Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Sketchbook Images and Southern Girls

I saw a beautiful porcelain bird in a shop one day but did not purchase it or take a photo of it.
I really wish I had of bought it...it was white with feathers drawn in gold paint.
Just beautiful.

I saw a similar one in a gift shop in Asheville NC that I purchased.
The feathers are not drawn on this one but I really like the longer legs and beak.

Here's an early morning shot of it -

She poses for me

"Wait, this is my best side"

Posing for me in the bright light by my sink.
This lovely birdie is about 2.5 inches tall.

I decided to pull out my sketchbook and draw my version of the bird.
Sans color.


I will eventually add some color.
Maybe.
If I remember to go back to it.

It's hard for me to go back to a drawing once I turn the page in my sketchbook.
I just keep drawing.

I would guess that most of the drawings in my current sketchbook have no color on them...just pen, a little pencil.

I seem to get distracted so easily, going from this to that.
Mostly eco printing/dyeing, drawing, reading and writing.
Not much arithmetic though.
hahaha.

What I would really like to do is hijack my blog.

I had a discussion with a couple of other artist bloggers about how we say things that are "nice" or "socially acceptable" and shy away from the "questionable" things on our blogs.
Or topics that might bother someone.
Heaven forbid we piss someone off, right?

We bewailed the fabricated loss of our blogs, of our very pulpit.

Why did we feel that we couldn't be honest or free with our voice on our OWN blog?

I could probably rationalize my hesitation
I am a Pro at that you know.
Rationalization, that is.

I am a Southern girl (a woman really but in my mind I am still full of young thoughts and ideas).
Anyway - Southern girls are taught to be nice.
Be nice, dammit - we heard that a lot.
We still hear it actually.
Gracious.
Be gracious and be nice dammit.
And mannerly.
Mind your manners young lady. I heard that a lot too.
What they really meant was "Mind ME dammit".

So, I always try to be nice (dammit) and gracious on my blog too.

Maybe I won't be so damn (!) nice from time to time...

I need to give myself permission to hijack my own blog and tell it like it is - just from time to time, that is.
My close friends and family will laugh when they read this, considering that I usually do "tell it like it is".

But, for today anyway, I will "be nice dammit" and just share my sketchbook instead of my opinion.

I'll stick with telling you to "be creative dammit", how about that?


4 comments:

Bren Graham Thebeau said...

LOL, love where you're coming from. Not a thing wrong with voicing your opinion, clear thinking and open discussion is healthy for the soul. Looking forward to what's to come, dammit!
And I'm liking your version of the little bird, I hope it does make it into living colour someday!

Anonymous said...

I don't think it is just southern girls that are taught to be nice and polite, although they perhaps mind the instructions better. ha ha

Love your little bird. Can't wait to see you!

Joanne Huffman said...

The bird and the drawing are both sweet. I'm not sure what you're holding back, but I applaud your decision to be frank.

Izzy said...

I just ran across your blog, stumbling my way through this new need to feed my textile soul. First let me say I love your work. Secondly, I spent many years making copper jewelry and as everyone does now a days, I too had a blog and played nice (also a Southern girl). Then I said "screw it". My shop wasn't doing so great and I was more focused on personal feelings of disappointment with political items on the current agenda here in my home state of NC. I decided to voice those options, sharing them freely along with my new discoveries of the terrible things going on with factory farming. =) Let me just say, it didn't go well. Because of daily, nasty comments I eventually shut my shop down and my blog. It was time anyway, I was exhausted from all the copying and shark like tendencies of fellow artists. I was spent. I donated all my remaining jewelry to our local animal rescue for auction and haven't been back to blogging since. Being a bit of an introvert I found it fascinating that I could stick my little turtle neck out so far via the cyber world. But then quickly learned that it can easily be chopped off. By no means am I saying you shouldn't hijack your own blog, but learn from my lesson and don't go from one extreme to another. =) Happy to meet someone from a neighboring state. I'm an old Asheville girl, so I know your neck of the woods quite well. Have a wonderful day.