Skip to main content

Pleasantly Unexpected


How many times have I sat down to a blank canvas armed with an idea, only to discover the final image was nothing like what I had anticipated?  Many artists are great at planning out their images and producing a final product that is identical to the real thing.  On rare occasions, this has happened to me.  More often than not, I start out with an idea and when I finish it has taken on a life of its own and turns into something entirely unexpected. 

Take for example my painting Wildfire. It started out as the beginning of a wooden water tank. This water tank would have had a water trough for sifting through sand to look for different treasures hidden in the Earth.  For some reason though, it was just not coming out right.  At that moment it just felt wrong.  So, I sat there staring at the beginning of this raw image and my hand.  My hand somehow became a focal point.  I started sketching out the lines of my hand on the canvas with my paintbrush.  All the while thinking I’ll paint over it later.  But then a flash of an image popped in my mind.  The image of this butterfly I had seen months prior in the woods.  I remembered wishing I could hold it.  And so, I painted a hand then the thought of creation and nature and forest fires.  The beauty of life overwhelmed my thoughts and before I knew it was painting fire with life in the flames.  Conveniently that wooden water tank perfectly fit my bear in the corner.  That was not planned.  It just worked out perfectly and I realized only after it was painted. As it was almost finished there was something missing.  Again, the butterfly flittered through my thoughts, only this time emerging to rest upon the palm of my painted hand as I had originally imagined.  

When I finished, I sat back and thought, “Wow, the hand of creation like a tree of life, a wildfire.” 
Hence the name, Wildfire and it is absolutely nothing like what I had planned on creating that day. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

As I mentioned earlier, I also write.  So, on that note my current work in progress (WIP) is a story titled “Bibbly.”  The history of Bibbly: I originally wrote this as a short story for a creative writing class many years ago.  I have played with the idea of turning it into a novel but I had other projects going on at the time.  Bibbly is one of the many stories that have been collecting dust on the metaphoric shelf.  However, with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWrimo) literally just days away I have decided to work on a rough outline and finish telling Bibbly’s story with more twist and turns along the way. Brief Overview: Bibbly lives in a network of tunnels deep beneath the surface of the Earth.  As a female member of her tribe she is not allowed to venture to the forest above. On the eve of an ancient ritual that will name the next leader of her tribe, Bibbly makes a grave mistake that results in the capture of her father and puts all of her kind in danger.  Now, the
Post a Comment
Read more

“Mexican Gothic” by. Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Book Review with SPOILERS)

  “Mexican Gothic” by. Silvia Moreno-Garcia A Book Review with SPOILERS First Impressions:  The story opens up with a party and a couple that is quickly leaving it. From the beginning, it is clear that Noemi Taboada is the main character. Initially, the opening scene didn’t make too much of an impression on me until after I finished the story. Looking back, I think the author did an excellent job setting up Noemi’s character and letting the reader know right off that she was a strong-willed woman. She proves this multiple times throughout the story when she sets Noemi up to challenge authority and work her way around the obstacles that keep her from escaping.  Quick Review:  Noemi leaves the party when her father summons her home. Upon arrival, she is thinking that she’s in trouble, but really there is a family issue. Her cousin Catalina had married Virgil Doyle quickly and against her uncle’s wishes. Now she has sent an ominous letter that has her uncle and cousin questioning her sani
Post a Comment
Read more

Halloween Havoc

Blood, guts, maggots, and brains are flashing before my eyes as I surf the web in search of ways to keep a group of preteens entertained at the Halloween party.  Today’s kids are so exposed to horror movies and scary music that the things that would have sent chills down my spine at their age are ‘simply child’s play.’  When I was a little girl “Night Mare on Elm Street” horrified me.  In our house at the time we had a long dark hall way.  My older brother, doing his duty as an older brother took it upon himself to hide in the rooms along the hall where I couldn’t see him; when I would pass he would jump out of the rooms behind me yelling “Freddy’s coming” which of course sent me screaming down the hall because I thought Freddy Kruger was after me.  In my defense I was only nine.  My children on the other hand watched that movie and laughed at the special effects.  They become more desensitized with every new horror movie produced now days.  I decided to take them to see paranormal
Post a Comment
Read more