Well, the first thing I did differently was to wake up pretty early this morning and I tucked myself in earlier than usual last night. I woke up before the alarm, at 6:22 to be precise, and registered online for summer classes (at 7am sharp!). By 8:30, after my morning routine and cup of Art and Story, I felt like I'd done a day's worth and only been up a couple hours. Invigorating!
Maybe I should habitually rise early after going to bed at a reasonable hour? Maybe my twice-daily dose of Dong Quai is finally taking hold of those darker moods by the throat (as it is designed to do, maybe not so graphically).
This little critter was sitting on top of the compost bin this morning, munching on something that looked really good, actually. Some flatbread? It's not mine. Got a kick out of it:
I rode to skool, which was wonderful (no rain on me!). I liked seeing the bicycle tire tracks in the newly street-sweepered bike lane; usually there are no visible tracks, but today there were and I felt like I was part of A Movement, you know? Evidence of other bicyclists gone before me, most likely grinding up that hill to school too.
Even though I'm stymied as to how I'm going to put together/pull off the latest Basic Design project and I think the teeny weeny corner that I sort-of completed today doesn't convey what I want, I'm not kicking myself in the keister about it (hey what a concept!). It was fun to post our last projects (the self-portrait collage) and do the informal/ish critiques. I love seeing everyone's art up; I'm always inspired, and it's so great how everyone's 'signature' is so much their own. I just felt so......ugh here's the word of the New Age Day....grounded and in the flow, in class. Ummmm.....present, okay? OKAY I said it. Relaaaaxed. I wasn't even bothered by one of my classmates who is chronically complaining and nattering on. THAT is really cool.
In drawing class, we started out with this:
General consensus at Mr. G's forceful sentiment: "Flowers are a bitch!!" But I had fun anyway. OH yeah! I arrived on campus early so I sat in the cafeteria and sketched and I actually enjoyed it. A LOT. There's nothing spectacular about what I drew, but my marks were decisive, and I liked putting the marks down even when they weren't what I liked, you know? Fuck yeah!!!
So then - still in drawing class here - I started doing another thumbnail, this time with vine charcoal. I wasn't too yippy-skippy about it, but Mr. G said Heeey that is working really well, why don't you try doing it on one of these big pieces of paper? (He'd brought some in for us, isn't that cool?) Oh hell why not, okay!
Oh man! Felt so good to just lay down a loose gesture and then block it in a bit, and then he said IT'S DONE! Okay!! Leave it at that! Here is That:
Keeping in mind that we are still doing the sort of classical drawing exercises, creating a composition with three values, with the alpha dark set against the focal point/alpha white.
"Fun isn't it?" he asked.
"YEAH!" And it was! Art hasn't been fun for me for a long time. Fuck yeah! ha ha!
Then I did another quick one before leaving and biking home and eating a kick-ass stir fry for dinner:
The canvas is twice the size of our large pages we usually work in. Jacque has been urging me for years to work big. Working big requires a different sort of big breath for the blank canvas than other big breaths I usually do on smaller pieces.....but it is so - dare I say - liberating. Plus, using the motion of your arm and wrist in larger radius feels great too.
And you know, I really appreciated being encouraged and rooted for. My sophomoric efforts are just that, and it's where I am, and I'm enjoying the potential more than I am focusing on anywhere else I should be.
Carry on then, fellow artmongers and dissidents!
2 comments:
I vote for laughing over crying. Laughing supposed to produce endorphins, makes ya feel better.
:-D your vote has been cast, and I am bound to my word! Laughing maniacally and merrily over here! nice to see you :)
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