Going with the flow

And now for another something-completely-different...

I don't usually get the urge to paint in the late afternoon, but this one kept me fully occupied right up until dinnertime. Something in me was determined to work in black and white, so I tackled -- or should I say attacked? -- my least favorite old canvas and used... I think I counted 17 different tools -- sponge, spatulas, palette knives, scrapers, square brushes, pointed brushes, small brushes, large brushes...

Something was definitely pushing through onto the canvas -- I was actually a little sore afterward. And even though it's REALLY dark and not my usual style, I actually kind of like it. On Etsy I suspect they would call this a "statement piece" -- it certainly does seem to make a statement. I'm just not quite sure what it's saying!

But there are lots of fun elements to it, and it has a silvery look which I quite love. I also find the sort of bent rectangle effect that diagonally occupies the middle (totally accidental, btw) quite fascinating. And I really like the light.

I do not, however, have a deep urge to replicate this painting in any way, shape, or form. And I say that because in my dreams last night I was repeatedly making double paintings -- I actually woke up determined to find a better way to achieve that watercolor effect I've been getting on the last few works, and ended up ordering a bunch of hi-flow acrylic paints (only 1-oz bottles; I'm not ready to fully commit myself here), something I've generally scorned in the past. But now I can see that the extra wateriness of those paints and their slow-drying qualities could come in handy.

Plus -- Dick Blick was selling a marker kit: five hi-flow acrylics with refillable markers with different tips you could use with them to create different kinds of marks in different colors. Shipping will be slow, of course -- it always is, these days -- but I can't wait to try them...

So this -- this painting, and this purchase -- is I guess what comes of "going with the flow:" listening to what the heart seems to want and allowing that to move through you as it will.  The part of me that spent most of my life in traditional churches is a little anxious about that -- this painting could easily be proof that when you allow your inner voice to speak the Devil will take over!

But I don't see it that way: from where I sit now, the seemingly irrational desire of people to risk their lives returning to worship is the fault of the church establishment. The church spent so much time convincing people that they were naturally sinful (original sin) and that only the clergy could link them back to God; that safety from those inherently naughty impulses could only be found in regular visits to these specific buildings and regular indulgence in these specific rituals.

If instead we'd been helped to discover and nurture that divine flame that lives within each of us and connects us all, how different life would be...