Timeout for Art: Muses of Inspiration and Realization

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painting butterflies in watercolor, Timeout for Art, Timeout for Art Muses

‘Cesar’ Paddling Against the Current – Rio Jama – June 2015

“There are, it seems, two muses: the Muse of Inspiration, who gives us inarticulate visions and desires, and the Muse of Realization, who returns again and again to say “It is yet more difficult than you thought.” This is the muse of form.    

It may be then that form serves us best when it works as an obstruction, to baffle us and deflect our intended course. It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.”
― Wendell Berry

Magnificent Frigates practice touch-and-go aerobatics — Thursday morning, June 4

Fatigue and sore joints linger as I slowly reclaim my normal life ‘after dengue.’   Painting presents some new challenges; one is an unpredictable shake that suddenly takes control of my hand and then vanishes just as quickly.  I ignore it and assume it will eventually grow bored and vanish.   The fatigue affects my ability to stick with the painting, and after an hour’s session, I usually stop and rest for another hour.   The birds provide excellent distraction for those commercial breaks.

The watercolor study ‘Before Dengue” —

Painting this watercolor has been work.   It has also provided a necessary discipline for me to show up for work even if I feel like playing hooky.   I stare at the painting and nudge myself to move forward.   Losing electricity hasn’t helped, but I moved my work area to a window and cut fresh flowers for reference.

The first few sessions were brief, and I realized that I was not as strong as I thought!

We were without power all day Saturday and most of Sunday. Building a bit more physical strength, I squeezed in several painting sessions and then slept for ten hours.  While painting on Sunday night, we lost power again;  that’s one way to stop progress on a painting! On Monday morning, I could not find the painting.  I eventually found it propped on a shelf, where I had critiqued it the night before by candle light.

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Timeout for Art: Scientific Accuracy

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art by Lisa Brunetti, nature studies, painting butterflies in watercolor, Painting Flowers in Watercolor, the great nature project, Timeout for Art, watercolor, Working from Life

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

‘We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.’- Maya Angelou

The watercolor (above) patiently waited for three weeks while I waded through dengue-clouded sleep and dog-paddled back to the land of the living. Like trying to remember a dream, I now recall details of the illness that return in little snippets, “Oh, the exceptional pull of gravity on my hands and arms felt as if heavy chains kept them cemented to the mattress.”  I remember seeing my puffy face in the mirror and wondering, “Who are you?”  After the fever left, I walked with a touch of vertigo and often listed to the left like an injured fish swimming in circles.  I walked little, as my blood pressure fell if I stood too long, so returning to the bed with easy sleep was a gift.

The butterflies and flowers from a year ago

At times I forced myself to sit up, take my temperature, pulse, drink more liquids, and then I collapsed back into the world of dreams. Oh, the places I went in that dream-packed sleep, and though my dreams I could fly! I could roam the world and other worlds and spend time with a new cast of people! On awakening, the vivid recall kept me entertained, and I rolled back after a brief commercial break and returned a the marathon of dreams.

I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man. ~Chuang Tzu

Two days ago I peered at the watercolor in limbo and pondered the wildflowers in bloom outside. They were at their peak a month ago, and they were now going to seed and would soon be gone for another year. I could rely on reference photos, but there’s nothing (for me) better than working from life. I retrieved some flowers, revived the dried watercolor palette and began painting.