I’ve since lost interest.

9) What made you laugh most when you were a child? What makes you laugh out loud now?

I’ve always enjoyed wordplay and jokes that hinge upon the meaning of words and twists upon meaning.

10) What’s something from your childhood that helped to shape your outlook on life?

I was bullied for being fat and unathletic, which gave me an empathetic perspective toward anyone who doesn’t fit into society’s “ideals.” I’ve noticed that people who were attractive and popular as children struggle to accept or even tolerate those who are different from the norm, but that’s not the case with me.

I was also alone a lot as a child, both because we moved so much and because of my lack of skill at sports, which helped me develop a love for reading. I’m grateful for this as it not only was great for getting top grades, but also it smoothed over times in adulthood where I had no choice but to be alone.

~*~
©️2022 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.

Ice Dragon

Ice dragon glides
Through the gelid sea;
Powerful diamond wings
Cut through debris.
Flames fuel his heart
Under frozen scales;
Frosted crystals crust
His massive glassy tail.
In his frigid wake,
Buzz a pair of drones—
Attacking or defending?
He shrugs his wintry bones.

~*~
©️2022 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.

Ekphrastic quadrille written for dVerse (wing). I had the pleasure to view Large Glass Ship by Chris Burden at the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA).

Forest of Stars

A forest of stars
Glitters under the night sun
The song of your heart
Carries music through the trees
Echoes of a love long gone

~*~
©️2022 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.

Tanka written for the Writer’s Digest 2022 PAD Chapbook Challenge (Day 13: ekphrastic). I chose to base my poetry on Beltrane, 2014, by Sharon Ellis, which I had the pleasure to view last month at the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA).

Ambiguity

Surfing on Acid by Mary Heilmann, 2005

Sun-bleached memories
Blur and fade with exposure
Enigmatic words
Float upon layers of meaning
Accept ambiguity

~*~
©️2022 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.

Tanka inspired by Mary Heilmann’s painting at the Orange County Museum of Art.

Cellpic Sunday

I visited the Orange County Art Museum today and took loads of pics. Afterward, I had a scrumptious lunch at Vegan by El Zamorano. The left taco is portobello mushroom and the right one is hibiscus. So delicious!

~*~
©️2022 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted.

Posted for John’s Cellpic Sunday.