My kids sometimes
call me Dora the explorer. Why? Because I often seem to go off in tangents,
forgetting what the heck I was doing. I really think it’s that my mind works in
flashes. The more insistent the flash, the more brilliant and beckoning it
seems. So off I go. Then comes the fall back to earth. I experienced this when
we held a paintout weekend in Hillsboro NM last week.
I painted, very
patiently and logically the light on three old building remnants. One was a
shed, one was a crumbling jail wall, and the last was the arch of the old
courthouse wall, the only indication of what is reputed to have been a gorgeous
building in Hillsboro, when it was the county seat. All are working their way
to being vague memories. Relics is the title I gave this small but intricate
light study. It is pictured below. An 8x10, it is small, but full of
information.
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| Relics Oil 8x10 Available |
Finishing the
piece I started to pack up my gear. Then Dora’s head popped up! Behind me,
aglow with light were absolutely glorious wildflowers! Their passing would
definitely not leave relics of their time in this world. They demanded to be
recorded. So back out came the paints. What resulted is a small 8x10 painting that I
call Morning Glory. It definitely was. Not only that, painting it served to
loosen me up after so very carefully painting the crumbling walls and the arch of the
courthouse.
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| Morning Glory Oil 8x10 Available |
This fall back
to organization and reality can be tiring in its emotional intensity, or
on that rare occasion, insightful and insistent to the point that it MUST BE
obeyed.
I used to be
organized, logical, methodical, and I think, totally boring. Not so anymore. I
wear purple far more. My white hair makes people a little more forgiving than
they were when I was the same age and dyed it. I think my lifelong admiration
of the greeting card character Maxine has caught up with me. (Watch out world).
So, creatively, I think flashes are good. Liberating, routine smashing, creative, and even desirable.
Squirrel???
Where???
