Memory lane: my first canvases

In setting up this blog I waded through my photo files and I discovered my first attempt at “real” painting which is pictured. These canvases inspired me to start a fiction piece entitled “Lady Syringa of the lilacs,” which I never finished. Somehow finishing the paintings and giving them away sapped my writing momentum. I still have the file so maybe someday I’ll attempt its completion, I am ever optimistic of such things. Much as I know that this is clearly an amateur effort (gak! I can’t paint, more practice is needed) I can’t help remembering it fondly. I stayed up for 25 hours straight painting these two pieces while watching the anime, Fruits Basket, with a very dear friend of mine. We drank tea and ate treats and watched Fruits Basket together as I layered acrylic paint and creative tippets on canvas; reveling in the story and the music and the childlike joy of seeing the stars turn in the heavens to reveal a shining dawn. I have no idea where these canvases are today or if they make anyone smile but for me they will always be emblematic of the joy of creative process outweighing the joy of creative product. Much as I like the feeling of finishing something (and I do LOVE that feeling) sometimes the journey of getting there is just plain more fun. That journey leaves you wanting to set out from one’s hobbit hole with a fresh set of 19 pocket handerkerchiefs on another adventure almost as soon as you get home. Hallelujah for the journey!

In case anyone is interested, I painted with acrylic paint on canvas. The paper faeries are from a scrapbooking pad called “Once Upon A Time,” and the butterflies are from vellum scrapbooking paper. Both were fussy cut. Lady Syringa is made of scrapbooking paper, scrapbooking leaves, leaves from a silk flower garden, and flowers from a silk garland of hyacinth. I used a metal bead spacer for her crown as well as some broken glass beads for accents. Bead spacers were glued to the canvas in my attempt to indicate fluttering fairy lights. All of these creative tippets were attached to the canvas using Tacky craft glue.