Time keeps on slippin'

Oops. I meant to write in this blog daily, but it's been nearly a week since my last entry. There has been a lot to distract me in both my personal and creative life; I'm happy to say one thing I've been working on is a small series of commissioned paintings. The sun and moon paintings are larger versions of minatures my customer liked; and she also wanted a third painting to capture the change between night and day-- a twilight, dominated by this unusual bird http://saveamericasforests.org/Yasuni/Biodiversity/Hoatzin.html

Now, about the painting showcased in this post. Hmm. Allan's photography does not show off well the pinkness of the flowers, but I thought I would try sumi-e ink painting with a local sort of subject, and this monochrome plant was so lovely I had it framed. Sumi-e, for those unfamiliar, is an ink painting style from Asia which is done by varying the mix of solid ink and water, and the wetness of the bush to create textures. The arm should be relaxed when painting, and the mind easy. The idea is to have one's personal energy, or qi, flowing naturally while painting, imbuing the art with a sense of life and nature, while serving as a sort of meditation. It is a very pleasant way to paint, as you can imagine, making the artist feel relaxed and refresh.
I took up sumi-e after seeing an artist doing it at a mall art show. He had samples of his work out, and sets of watercolor trays, and you could request whatever you liked based on his samples and he painted it for you right there. I asked for a rooster, as that is my sign in the Chinese Zodiac. It was almost magic to see him create the feathers with simple, eloquent brush strokes. I don't know where I put away that first sample that made me decide to learn the art myself, but I've made many pieces of my own, since then.

I'm listing this piece, Ink Pot, in my Etsy store tonight.

Meanwhile, a new bit of verse occurs to me:

Ink tells stories,
Joyful or sad.
Whispers secrets,
From mind to mind.

On paper, crisp,
The dreams we'd had;
In print or paint
For all to find.

When times move on
We may be glad
To find again
Dreams left behind.