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Van Gogh Journal Pages 45 & 46
Hello Friends!
Yesterday, I began painting these pages with a mixture of red and blue acrylic inks to get this shade of purple. Then I painted the vague shape of an ear on the left page with Burnt Sienna acrylic ink. Next I used black, white and green acrylic inks to paint the eye with tears. On the right page is an abstract profile of a discouraged Vincent with a green eye and bloody ear. I mixed some Burnt Sienna with some white and painted the face and body. And again I painted his bloody ear.
The last thing I did on these pages was come up with as many words as I could to describe the myriad feelings that Vincent expressed during his life of trying to make it as an artist and the hospitalizations he experienced for manic and depressive behaviors. Here are all of the words I wrote: sadness, vagabond, frustration, disfigured, madness, unsatisfaction, stain, defeated, hopeless, desperate, flawed, insane, weakness, lunatic, mistake, lethargic, overwhelmed, failure, labeled, black sheep, trashy and lost.
But on a more positive note, I chose the word GENIUS. That is what I feel Vincent van Gogh was the most.
Have a wonderful day! 😀
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How does the creative process work?
This is too beautiful to pass up sharing! I believe Janet captures the spirit of hummingbirds in her paintings as well as their physical beauty! 🙂
Like a flying jewel, the hummingbird darts lightly through the world, teaching us to appreciate the wonder and magic of every day existence……….
watercolour/gouache
How does the creative process work?
Initially the seed of an idea is sewn.
The seed then enters into an incubation period which can be short lived, or take years to come to fruition.
The seed of an idea 
As we go about our daily lives, just like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle being revealed, the seed sprouts ideas that give us more information…..This can happen at any time.
It’s vital to record these ideas, because even when we think we couldn’t possibly forget a moment of inspiration……we can, and do, which is why it’s important to always have a sketch/notebook at hand.
Like a ghostly apparition sometimes the answer seems almost within reach – but then it disappears and returns to incubation….it was just a…
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Writing…Sometimes It’s…toUGH!!!
Courtesy of Google
Hello friends.
I found this quote and picture on Google today, and it encouraged me. I have not been posting much lately, but because of some personal struggles, I have been doing the best I can. Struggling has pushed me back into tackling some writing projects again. I am not sure if the writing is therapeutic or not at this point, though. It feels a bit stressful at the moment…thus, the UGH!!! in my title.
One story I began a very long time ago is “Gracie, the Green Sea Turtle.” After re-reading it, I decided to remove it from my blog for now, because I realized how many mistakes were in it so I am doing a re-write and will hopefully actually finish it. I may post it again someday, but I think posting it before was premature and showed that at the time I did not proofread it enough! And I am usually a stickler about proofreading. I must have been off my meds that day…
Lately I have been working on other turtle stories and a poem this week, too. I just jotted a short poem down this morning which still needs work. I haven’t really written poetry in years. I already posted “The Most Ticklish Turtle in Town” this week. It’s a good thing, too, because somehow it has disappeared off of my laptop. I have a printed copy, but I sure didn’t want to have to type it all over again!
My daughter and I did get some good news yesterday, though. She does NOT have classes next week due to other students doing testing. She is a senior, so she doesn’t have any testing this year. I don’t think she is planning on doing college classes in the fall at this point. She is planning to join the California Conservation Corps. soon, though, which is something she has been looking forward to for the last couple of years.
This has really been a trying week; to add stress upon stress, we have been having upgrades to our hatchery done in the past few weeks, so there have been lots of planned power outages so the people can work on our power poles. It has been very frustrating to say the least. In addition to this, we had to have our personal (not the whole hatchery’s) internet system upgraded, because our old one was having too many problems. All I can say at this point is TGIF!!
Hopefully, the weekend will be brighter. My husband and are planning to go to something called “Spoken Word Night” this evening. We have never been to one, but I guess it is “an evening for serious poets, writers, playwrights, storytellers, comedians, actors of all genres.”
I may be the least “serious” of them all at this point, but perhaps we will meet some interesting people. They meet once a month. So we will see how it goes.
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug!
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Art and A.D.D.
Hello friends,
I wanted to address an issue that may or may not have crossed your mind about my blog. I have realized that sometimes I say in my posts that I am going to be working on certain projects for a while and that may be what some of you expect to see until I say I am finished with it.
For instance a while back I was showing you parts of my picture book, “Larry, the Lonely Leatherback,” but I never said whether I had finished it or told you anything about it. Update: it has been put aside because….
I get bored sometimes working on long projects. So I find new things to do or learn. The next thing I was working on was learning to draw and paint new sea creatures besides just sea turtles. So I did an octopus and was planning on doing several more. But I just hadn’t found any really good pictures to learn from in how to draw them in different positions.
Then I became interested in Chinese brush painting. So I got a kit to learn how to use Chinese brushes and ink. I painted a few things with those and am still doing it. And as mentioned in my last post, I have been working on learning East Asian calligraphy. I am using my Chinese paint brushes and ink for that and am learning from the book called “The Heart of the Brush” by Kazuaki Tanahashi.
I also said in a post a few days ago that I want to paint more Pokemon characters. I do! I realize there is a story about Gracie the Green Sea Turtle on my blog that is unfinished as well.
You may wonder if I ever complete any of these long projects. I do. A couple of summers ago I painted seven huge sea turtles. It took me all summer long to complete that project, but I did! I have A.D.D. I was tested for it back in about 2002 and the woman who tested me said I definitely showed many signs of it. I also take medication for anxiety and depression. My life has been pretty crazy in the last ten years or so homeschooling my two children, and trying to teach myself art and keep in shape amongst all the other trials and stress we have been through in the last few years. I keep hoping maybe this tendency I have to start things and get distracted so easily will go away, but honestly I believe it is a part of who I am. No medication, religion, exercise, etc. is going to “fix” it. That’s okay! I feel I have accomplished a great deal in my life in the area of art even if I am not out there selling it or promoting it very much. I do art because I am a creative person, I love it, and it relaxes me.
So if you ever wonder when I’m going to get back to something I say I’m going to be posting about, please just be patient with me. I am a work in progress. But if you don’t care one way or the other, please keep coming back! It is nice to know there are people who are encouraged by what I think and do. I appreciate it more than you know.
Here’s a short explanation of ADD even though they are referring to ADHD. The “H” stands for hyperactivity which I do not have! I don’t think I have ever been called hyperactive. Not everyone with this condition has the hyperactive component.
Have a wonderful day, and give someone you love a big hug! 🙂
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twenty one pilots
OKAY, DON’T LET THIS IMAGE SCARE YOU AWAY!! It’s just part of his act.
Lately I have been listening to this American duo out of Ohio. They are Tyler Joseph (singer, piano, etc.) and Josh Dun (the drummer.) My daughter, Grace, told me about them. I admit the first time I saw them do “Car Radio” was on a television show she recorded, and I was a little freaked out. BUT I put the two albums on my iPod and began listening to them. I got hooked….by Tyler’s amazing piano playing. I have been trying to learn the song “Truce” on piano lately which is a great challenge!
Where did they get their band name, you might wonder? Here’s a quote from Tyler about that.
band name meaning
“Ok so, I (Tyler) was in theatre class and we were studying a play called “All My Sons” written by Arthur Miller in the 40’s. It was about a father who ran a company that provided parts for airplanes used in WWII. He then found out that his parts were faulty, so he comes to a moral crossroads:1. He can take the parts back and not send them out, but he will lose a lot of money in a financially tough situation. He would also taint his business and his name and be known as ‘unreliable’ in his trade. But this would ultimately be the ‘right’ thing to do. or,2. send the parts out, make the necessary money to provide for his family, not taint his name, etc. He ends up sending the parts out and twenty one pilots died because of it. His son was a pilot in the war who had lost his life. There was no evidence to prove that it was directly related but his daughter blamed her father for her brothers death. He ended up committing suicide at the end of the play. Here’s how we make it relevant: I feel like we are all constantly encountering moral crossroads where the decisions that benefit the “now” will have consequences down the road; but the decision that might seem tough and tolling right away will ultimately be more rewarding. What is our purpose for playing music? We are constantly asking ourselves that question. The answer can change all the time, but for right now we are just going to stick with something as simple as “we want to make people think.”
And for me, I think…..I can relate to “Migraine,” because of how I sometimes struggle with where my thoughts go. Depression is an ugly thing even when we are on medication for it. Thankfully, I have a few friends who help me through my darkest episodes. (And the music of twenty one pilots.) 🙂
http://www.twentyonepilots.com/video/migraine-captured-live-room-33111
This is what I love about Tyler’s lyrics. He has made me think. I admit that sometimes I think too much, but I love these two young men’s creativity, their musical skills, and their unique music. He has a singing voice that grew on me. But what really got me with them was this video of two little girls interviewing them.
This band may not be to your liking, but like I said, they really grew on me, and now I find myself gravitating to their music more than anyone else’s at the moment. Check out their videos and their website at:
http://www.twentyonepilots.com/
Patsy's Creative Corner 