hidden in the mess
Today I got out the india ink and a big brush and just went to town on a spread in my journal. Big black strokes with rough feathery edges. After that it seemed like it needed circles so I started drawing tiny circles all around the brush strokes. Quick and easy. Unthinking. The result was sort of an ugly mess of splotches and octopus suckers. Not really worth keeping or being proud of.
I was about to paint over it, but I thought, I bet there is beauty in there somewhere. I just need to look closer. So I scanned that ugly drawing in at a high resolution and I started playing with different croppings… seeing something there that I missed when I was just glancing at it from a distance. The result is below. Eight different sections of the drawing that I felt made beautiful little compositions in themselves.
And I thought of the parallel this had to my life right now. There’s a lot of ugliness and negativity that seems to be lingering over me and mine at the moment. Dreams being squashed and hopes being dimmed… I can’t really see the silver lining or the good parts from this angle. It just looks messy and hard…
But looking deeper, I see some goodness hidden in there. Some heartfelt conversations. Some realization of what the good life means and what it doesn’t. Faith that some unknown doors will open. Some embraces that tell you what someone’s heart is saying. Some overlooked blessings coming to the light. Some small understandings.
It’s all there, just hidden slightly in the mess. We just have to look a little closer.
Beautiful.
It’s always darkest before the sun comes out.
Thank you for this post.
YOU are a true source of beauty.
Wow. What a beautiful entry. Such an important lesson.
Thanks for sharing.
Yesterday, as you were looking for beauty and hope in the small details, I was trying to see the whole picture in my own life. Sometimes a shift in perspective is really needed, isn’t it? Hang in there, Penelope!
Great analogy
indeed.
You just made my day :-) And that’s a beautiful thing!
these are truly delicious…
as are you!~
may your world be saturated with light, everyday goodness, frappes and angels.
Penelope,
These are just beautiful. I looked at them closely for a while before reading your accompanying text. It’s a lovely post. Thank you for that.
Yeehaw! Let’s ride this roller coaster and see if we can get some good pics along the way! We’ll definitely be looking harder and from different points of view in the very near future.
It is like a tapestry…..viewed from the back….We only see the beautiful weavings and scenes as we look back.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts…
I try to do the same with my work , and the best thing is you can go on forever looking at all the different view points and close ups of images, and come up with millions of different images! Really like your work, your use of colour and the way some of them look like they’re cut out or different papers have been used. You’re an inspiration!
I loved this post – thank you for sharing something so often trite in such a beautiful way.
Well written! Like the perspective and positive attitude!