Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Inspirational painting


Today I want to share a picture with you.

This painting is one of a pair, both very similar scenes.

There are a couple reasons I find this painting impressive and inspiring.

The detail is not portrayed very clearly in this photo, but there is a lot of texture to this work. It was part of an assignment for an art class, one where the artist was supposed to paint a picture without using paintbrushes. They could use any other tool they wanted to apply the paint to the canvass, just not a paintbrush. Talk about having to get creative to get the desired effect!

The other reason is that the man who painted this picture was blue/green color blind, blues and greens merely different shades of gray to him. Because of this, the artist’s preferred medium was pen and ink – he didn’t have to worry about color with that. But he did not let that stop him. He stepped outside his comfort zone to create a work of beauty – then he did it again!

How do I know so much about this piece and the artist? It was painted by my grandpa.

Okay, so maybe I’m biased, but his painting is not just a part of my history or my legacy, it is also a symbol of what any of us can do if we strive to do what everyone else thinks is impossible.

Does it inspire you too? Have a comment? Please share!

Friday, October 11, 2013

Intro

How many times have you heard “what do you do for a living” when meeting someone for the first time? (If you’re still in school, it’s “what grade are you in” or “what are you studying” instead.) Maybe what I should be asking is whether you can you think of a time when you haven’t heard that question? It seems that people use the answer to define or put us into little labeled boxes on the shelf of their mind. But if you’re anything like me, the answer to that question doesn’t even come close to really telling someone who you are or what you’re like as a person. It’s about as useful as labeling someone based on their race, the length of their hair, or what color top they’re wearing today.

What does that have to do with this blog? Pretty much. . .everything. Just like one simple answer about what I do for a living doesn’t really describe me, trying to put a title or label on this kind of falls short.

Nothing really nails it: I write stories.

I can’t say I earn a living at it yet. In fact, I’m just taking the leap into sharing my words with others. I want to use this space to let folks know about what I’m working on, give tidbits about the process, and share things that inspire me along the way. So a simple answer would be that it’s a writer’s blog; a place where I try to connect with readers.

But what if somewhere along the line people who are newer to the whole “I’m an author” thing find something that helps them? Okay, then it still could be a writer’s blog.

The inspiration part is where it starts to get pretty complex, because that comes from who I am: my hobbies and interests, friends and family, even something I just happen to see somewhere along the way. And, as any artist will tell you, those little daily interactions can lead to some of the biggest breakthroughs in a project. Plus, there will always be more than one Work In Progress (WIP in author-speak) because the more I write, the more I’ll grow and change. And so, too, will this blog.

So . . .This is me!