Because of a couple-plus years of personal plot twists complicated by brain fog, I haven’t used this blog in a while (as can be seen by the dates of the posts, so that’s a remark, here, by Captain Obvious). Every so often, though, thoughts about the blog drift by. The foggy brain usually sighs, sniffles into her hankie, pats her back self-pitiously, if a bit awkwardly, and makes her way to the kitchen to see whether the grandkids have left any M&Ms in the candy dish. Usually not. Poor dear.
Still, the urge to make something has not stayed dormant, so here’s another shot at it. With luck, the brain will stay unfogged enough to make a dedicated effort to continue. We shall see.
Fiction-building has left me, temporarily I hope (thank you brain fog), but not the urge to make something. What has replaced story- and world-building is painting, specifically painting by number (PBN). I have good memories of the paint by number pictures my mom and dad painted, framed, and hung on the walls when the kits were new to the craft market. Replicating the process is soothing.
I do have some skill at sketching and watercolor, so I’m not devoid of a smidge of talent in that direction, but, ye olde brain just isn’t up for all the decisions inherent in DIY imaging. Because of that, PBN fits the bill perfectly. About the only downside to PBN for me, other than too many canvases from which to choose, is I miss the smell of oil paints and turpentine. They are a potent reminder of painting and I still find myself taking a sniff and wondering what’s missing. Of course, acrylic paints are far less messy than oils — no waiting a week for the paint to dry. Not breathing turpentine fumes is another benefit, lung-wise. Still, the nose feels left out.
The picture of the cardinals is the canvas that lured me back to PBN. At the time, I had no insights, tips, or tricks for painting and just opened the kit, quickly read the directions, and painted. If I were painting it now, I’d do a couple things differently, one being mixing in a paint additive to make the paint flow more smoothly. That aside, I still like the image and what it represents (me returning to painting, even if it is guided painting — I consider the guiding like a cookbook. I didn’t invent the recipe, but I did make it.)
