We have been in social distancing mode for two months now. When our schools let out for Spring Break on March 12, we thought they might let the students and teachers take an extra two weeks as an abundance of caution. Instead, and we were in total agreement after seeing how coronavirus has spread, school has remained "out," with distance learning replacing regular in-person schooling. Today was the official last day of school.
My family have spent the last eight weeks still working hard, as we have two teachers, a high school, and a college student among us. But the lack of commuting and social activities left us with plenty of time after work was done to indulge in art. One project that I have been working on is the prep work for some landscape paintings. My source of inspiration is images from a Vermont Facebook Group, with plenty of blissful landscapes represented. My process thus far is to take an inspiration image and edit/tweak it in photo-editing software. This way, I can correct color, remove distracting elements, enhance a bland sky, and crop to the ratio I want. Finally, I use the artistic treatment of "oil painting" to give the look of brush strokes, soften edges, and simplify the color palette in the scene. These treated images will be what I work from when I start painting. Following are two Vermont scenes in the original images, with the edited version beside it. I will post more about my painting process as I work through these projects. My main goal is to paint a rather large watercolor painting to hang on the wall over our couch.
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In the middle of December, in the middle of the night, we got a call from Iran. My husband's father had passed away. My husband was heartbroken. He had been hoping to see his father over the semester break, after his teaching duties were fulfilled, but Daddyjon passed away a few days before the semester ended. He was a good father, in that he never stopped caring for his kids, being concerned for them, thinking they deserved every honor, and wishing them every worldly success. Because we only saw him periodically, when he would come to the US for a two or three-month visit, our children and their cousins, all my father-in-law's grandchildren, did not really have the opportunity to develop a deep relationship with him. But he would hug the kids and fuss over them when he was here, especially over my oldest daughter. She was the first-born of his first-born, my husband, and Daddyjon himself was the first-born of his generation. He treated me, his daughter-in-law, with respect and mild affection. I think he would have liked my husband to marry a beautiful Persian girl with a background of infinite intellectual and business success, but instead there was me. A country girl from Oklahoma, with short legs, thick glasses, and an introverted manner, and a little on the heavy side. As the years went by, I think he began to respect me because I loved his son and tried to be a good wife and mother. I could cook some Persian foods with success. And then he had a soft spot for my children, the oldest because she was the first-born, and the youngest because she was a little blue-eyed blond-haired cherub when she was little, and because she was the baby out of all of the cousins. As a tribute to him, I have started working on a watercolor portrait of my father-in-law. When I work on a portrait, I work from a photograph blown up on my laptop screen. The normal looking portrait becomes a mottled map of splotches and shadows when you blow it up on the screen, but somehow, as I paint what I am seeing, a human face emerges, little by little. I have done a few portraits before, and I try to start with the eyes of the subject. I think if I get the eyes right, the rest of it doesn't matter so much, as clothes, hair, and skin texture changes through the years. But the eyes stay the same, and so with Daddyjon's portrait, it has been strange and yet it also has felt right, that as I paint his portrait, I feel his eyes on me. This man, who I only knew well through the stories told in the family about him, because in person it was only courteous exchanges between us . . . I feel I have looked into his eyes more this past few weeks of painting him than I did in the 25 years my husband and I have been married. I see something there now that I missed before. Always before, I felt when he looked at me, that I didn't measure up to the standard of Persian perfection, and so I would end the polite conversations as soon as I could, to go help in the kitchen or be with the children. I always felt judged before, but now, looking into his eyes in this portrait, I feel he is saying, "Thank you for taking good care of my son and my granddaughters. I see you now for who you are, not for who you aren't." I hope that he can still see all of us, from wherever he is in his spiritual state. After I finish the portrait, I will have it framed and then hung on the wall, right beside the portrait I painted of the best man I have ever known, my husband. The finished portrait - my husband loves it and I feel 100% at peace now with my father-in-law. Art has a way of opening our hearts and minds. Everyone needs a little creativity in her or his life. Creativity satisfies something within us, in a process that is both expressive of our inner vision and at the same time, nourishing to our most authentic self.
Creativity is also good for our health, helping us to relax by shifting our focus away from our problems for just a little while. Creative pursuits help to lower your blood pressure, help you feel more content, and can add confidence and enthusiasm to your outlook on life! Whatever your chosen outlet for creativity, I have a simple system that breaks the creative process into five easy steps. We all lead busy lives, and it can feel like you can't possibly fit in the extra time for creative pursuits. But it IS possible, with a plan in hand! An outline of my SPACE plan follows - with a brief description of each phase of the creative process. And keep in mind that it is a process - that is what keeps it from taking over your life! One deterrent to people starting a new hobby or creative project is the idea that it will clutter up their house or garage, and end up being a source or stress or just another unfinished project. By starting off with the mindset that this is a process that is broken down into smaller segments, you are less likely to go full-blown obsessive with enthusiasm over your project. You are more likely to put thoughtful time into planning, instead of just randomly plunging in and not feeling a clear direction. And you are more likely to finish your project, and to experience the deep satisfaction that comes with completing something creative! I will be talking about this process more in future posts, and showing real-life examples of the SPACE plan in action. For now, here is an overview of my SPACE plan for creative projects: S - SHOP - this means finding and obtaining all the raw materials, even if they are free or thrifted P - PREPARATION - these are the preliminary steps that have to be taken before the actual creating begins, including organization, opening packages, washing/drying/ironing material, etc. A - ASSEMBLE - this is the actual act of creating, sewing, knitting, painting, cutting/gluing, assembling components like quilt blocks, etc. C - COMPLETE - this is the final act of assembling the main final product, there may be multiple stages of this as in a quilt, or when glue/paint has to dry. E - ENHANCE - this is when the small final details are added, such as polishing, cutting threads, packaging jewelry on cards and in bags, etc. I have always been a writer. I have not ever been much of a talker. The quiet child, quiet young person, quiet adult, wife, and mom who has always found it easier to listen than to articulate my thoughts. Now that I am older and the world in general (and I in particular) have become more aware of introversion, I value my quiet nature in a way I never could when I was younger. But writing . . . writing was always a magnet to me, and I started composing short poems when I was in grade school. In my middle school years, I wrote long, loopy letters to my pen pal and my grandmothers. In high school and college, I was committed to making regular journal entries. I did my best to keep up with my journals through motherhood, but sometimes years would go by between entries. However, when I felt the urge to write, I could always pick up my journal and pen again, and the words would flow as if there had been no interruption. It was with much delight and enthusiasm that I took up blogging a few years ago, with the best intentions of posting at least twice a month. Well, let's just say reality was quite different from my intentions! In the interest of getting back into a habit of regular blog posts, I have revamped my Filigreen site and am hoping to be a more productive blogger! I hope you enjoy my blog and reading about my different perspectives and projects. Welcome! |
AuthorI am Kelly - a wife, mother, cook, gardener, sewist, and much more. Creativity is the gift that I have been blessed with, and it has been a river of blessings to me. A creative outlet is good for you, body and soul. This blog is about helping you find ways to fit more creativity into your life, to enrich your own life and that of others. Archives
November 2022
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