Blues and Greens swirl together. A dash of red.
Light flows through leaves, casting a faint green hue on a notebook left carelessly thrown under a tree.
The shadow of a dragonfly resting on a yellow flower.
A small house at the end of a lane, with bookshelves on every wall barely illuminated by a waning fire.
A starry night.
(no, not this Starry Night, Van Gogh already painted this one)
A crumbling brick wall, once painted a vibrant blue, now faded to a dull grey.
The ashes of a smoldering campfire.
A field of white snow with old fence posts marking the boundary of what was once a horse farm.
It is so easy, this mind painting. The colors always mix perfectly. The brush strokes are exactly right. No smudges or mistakes.
Perfection. But perfection that only I can see.
It is easy to keep beautiful thoughts and images to myself, safely locked away in my mind where no harm can come to them.
Sharing, taking the step from imagining to creating, that is messy.
Those same pictures that are so perfect in my mind won't be right on canvas.
The words and stories that come so easily, especially in that magical place that exists in the fleeting moments between awake and asleep, don't flow from pen to paper without changes, and edits, and frustration.
Blots of ink.
Creating is messy.
But when the ink blots are cleared away, sometimes there is something beautiful left behind. When the words don't flow and the images in my mind are a fleeting memory - when the mess overwhelms - the hope of the beautiful inspires me to keep creating.
Oh what a beautiful way to describe the creative process. Simple perfection.
ReplyDeleteThank you Ashley!
DeleteVery sweet, Tracie. I think pictures are created in all kinds of ways. I'm so grateful for having had children -- their talents are so varied and so different from mine ... they bring amazing beauty into my writer's home.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is a constant inspiration to me - she has taught me to look at things differently and expect magic in the most mundane of places.
DeleteSo beautiful, Tracie!
ReplyDeleteThank you Shell. <3
DeleteAnd created something beautiful is exactly what you just did. The imagery was gorgeous. Left me wishing I was right there in the painting your mind was creating.
ReplyDeleteThank you - this is the closest I can come to inviting you on in.
Deletewhat a beautiful description!! i havent tried to paint yet, but i feel this way about writing too. the creative process, artfully described :)
ReplyDeletePainting is nearly impossible for me. But the creative process really does translate over all mediums.
DeleteThis is beautiful, Tracie! I never thought to compare my words to brush strokes but it is such an awesome visual! Love you!
ReplyDeleteLove you too! Each word really is its own brush stroke.
DeleteI like to make mine yellow ;-)
Wow, this is very moving. I think your words really capture the struggle for a lot of people who create, whether artists, writers, musicians, etc. Very, very well done.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I was feeling in a very "slumpy" place, and writing this out brought it into a different perspective for me.
DeleteI feel the same way. I am not a very practiced painter, though I was a scenic artist in college. I can't draw at all, but I OFTEN have pictures in my mind. Pictures that are only mine.
ReplyDeleteI can't make those pictures in my mind come out with paints or drawing. But I cherish them all the same.
DeleteThat was fantastic Tracie. I can relate. Inspiration in mymind -- perfection. Rendered concrete -- lacking. Oh, but there are moments, moments when it comes out JUST PERFECTLY SO. And the effort itself, the creation itself, THE PROCESS = nirvana. Thanks for sharing your mind pictures today!
ReplyDeleteI live for those moments. They are total bliss.
DeleteThanks for reading!
ooooooh, gorgeous. and I love Van Gogh. And you. because this is precisely it. it's so easy inside my head. but the rest? not so easy.
ReplyDeleteOne day we will all figure out how to move these sparks of brilliance and beauty out of our minds. I've seen it happen on your blog - more than once.
DeleteOh shoot! What happened to my comment? :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat I was saying is that this is beautiful writing - swirling colors that become an actual image when the words define them.
Did you know that van Gogh is pronounced "van Gog" in French? You pronounce a G at the end. Weird huh?
Thank you so much! (sometimes blogger's comments go all wonky)
DeleteI did not know that. But I know I'm going to think it like that from now on when I read his name.
Oh this is so true! You capture and describe it perfectly. Thank you for sharing. :)
ReplyDeleteThank YOU!
DeleteIt's not even easy in my head, my mind has a mind of it's own. But beautiful way to describe your process.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of days when it isn't easy in my mind either. But we have to just keep going and trying and creating. I'm believing it will get easier - for both of us!
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