It’s been an unusual few days. Last Wednesday afternoon, following my first sewing session in months (I hemmed two pairs of jeans and made a headband), my lower back started to ache. I chalked it up to bad sitting posture and figured it would go away overnight, but it didn’t. The next day I did an hour of gentle stretching and then discovered I couldn’t sit at all without discomfort. So I didn’t — which meant that basically all my normal activities were off-limits. Instead, I tidied and cleaned the house, did laundry, tended the garden, and cooked — all before noon! After lunch I really didn’t know what else to do with myself, so I lay on my back and read Vegetarian Times and two issues of Sunset magazine. I devoured the gardening articles, especially this one comparing flowers to Lady Gaga and Bollywood pictures. We were going through a heat wave, so I kept my windows open morning and evening, and felt the breeze and heard the sounds from outside. In the evening Erik and I went for a slow walk. Aside from the back pain, it was a very relaxing way to spend the day!
The next day I felt the same way, so I did more morning stretches and resolved to take another no-sitting day. But I got fidgety. The back pain was confined to a small portion of my lower spine, nice and symmetrical, and it only bothered me when I sat down. Other than that, thanks to all the stretching and my restful Thursday, I felt fabulous! So I ran some errands, including visits to two plant nurseries (inspired by all the lush photos in Sunset). I came home hungry for lunch and with some new herbs and a sweet little geranium with lemon-scented leaves. But that still only occupied me for half the day. After all that resting and all the horticultural well-filling, I really wanted to make something bursting with life and color and deliciousness.
I got out my pencils and paints and promised myself I would take standing and stretching breaks as often as possible. On a piece of handmade paper I sketched a curvy woman, wearing fitted clothes and holding a dessert in each hand. I wanted her whole appearance to be as luscious and blooming as the spring! Once I started to paint, I gave her a luminous skin tone (very much like mine at its best) and a rainbow-hued top, and I put my own new shoes on her toes. When it came time to do the background, I added some landscaping — a nod to the beautiful plants I’d been seeing on the page and in person — and a bit of moss between the paving stones.
When I finished the painting I couldn’t have been happier. Although the girl I painted doesn’t look exactly like me, she looks the way I feel: confident, comfortable, beautiful, and surrounded by colorful delights! I can’t get enough of looking at her — or of admiring the plant in the lower right. I still feel that my painting style is flatter and more cartoony than I’d like, but that plant gives me hope that I can learn to paint with more depth and volume. And I have been getting lots of practice. On Saturday I had my first meeting of the IWL workshop, and it was so energizing and so much fun! For my first homework I am painting a story that I like very much. It’s more surreal than other work I’ve done, and possibly even more personal. It’s due on Wednesday so I will likely share it with you then.
In the meantime, I will continue to sit as little as possible, breathe deeply, and relax!
Beautiful! I love that this is the way you see yourself, Lisa — all lucious and happy and fully in bloom — another lovely flower in the garden…
Thank you, Sherry! Something that clicked for me during my first writing lab on Saturday (the IWL workshop I mentioned) was that I feel very connected to all things. That was something I felt strongly as a child, that I’d lost awareness of as I got older. So I like your thought about me as a flower in the garden. 🙂 Yep, I’m planted in there just like my cilantro and California poppies! 🙂
Ooooh! Lisa, your painting is beautiful! I love her, her beautiful clothes, the luscious-looking desserts, and the rich colors and the details of the lush outdoor scene. Thanks for sharing it! I can’t wait to see the story you’re painting.
Hope you’re feeling all better; if not yet, then soon!
Thank you so much, Ré! That is just how I feel about my painting too! I want to make more art that comes from this feeling of life and vibrancy. I think that spirit comes through in the story I’m working on, too, though that one is slightly more serious. You’ll see when I get to posting it.
My back is still feeling strange, but it’s much happier since I got a kneeling chair. I’ll post a pic of that later.
I love it! You projected what you desire most through a beautiful drawing. Nice! That’s one way to breathe life and color into your being, and a most certain way to envision your deepest desires. Take care of that back!
Thank you, SomerEmpress! I definitely feel like this painting marks the start of me getting me in tune with how to “envision my deepest desires” in my artwork.
It certainly looks that way. Gorgeous image 😉
Thank you so much, Esther! 🙂
[…] I want to be on the Open Mic! ← Monday Art: The Queen of Dessert […]