A pastel city built with wonder,
Resting on the edges of palette knives.
Yellow trees, lavender streets,
Baby blue cars, powder pink skies,
Minty buildings, peachy people,
Turquoise waters and coral rain.
A cornucopia of firsts.
Written for Sammi Cox’s Weekend Prompt Challenge.
Behind the scenes:
What do you see in the painting?
This was a painting of many firsts.
I am all for oil paints. I am an oil girl. Born and brought up! I have worked with oils since I first began painting on canvases and never ventured beyond them. Their temperament suited me just fine. And they never ceased to amaze me. So there literally was no reason for an exploration into the world of what-else-is-out-there of paints.
BUT…
I believe in intentional pattern interrupts.
So there I was. On a May day a couple of years ago. Armed with everything I hadn’t tried before.
A brand new set of palatte knives. Those shiny blunt things were complete strangers to me.
A box filled with pastel colours. I am known for my bright colours and melancholia. Pastels were a complete NO-NO world for me.
And did I mention those colours were acrylics?
I remember trying acrylics some 15 years ago and I found then yucky. Quick to dry, impatient and my god, were they stubborn! Suffice to say I did not like them. At all!
Yet, here I was. Bang in the middle of all things new and unknown. And in the severe summer months when acrylics can dry out before I could take another breath! This is what a therapist’s workbook feels like!
I wasn’t scared. I was raring to go. Right at the centre of it all lay my tried and trusted canvas. The one trustworthy friend in a sea of strangers.
If the painting itself was my Annapurna ( FYI it’s the most dangerous of all 8000m+ mountains), the canvas was my base camp, the hand that held me while I tried my summit attempt.
My favorite cello music was on. The sun and the breeze was on my side.
I just needed to hit play and become the Mozart of canvas.
Without much ado, I did what I usually do when seated facing a canvas. Simply let go and flow.
Once done, the painting quickly became my favorite. I first saw a city come alive within it. Built with pastels and knives and the most difficult of paints for me — acrylics.
An imaginary pastel city that is entirely mine, moving and breathing with my many moods.
Somedays it’s glowing. Somedays it’s raining cats.
Sometimes it looks like ambrosia. Sometimes just a work of abstract art.
What it is though, is a cornucopia of many firsts.
A cornucopia of many summits scaled.
A cornucopia of many fears slayed.
A simple colourful reminder that beyond my fears lay my victory.
So…what do you see?
Welcome to Lulu’s Art!
A series on all things art close to my heart.
Other posts of this series can be found in the menu page under Lulu’s Art.
What do you see in my art?
Art is all about perception. Its a sensory experience; all your senses experience my art in a way that is uniquely yours.
How you receive a piece of my art is just as important as how much I give of myself to it. What I leave behind in my art is a signature that is all mine and which will outlast me. What you receive from it is a signature that is all yours and which certainly will outlast you.
I believe art is never just created by one person. It is a blueprint of the Universe that we all partake together; one giving it form while the other receives it.
Related posts of the series:
Care to drop a tiny pearl from the ocean of your mind?