This deeply tired creative loves all of this. I'm trying to (re)write my own redemption arc after the internet has similarly broken me (a few times, hey?). Not sure if it's working tbh. As to your actual painting and its subject matter, it hit me in the gut - in a good way that still hurt a little because there's yearning there. Stories of home & belonging are often a glowing red thread for those of us who live out narratives of exile & home loss. I often feel that some of the most powerfully affecting art comes from those who become, (or open up) a channel for some kind of emotional truth to come into the world. Sometimes the redemption arc feels like a gift to others. So thankyou for yours, dear heart. Go well. xx
It's a genuinely difficult bit of writing to create, the redemption arc...so yes, I feel your deep tiredness. It's a hard slog and no, I'm not really sure how well it will work - there are times when I think the best option is to retire completely into hermitude. But the something that keeps tugging me back deserves a listen, a chance. So on I plod. Be well, dearest you...xoxo
You always make me think more deeply about things, Mel. To be honest, 2023 was a whole lot of work. I felt like a raptor flapping and circling, trying to catch the updraft that would send me effortlessly soaring. And what I learned is that I am never going to soar. Doesn't mean I'm not a good flyer though. I'm just not a raptor. More of a chickadee, I think. ; )
Oddly enough, my daughter and I were just talking about self-knowledge today and how challenging it can be to know oneself. Admiration of others can easily derail me (this is something I do know about myself). I used to lie awake at night wondering if I home schooled my kids for the right reasons or because I was influenced by some women I admired at the time.
As a child I had a pretty good grasp of my preferences, strengths and weaknesses, but as I grew older the pull of other people's personalities, priorities and needs plucked away at my feathers until there were not enough left to tell just what kind of bird I am. Should I be soaring or swimming? (Flitting through woods, I think.)
I like the idea of salvage + redemption. I hope that in 2024 I will not only be able to find the kind of freedom you have written about here, but that I will be able to provide the space and encouragement for others to find it too. Thank you, Mel, for providing that for your readers. ♥ Your art and writing shine!
I used to have an excellent grasp of my preferences as well....or at least I thought I did. I know I'm easily distracted though...that magpie brain of mine...so it's not hard to lure me off the path and let's face it, the internet is awash with sparkly things. *sigh*.
I think I'm definitely a flitter rather than a soarer as well, which is wonderful until you realize the (capitalist) world wants us to be soaring, even when our feathers aren't designed for it. Hence, the existential crisis.
Yes yes to footnote 4! And all of it. I think I am on the opposite end of the seesaw from you currently. More writing than painting (or even collaging). I suspect I’ll keep swaying between the two, never in balance because balance is static and who wants that?
Also, niches are bull dust. I will read (or observe or listen to) anything you have to write/paint/say. Please and thank you! ❤️
Thank you, Leanne! I love to know that you're on the other end of the see-saw....it helps me to remember that it'll swing around again and yes, who wants to be suspended in the middle?
And yes, niches are bull dust! Yet another stupid invention of the internet. pfft. xo
LOVE your paintings Mel - esp. the alphabet still lifes (?lives?) - so glad you linked your IG account. What medium do you use - acrylics? oils? - love the textures! xx
Thank you, C! I'm very much enjoying the alphabet still lives (?!)...they're so ridiculous they're fun. I use mostly acrylics...and some mixed media add-ins. xo
Always - always - you give me so much to reflect on. BIG!! Am so entirely grateful for that nugget of goodness in my life. And connecting with you. 💙 I too will continue to love anything you create. Visual. Literary. Thinky-thoughts. Book lists. Or otherwise. 2024. Goodness. What will it bring, I wonder?! 🤔
Thank you...lol...I knew you'd appreciate the BIG reference....quite the time and I'm so very grateful for the lasting connections that rippled from there. I wonder indeed? ;) xo
I'm obviously late in my arrival here. I remembered while driving - didn't I get an email from Melanie? - so I went searching. Always so much inspiration from you. Always so much to think about. My calendar year of 2023 has mostly been sh#@ and routines. GF sandwiches and changing jobs in May. Now deeply immersed in a toxic workplace, but I soldier on. I feel shut down but my nervous system feels frayed at the same time. Is it possible for a person to just blinker out? I need a week off - or a month - or a year. I took a watercolor class in March of 2022 with great hopes and then discovered that someone I had been very close to in my 20s committed suicide on the same day. It very much tarnished my ideas of painting. Anyway... he did what he did and I have to honor his choice. Home. I connected with you and Antoinette in your writings about Home so many years ago. Is Home nicheing? No way. Everything spins out from there. Home always feels like a whirling dervish. It all balances from here. Sun up. Sun down. The Hackberry Tree out my window is bare. Paint more. Write letters. Be well. ♡ n~
This deeply tired creative loves all of this. I'm trying to (re)write my own redemption arc after the internet has similarly broken me (a few times, hey?). Not sure if it's working tbh. As to your actual painting and its subject matter, it hit me in the gut - in a good way that still hurt a little because there's yearning there. Stories of home & belonging are often a glowing red thread for those of us who live out narratives of exile & home loss. I often feel that some of the most powerfully affecting art comes from those who become, (or open up) a channel for some kind of emotional truth to come into the world. Sometimes the redemption arc feels like a gift to others. So thankyou for yours, dear heart. Go well. xx
It's a genuinely difficult bit of writing to create, the redemption arc...so yes, I feel your deep tiredness. It's a hard slog and no, I'm not really sure how well it will work - there are times when I think the best option is to retire completely into hermitude. But the something that keeps tugging me back deserves a listen, a chance. So on I plod. Be well, dearest you...xoxo
You always make me think more deeply about things, Mel. To be honest, 2023 was a whole lot of work. I felt like a raptor flapping and circling, trying to catch the updraft that would send me effortlessly soaring. And what I learned is that I am never going to soar. Doesn't mean I'm not a good flyer though. I'm just not a raptor. More of a chickadee, I think. ; )
Oddly enough, my daughter and I were just talking about self-knowledge today and how challenging it can be to know oneself. Admiration of others can easily derail me (this is something I do know about myself). I used to lie awake at night wondering if I home schooled my kids for the right reasons or because I was influenced by some women I admired at the time.
As a child I had a pretty good grasp of my preferences, strengths and weaknesses, but as I grew older the pull of other people's personalities, priorities and needs plucked away at my feathers until there were not enough left to tell just what kind of bird I am. Should I be soaring or swimming? (Flitting through woods, I think.)
I like the idea of salvage + redemption. I hope that in 2024 I will not only be able to find the kind of freedom you have written about here, but that I will be able to provide the space and encouragement for others to find it too. Thank you, Mel, for providing that for your readers. ♥ Your art and writing shine!
2023 WAS a lot of work...I'm bloody knackered. :D
I used to have an excellent grasp of my preferences as well....or at least I thought I did. I know I'm easily distracted though...that magpie brain of mine...so it's not hard to lure me off the path and let's face it, the internet is awash with sparkly things. *sigh*.
I think I'm definitely a flitter rather than a soarer as well, which is wonderful until you realize the (capitalist) world wants us to be soaring, even when our feathers aren't designed for it. Hence, the existential crisis.
xo
ps. I love chickadees
Yes yes to footnote 4! And all of it. I think I am on the opposite end of the seesaw from you currently. More writing than painting (or even collaging). I suspect I’ll keep swaying between the two, never in balance because balance is static and who wants that?
Also, niches are bull dust. I will read (or observe or listen to) anything you have to write/paint/say. Please and thank you! ❤️
Thank you, Leanne! I love to know that you're on the other end of the see-saw....it helps me to remember that it'll swing around again and yes, who wants to be suspended in the middle?
And yes, niches are bull dust! Yet another stupid invention of the internet. pfft. xo
LOVE your paintings Mel - esp. the alphabet still lifes (?lives?) - so glad you linked your IG account. What medium do you use - acrylics? oils? - love the textures! xx
Thank you, C! I'm very much enjoying the alphabet still lives (?!)...they're so ridiculous they're fun. I use mostly acrylics...and some mixed media add-ins. xo
Always - always - you give me so much to reflect on. BIG!! Am so entirely grateful for that nugget of goodness in my life. And connecting with you. 💙 I too will continue to love anything you create. Visual. Literary. Thinky-thoughts. Book lists. Or otherwise. 2024. Goodness. What will it bring, I wonder?! 🤔
Thank you...lol...I knew you'd appreciate the BIG reference....quite the time and I'm so very grateful for the lasting connections that rippled from there. I wonder indeed? ;) xo
I'm obviously late in my arrival here. I remembered while driving - didn't I get an email from Melanie? - so I went searching. Always so much inspiration from you. Always so much to think about. My calendar year of 2023 has mostly been sh#@ and routines. GF sandwiches and changing jobs in May. Now deeply immersed in a toxic workplace, but I soldier on. I feel shut down but my nervous system feels frayed at the same time. Is it possible for a person to just blinker out? I need a week off - or a month - or a year. I took a watercolor class in March of 2022 with great hopes and then discovered that someone I had been very close to in my 20s committed suicide on the same day. It very much tarnished my ideas of painting. Anyway... he did what he did and I have to honor his choice. Home. I connected with you and Antoinette in your writings about Home so many years ago. Is Home nicheing? No way. Everything spins out from there. Home always feels like a whirling dervish. It all balances from here. Sun up. Sun down. The Hackberry Tree out my window is bare. Paint more. Write letters. Be well. ♡ n~