EDM Blues

Is it possible I'm in my blue period? Or, do you have to be famous to be in one of those?

EDM Blues

EDM 114 - A Shopping Cart

I confess that I frequently participate in shopping cart snobbery. In this game, you look at what others in the checkout line have in their carts, and you feel quietly snooty and snobbish that your cart's contents are much healthier, far less processed, and less package-heavy. Then I remember that I'm at Wal-Mart. You really shouldn't play this game when you shop at Wal-Mart all the time...and, I do. Come to think of it, I shouldn't play this game anywhere. No one likes a snob! I am ashamed.

EDM 115 - Shopping Cart; 3x3" colored pencil & ink

Which blog does this belong on?

I have more than one blog. In fact, I have started three art blogs, and it's getting a little hard to keep them sorted in my brain. My newest blog is specifically for my new business. The business is not merely in its infancy; it's in a preemie state, having been born, but barely breathing on its own. So, I'm wondering where to post new pieces these days. Today I'm going the solve the problem by doing a little blog cross-pollination. (Please, pardon the whiplash-inducing movement between metaphors—babies and now bees. What's next? Birds? I'm a little sleep deprived, which might be obvious to you.)

Anyway, I finished a large piece of art this week, but it seemed to fit better over at the new business blog, because it might be something I will do on a commission basis at some point. So, if you're so inclined, head on over to "A Happy Marriage of Friends" on the Blu Jar Studio blog, but don't forget how to find your way back here, because this is the place I hang out after the serious art is done!

EDM 114 - Something Ugly You Keep for Sentimental Reasons

When prompted to draw something that we keep even though it's ugly, I was stumped. I have boldly proclaimed myself as someone who sees beauty in the common, so I think everything we have, no matter how humble, is beautiful somehow. There are, of course, plenty of things in my home that are purely useful, but there is a beauty in usefulness. So, I was stumped by "ugly." I just didn't want to admit that we've been keeping anything ugly in our home.

Then, I remembered the old-ugly box; the box I keep out of sight; the box I try to forget we have. It is an extremely old, octagonal, lidded, crudely constructed (I could go on and on) box that my husband brought home from a friend's moving sale many years ago. We have no idea what it is or what it was used for, but we keep it because it's obviously very old. It's in sorry shape. Many of its seams are popping, and some of its rivets are missing. The lid is warped and sits cockeyed. The wood is cracked and rough. It has no latch or evidence of ever having had one, so I don't think it held anything precious. I suspect it was the ordinary breadbox of its day. We're guessing it's from the 1800s or earlier. If the Antiques Roadshow ever rolls through our town, I might take our old-ugly box, just so they can tell me what it is.

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then it stands to reason that "ugly" is, too. Ever since the moment I first beheld this old, wooden box, I deemed it ugly. Maybe I should start using it, instead of hiding it behind furniture, because there is a beauty in usefulness. Am I repeating myself?

Why do we keep the old-ugly box? Well, if the grand collective of old things ever needs a protector and caretaker, my husband would gladly apply for the job. In his mind, something that has survived many decades of use and abuse should never be discarded carelessly. It's an aspect of his character that I find very charming. He is loyal to a fault, and very old things need never fear for their lives around him! :) He rescued the old-ugly box from certain doom, and we are keeping it for good...for ever...for now...until the Roadshow tells us it's worth thousands of dollars.

Since I am pretty sure they were using dip pens when this box was first made, I decided to draw it using dip pens and calligraphy ink. I drew the letters first, and because I'm very impatient, I ran my hand through the still-wet ink while I was drawing the box. I had to make the mistake look intentional, so I pressed my finger into the ink and stamped the image all around. I kind of like the effect, like letter ghosts. (I wonder how long it will take for the blue ink to wear off of my fingers). My calligraphy ink is not waterproof, so I could not hit this with any paint. I think it's a fairly strong line drawing...and you probably think this is a really long post about an old, ugly box.

EDM 114 - Ugly but Kept; 3x3" watercolor

EDM 113 - A Fence

This is my feeble attempt at social commentary. My artistic license is up-to-date, so read on at your own risk. A great deal of human effort is spent trying to position oneself on the correct side of any and all fences, as if that were the primary meaning of being human. I've spent too much time being on the "right" side of the fence and the wrong side of being gracious. Note to self: humanity resides on both sides of all fences.

EDM 113 - A Fence; 3x3" watercolor

EDM 112 - Something Fresh

I'm in my third day of a juice fast, so this was breakfast this morning. I want to live in the colors of this painting. They just shout "Sunshine" to me.

EDM 112 - Something Fresh; 3x3" watercolor

EDM 111 - A Bowl

Either this is an imperfect painting of a perfect, little salt-glazed pottery bowl or it's a PERFECT painting of a little bowl I selected from the second-quality bin at an art festival decades ago. Or, it's both! And, since this is an example of one artist of handmade things trying to capture the essence of another artist's handmade thing, it might just be perfect. Who's to say, really?

If you're struggling with trying to draw and paint something perfectly, I encourage you to go find something that ISN'T perfect, and then do your best to draw that thing. You can't really go wrong. I'd lend you my little, lopsided pottery bowl, but it has already gone back to work as a paperclip holder--a job it does perfectly!

EDM 111 - A Bowl; 3x3" watercolor