Artistic Passions

I am an amateur artist. In particular, I am talking about painting. Anyone else like to paint?

I find it stress relieving. Usually I paint the same things over and over again. Does anyone else do that? You just have that one theme that you stick with no matter what.

I have included some pictures of my art. For some reason there is some glare from the overhead light and I couldn't figure out how to take it so that there was no glare and no shadow.

I'm mostly a nature painter. I love starry skies, although my stars can turn out a bit blobby. A thousand suns instead of a sky full of stars. The first two have that night sky and they are places with hills. The one on the left has those dark tree outlines which I painted later. The green hill also came later which is why there are blue spots around the trees, I didn't want to mess up the edges but I couldn't leave it blue around them all, so the ground is slightly blue, interpret that as you will. The one on the right has a blurry slash in the hill side. Yes, that is the haze of a city and light pollution. I'm not sure why this city is sitting at the base of a large hill, but it is and there is a yellowish halo over the top of it.

Below that is a cupcake which I painted for my birthday.

The bottom right is a flower where I used my acrylic paints like watercolor to fill in some of the petals. I also used my green for the background. Basically, I added water to the paint and let it spread over the canvas instead of putting more paint down. The bottom left is a rose of which I'm especially proud. Again sort of a watercolor effect for the background but nice strong lines for the flower itself.

Do you have a favorite? Or do you dislike them all? What do you think I should try to paint next?

When You are Stuck, Do Something Different

When you have a block, when your brain has frozen or fallen in a hole, stop what you're doing and do something different. It can be stressful when we are straining ourselves to try and do what we think we ought to do in the moment. However, for our health, it is better to take a break.

When I say something different, it could be something big or it could be something small.

When my head hurts or my body feels heavy, I lie on my back and stick my legs in the air. It's kind of funny how great it feels just to swing my legs and pretend to walk on the ceiling. Sometimes I'll prop my feet on the wall and just contemplate the ceiling.

When my writing is blocked, I like to color or look at possessions that I love and remember why they are important. There are things that we keep that have stories and if I take the time to listen, then I can hear them and it helps me to write more.

To the right is one of my necklaces that I've had since high school. I like to play with the coins, separate them, move the bead up and down. It makes me think of a pendulum or the part of a clock that swings side to side. It also makes me think of hard candy or a special eye glass that lets you see the magic in the world.

Not all of these breaks are foolproof or guaranteed to work every time, sometimes you are stuck for days so your break needs to be for days. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself.

Falling Behind on Word Count and Time

Have you ever been running to catch something or get somewhere?

For instance, say you were running to the bus stop and you know that a bus will arrive in exactly one minute.

So you pound down the sidewalk with the hopes that you'll catch this one and not have to wait for the next one (this point is key, there will be another bus, this one is just more convenient time-wise).

You're running and then your energy starts flagging and so you're jogging.

A few moments later you've slowed down even more and your half-heartedly skipping, then you deteriorate to just fast walking then to your normal pace and you wave a hand in the air, accepting that whatever happens was meant to be and you're indifferent if you'll make it this time.

That's how my writing has felt this month.

Granted we're "early" into the month, not halfway through, yet. Still, I want to tell this story and I keep running to get to that bus, but I'm not making it in time. If the bus is the completion of this novel, then I'm watching it drive further down the road.

It is day 13 and my current word count is 11,454 and the word count I'm supposed to be at is 21,666

I'll get there. It's just taking some time.

Side note: I could really go for some eggnog right now. I'm not sure why but I'm having this craving for that drink which is only to be found and drunk in December.

What bus have you missed? (Could be metaphorical, could be literal)

P.S. How do you like the look of my blog? Should I change it back or does this work for y'all?

November Noveling with Nanos

We've begun! The race against time and life has begun. Writers all over the world are trying to write novel length stories, 50,000 words!

If you have an account, then you know about all the cool features on the website: nanowrimo.org
Each year you can start a new project. Edit your bio information. Use the word sprint tool to help you write. If you can find a community of writers that is even better.

Then, during the month, there will be emails sent out from other writers to motivate you along the way.

It's a wonderful community and I've participated over the last four years.

This year my project is the prequel to Island Whispers. So I'm rebelling a bit, technically this isn't a new story, I have been working on it for a while, but I need to finish it. I'm hoping that the energy of the month and the word count goal will help me to finish this draft and make it a "complete" story.

So, a teaser for all of you lovely readers - no one else has read this yet - hopefully it's not too rough.

His legs moved quickly still he wasn’t fast enough. His eyes focused on the figure that was starting to get larger as it got closer to the ground. He barely noticed the branches that tore at his clothes or whipped by his head. 

Now that it was closer, he could make out its form. It was a being, a being with wings. And, from the looks of it, unconscious. He ran faster. 

The being was almost to the top layer of the trees. He wasn’t going to make it in time. 

He desperately sent out a wave of energy, hoping to stop this being’s descent. It worked. The body came to a stuttering halt, just above the tree level. Slowly, he concentrated on lowering this being onto the ground. 

Once it was laid out upon the grass, he checked her pulse. For it was a she, with her graceful form, and elegantly defined face. Her hair came in pale cascades to the ground. He felt her forehead, she was warm, and he could see her eyes flickering under their lids. She was still alive, and he found himself gazing wonderingly at her large wings that were crumpled beneath her. The wings were pure white, almost too stunning to look at; they seemed to glow with an inner beauty. Each feather a delicate perfection of shaft and vanes, like artwork, it made a balanced piece.

He could find no physical cause for her fall, but she looked exhausted. Pale shadows were under her eyes and her energy felt dull. 

Keith passed his hand over her body, reading her energy. There were small flares, but mostly it was dark. He tapped into his own energy and let it pour onto her. Their energies collided and he saw sparks fly. Her colors brightened immediately and her eyes snapped open.

“Who are you?”

Who do you think he has just met! If you've read Island Whispers, you might have some idea of who this character is and what her name is.