Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Mind-Bending Oranges


Whew! What a day. Wednesdays are always my craziest days. When I first considered becoming a citizen of Blog Land, I had a fantasy of producing a brilliant blog which would offer interesting and mind-bending articles and thoughts which would result in equally stimulating conversations via the comments. I've woken up. Seems I don't actually have any particularly mind-bending thoughts, nor do i have the time to look up fascinating articles. I'm actually sort of okay with this though, because I'd much rather just use the blog as a forum for my sometimes mildly interesting thoughts and my feelings on the topics that are important and interesting to me, not what i think will be interesting to everyone else. hopefully the two will occasionally collide and I will end up connecting on some level with like-minded people. But, even if not it's still very therapeutic.

Back to my day. The one day a week I actually wake up early. Apparently, this is an indication of my brilliance (see Ezzie's thoughts on sleep). Of course, this means that I'm falling asleep on my feet by 2pm. Still, the day is redeemed by virtue of it being painting day. It's the one day a week I get to stare at a canvas for an hour and a half with pallet and brush in hand. I occasionally paint as well;) Seriously, it's almost as good as coffee.

At the moment, the focus of my art is an orange. I have spent the last two weeks painting oranges and I'm not even close to finishing the second one. I've found it to be a lesson in observation, patience, and focus. Painting has actually taught me a lot so far besides which colors make the shadow and which the shine of an orange.

1.It's okay to erase something I've worked hard on and start from scratch.

2.It's okay to just stand and look for a while.

3.It's the process and not the finished product that's important.

4.I'm never really finished; it can always be improved.

In addition, I've learned how to relax and stop being so hard on myself. Yes, it has taken me over three hours to paint an orange, and I'm not done yet, but my fifth attempt at the orange was much better than the first, and my tenth will be better than my fifth. The orange may never be a finished product, but, at this rate by the time I finish the class I'll be a lot closer to being one.

8 comments:

Ezzie said...

I had a fantasy of producing a brilliant blog which would offer interesting and mind-bending articles and thoughts which would result in equally stimulating conversations via the comments.

Ooh ooh, me too! :P But the other way is a better way to go.

1.It's okay to erase something I've worked hard on and start from scratch.

2.It's okay to just stand and look for a while.

3.It's the process and not the finished product that's important.

4.I'm never really finished; it can always be improved.


Amen. Awesome.

Bad4shidduchim(in exile) said...

I like a nicely finished product too... Baking cookies is yummy, but there's nothing like the finished thing.

...and there's no way I'm just standing and looking at cookies that need eating.

G said...

Well if you get tired of this project, might I suggest something in the same vane but perhaps a little more shall we say...noble.

https://www.americansportscollectibles.com/Cleveland-Browns-Helmet.jpg

the apple said...

When I first considered becoming a citizen of Blog Land, I had a fantasy of producing a brilliant blog which would offer interesting and mind-bending articles and thoughts which would result in equally stimulating conversations via the comments.

Hehe. Didn't we all.

And you echo my feelings on why one of my most favorite classes I took in college so far was studio art. There's so much to learn from working on an art project.
1.It's okay to erase something I've worked hard on and start from scratch.
2.It's okay to just stand and look for a while.
3.It's the process and not the finished product that's important.
4.I'm never really finished; it can always be improved.


100%!

[applause]

Madd Hatter said...

I'm suprised no one said my blog is brilliant. Couldn't you guys tell I was fishing? ;)

Ezzie- I think I'm starting to like the other way better too :)

Bad4S- Woah there. no one said anything about cookies. These lessons only apply to the more unappealing members of the food pyramid :)

Apple- Thank you, Thank you ;)

G- Haha. There's definitely a nice shine on it. I'll let you know :)

corner point said...

Oh, it is brilliant!! How's that? Feel better? :-)
(Truth is, this is only the first post I've read of yours, but it's very, very good, and although it's not intensely philosophical by nature, it did make me think, and for that I appreciate you and thank you.

What you wrote is so true...One of the most important life lessons I ever learned was from my 12th grade art teacher after I botched up yet another still life: "Mistakes are the best teachers..."

Ezzie said...

Of *course* it's brilliant, I've linked to like 2/3 of your posts! :P

Madd Hatter said...

corner point- actually, yes:)

Ezzie- and don't think i don't appreciate it :)

but really, i was just kidding.