A Day of Photoshop, A Good Day (23)

July 7th
Much better. Yesterday, I hit a bunch of boxes on my vitamin week checklist. Maggie the Painting has life breathed into her. I am not sure it is Andrea's preferred style of art, as it does not reflect mid-century artwork, but it does reflect me and that is my goal, discovering me. My attempts at throwing around pots and cooking up a creative storm in the kitchen were also much improved yesterday. I ate like a vegan princess all day, finishing up my food frenzy with a delicious (perfect for me, but not sweet enough for Norman) dish of homemade mango sorbet. I was into socializing, going for a walk with Joyce and speaking on the phone to Sue. I even sat on the deck (protected in a cloud of bug spray) with our dishes of sorbet and learned how to play poker with Norman. I love the guy, but I could not follow all the rules. I am a simple gin rummy girl.

I decided on a photo for Murray my soon-to-be painting. Merging a few different photos of the furry boy into a perfect image from my dream was a fun hour-long jaunt in Photoshop. I attempted to use the computer to see if I could conjure up the idea of using a reflection of Murray in the side view mirror of a car. The images I had were not working and we would have to take him for another ride and get a better shot of his face in the wind. I was clearly not ready for this to be my next painting. I will use the brilliance of this idea at some point in my creative future, simply because it is a brilliant idea. Looking through my photo files, I found another wonderful pose of Murray and this one is so typical Murray that it screamed out to me to be painted. That happens with almost all of my work. An image will let me know it has to be painted. This regal portrait of Murray will be perfect on the wall of my house. It could be called, King of the Manor, which he is. Life took a wavering pause this week as I am sure the creative Gods will throw my way regularly. But I feel refreshed, ready to take an optimistic stab at all possible ideas and move on.

This morning, I read a few blogs about writing. Amy Lynn Andrews has a UseLetter newsletter (silly name) with helpful tips. As a retiree with goals in mind, the tips have become remarkably useful (thus the name?). I subscribed to a couple of her links, writers helping new writers. I will enjoy the process of learning how to promote myself, as a writer and an artist. A check mark in the category for finding an income? The sun is out, I slept better, and I get to go the Botanical Gardens today to see a Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit. I am excited to share my experience today with Ave. I consider her my artist muse but as she is more my pen pal these days, I get to practice my writing with her too. Dear Ave, for today, life is good.