Thursday, September 06, 2012

The Daily Doily Project #1

It takes me a long time to finish a painting.
Like a month.
Like sometimes three months.
I get obsessed with, not perfection, but completedness.
I never feel like anything is ever complete.
In fact, if I were an immortal with infinite resources, I would probably never "finish" anything. I would just hang my paintings on my walls and walk around from room to room with a paintbrush touching things up as I went along.
But in this life we are never promised tomorrow, and I'd hate for my legacy to be a room full of half finished work, so I compel myself to hurry, and to try to accomplish that which I'm almost certain I will never actually do- be done.

I was in my art room/studio/craft-supply-hoard/whatever-you-want-to-call-it kind of pacing around trying to get myself pumped up about starting something new since I'd "finished", signed, and sealed all my current works. I was debating on which surface to choose next- a canvas, a cutting board, a collage? Rummaging through my drawers waiting for inspiration, and surely it came... in the form of an old package of paper doilies. Each one a delicate frame of lacy paper around a circle of pure white with a lovely texture. I pulled out the little cigar box that holds my rarely used water colors and tested whether or not the paper would take the paint.
It did.
Beautifully.
Thus The Daily Doily Project was born.
Now every morning, in that lovely quiet space after Dr A has left for work, but Elsie has yet to wake up, I take just a few minutes to sketch out ideas on my notepad, and my favorite goes on to live in watercolor and ink on a doily.

The Daily Doily Project #1 
"It Gets Better." 

I chose this phrase for the first one I want to post because it is so very applicable to so many things:
Life.
This project.
Everything.
I painted a butterfly underneath the quote because it perfectly embodies the idea that it will get better.

Here's hoping it's true.


------------------Post Edit--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone who knows me knows that my art is heavily influenced by what's playing on my headphones. I'm sure it's no coincidence that my preference for this one liner is also one of my favorite songs, by one of my favorite bands, FUN:
"What have we done, oh my god
What have we done, oh my god

This is really happening
You never looked so bored
Can you feel my fingernails?
They've never been so short

It's hard to lay a golden egg with everyone around
It's hard to stay inside my head when words keep pouring out

Like starlight crashing through the room, we'll lose our feathers
Yes, I know it hurts at first but it gets better

It gets better, it gets better
It gets better, we'll get better

It's hard to keep a straight face when I just want to smile
If you could see the look that's in your eyes

Like starlight crashing through the room, we'll lose our feathers
Yes, I know it hurts at first but it gets better

 It gets better, it gets better
It gets better, we'll get better

There's a fire in sky
Some snow on the ground
Not quite enough cigarettes
To calm me down

What have we done, oh my god
What have we done, oh my god

It gets better, it gets better
It gets better, we'll get better

(This is really happening)
It gets better, it gets better
It gets better, we'll get better

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