Writing Nonsense is Fun!

"Bowl of Fruit"
Watercolor and Pen & Ink

The assignment in writing class was to write about something that made no sense. This was a relief to me as my previous two stories had been memoirs concerning my relationships with my parents (who look down from above as I write here now). Of course, lots of unresolved sadness came up during these tributes (still tough to handle after all the years), so I welcomed this new writing challenge and found myself playing and frolicking with words. Writing this was fun, yet I was surprised at how it flowed. So it follows here. P.S. Couldn't resist adding a painting above. The only link I see with it and the story that follows is the purple grapes. Or maybe posting the "still" life is a way to balance the free flow of words that follow.......Can I imagine painting this story, hm, a challenge!

No Sense this Nonsense

The paint sucks me in, into a world of gooey colors that stick on me, coloring my perspective of life. Another viewpoint, another smell, and then I smell ink and I am walking on paper, making purple footprints on the parchment, stamping myself forever into somethingthat lies beyond me and as I walk, a cemetary comes into view and I am sucked down into a gravestone, deep I go mingling with the departed before me and then I am whisked up into the sky and I float high above and see painters sitting, painting everywhere, painting the monuments with angels perched on them and the angels begin to fly into the sky, joining me, holding my hands pulling me down to earth and I plop down hard, hardly noticing the bumps and bruises, my heart feels bruised from lack of painting, so I grab a piece of paper and trace the indentations of the names and words on the cold stone monuments, I throw the paper into the wind and wings emerge and the paper flies and I fly again and so it goes I am weightless now not feeling not being just
light as the paper and I have wings now and I sing and my harp in my fingers plays graceful beauty and the harp disappears and now a paintbrush is held by my trembling hands and I paint the skies purple so many shades of purple and a cluster of grapes comes into view and
I pluck one into my mouth and the grape screams in pain and I spit it out and it floats to the ground and disappears into another cemetary and then the ground spits it up and purple wine flows everywhere, everywhere and the people drink it, drink it deep into their parched throats and then they dance, drunk with magic, magic sweeps them from head to toe and they giggle and rise up to me, where I float on the cloud and the cloud bounces and then I take a bite of the cloud and white marshmallow fluff surrounds my mouth and the cluster of grapes sticks to me and soaks me and I am now purple, I feel spiritual, the color purple is heavenly to me and I
display my robes with pride and wonder. Wondering at my journey which is a dream or not so I pinch myself and I do not wake up so I am not dead or am I I feel good inside and want to float up, floating up and then float on a turquoise sea, with bottles filled with messages surrounding
me and I peek into a bottle and it sucks me inside into its narrow passage and I bob up and down in the water, fish nearby look at me with fish-eyed gazes and I return the stare wanting to ride their backs but feeling frustrated in my prison. No one cares as I make my journey out to sea and then I wash onto shore and lay there in the bottle hoping to break out of my enclosure. Suddenly I expand and the glass breaks and I run onto the beach, making purple footprints in the sand, sucking on grapes and making sand angels on the sandy landscape. A crab wanders up to me, pinching me, asking me if I am dreaming. Do you feel this, the crab says wickedly and I take the crab and open up the drawbridge of the sandcastle and lock him up. Oh, how beautiful, crab exclains. Come inside and see what I see. And I decide to fly into one of the stained glass windows and sit down on a thrown. My eyes are dazzled by the beauty within and crab has crown on his head and I see paintings on the wall, they are my paintings that I have painted many years ago. I feel crabby that I cannot get rid of these creatures. I want to lighten my load now, yet like adult children they want to move back home. Moving swiftly, Crab pinches me and plops his crown on my head. I am now his chosen one.
Beverly Bronson 2008

Grasshopper Love

"Grasshopper Love"

Photograph

Well, I was just trying to find something different to photograph besides the usual dahlias that inhabit Lake Katherine Nature Preserve. Don't get me wrong, they're a beautiful flower but I think I've taken them from every angle. So when these guys (or should I say gal and guy) popped into my view, I was delighted. I hope these creatures don't mind that I'm putting them on the internet for all eyes to behold. I'm told that the female grasshopper is on the bottom (hm, why did the dull, brown colors give her away) and the male is on the top. That seems kind of typical. Yet, after they have had their pleasure, the female will eat the male. (You go, girl!). My husband told me this fact of nature, but I still enjoy the shot, nevertheless. I like how the female is peeking at me and the way the peach dahlia is blurred in the background. And I'm certainly glad I didn't wait around to see her eating her dessert! Now I understand where the phrase "having your cake and eating it too" may have originated from! Photo taken with digital camera with zoom lens allowing me to get in close without disturbing them. Heaven forbid! Keep your eyes and ears open and check out every flower and leaf because you just never know.......

"Hibernating No More"

"Hibernating No More"
Watercolor, white acrylic and salt

I like that I have many alteregos. I can be SunHawk or ButterflyWoman, depending on my feelings and moods. Today I think I'm listening to Butterfly Woman, who has missed making her presence known on my artistic creations. I think in a past life, I was either a flying creature of some sort or a flower, as I have such an affinity to these nature creations. I came up with the above image, "Hibernating No More" after the raindrops outside forced me inside for shelter and into a deeper part of me. Also, I have been taking a hiatus from my painting and now feel inspired to tap into that aspect of me in more recent days. (So a bit of a double meaning for me here). I was looking at a butterfly book and was inspired by a particular shape and color. The original photo was dark blue, so using that as a jumping off point, I plunged into my own imagination. Yes, it seems, that sometimes I do need photographs or other images to stir me up. Yet, save for the outline shape that has some similarity, the colors are totally different. It is my own creation, I feel. I painted the image above using watercolors, opaque white paint and other little texture tools like salt. The glowing yellow above this creature represents the sun as well as the yearning for a higher spiritual dimension of myself. I was surprised at how quickly I was able to paint her and the next day put her in my scanner and let her fly. Hm, seems I need a bigger scanner as mine only scans 8x10 images. So a bit of her has been clipped, especially the wings, but as I like cropped images anyway, no matter at this point. I also attempted to sign my name using a pencil tool in Photoshop (wanted to experiment). I had to do it with my right hand, even though I am left handed and felt the signature didn't turn out too bad. Usually I take a pencil or brush and hand-sign my name to the painting. Now, I know Thomas Kinkade puts his DNA into each of his paintings, but I'm not going that far. Just letting my spirit soak into the painting is enough for me.

My desert soul calls to me

"Desert Dream"
Digital Collage

I've always liked Georgia O'Keefe and her powerful artistic trek into New Mexico to let her creative juices fly. Her flower and skull arrangements always resonated with my artistic longings. Her strength, courage and independent spirit seemed to pave the way for future women artists. And there's something about the desert with its solitude and vast emptiness that calls to my soul. I used to live out in Arizona/New Mexico and feel a part of me still lurks and roams those lands. And as I've always liked surrealism, that artistic movement tinged with mystery and dream images, this latest piece links all of these bits and pieces into a whole. I've certainly done enough flower photographs but feel the need now to incorporate them with other images rather than having them stand alone. I feel more of a story can emerge this way.

"Desert Dream" reflects the relationship between beauty and death, and the never-ending cycle of our existence. This particular piece is a collage composite consisting of photographs I've taken and various computer tools. I wasn't sure whether to add the flower on the top of the skull's head but felt the need for balance with its addition. Right now it's image size is 8" x 10" but I'd like to make a bigger print for more impact. I really feel in a past life I was part of the surrealistic art movement, so feel the need to embrace it now.

Pushing the abstract envelope

Image One

Image Two
(with a slightly darker background)

Well, art fair took a lot out of me. I was pretty intense and energetic about it. Started feeling a bit of a let down for a few days afterwards. But now I am in creative mode again. Even though I have no exhibits in the near future, I am glad I am feeling this way. I really think getting your work "out there" does have a motivating factor to it. And I continue to want to be experimental. I took a photo of a flower interior (a Hollyhock), as someone at the fair told me, and decided to jazz and color it up. It was already an abstract image but seemed rather dull compared to some of the other art I had displayed at the fair. (Another good reason to frame and exhibit a number of your pieces together, I find). So this morning Frank and I played with the image and shared thoughts and ideas on where to go with it. The circle itself is not a perfect circle, which I feel adds interest. The original Hollyhock photo had been cropped so no background was evident. I felt the need to add a background here, though. To me the cross has a spiritual connotation and the darkness represents space/universe, giving some depth to the piece. The two images above have slightly different backgrounds (one is a slightly lighter purple) and I'd appreciate any feedback about them (Your preference). I continue to delve into the world of abstract and was glad I exhibited a few of my newer pieces at the art fair. No titles yet here, but in time I'm sure they'll emerge.