Deep Magic at 27 Weeks

Today, I am 27 weeks pregnant.

Yesterday, I picked up a paintbrush for the first time since I found out I was pregnant.

I don't think these two realities are coincidental. I've been on pins and needles throughout this pregnancy, waiting for the fateful 27 weeks to pass. Not that it's a magic number; I know it's not. Or maybe it is--"Deep Magic", as a friend of mine at church quoth (very C.S. Lewis of her...) the other day when the incessant back pain I'd been having for 5 months suddenly vanished in the middle of the Holy Unction service of Holy Week. Not magic--but God's hand, God's grace, God's peace--and the little girl in my abdomen finally choosing a more comfy position for what I hope will be the duration of the pregnancy.

I think most people would be surprised to hear me talk like that. The years between 2000 and 2005 beat a lot of things out of me, including the ability to speak in platitudes. But it has struck me constantly, in the midst of those years; in the midst of the Blessing Years that have followed, that God's grace and love and peace are not platitudes. And they are certainly not to be hidden away, but they are very precious, wonderful, mysterious, unfathomable realities that work even when we can't see them. Even when we are so reduced by our circumstances that we wonder if He's even there.

So--27 weeks. Not a magic number. But definitely a point of new vision, and hopefully a point of rebirth of creativity. Deep Magic.

Class project

I'm going blog crazy this week, huh?

My son's class is doing a geography project involving butterflies. They made butterflies out of tissue paper, hung them up around the classroom, and then left for spring break. When they came back *gasp* the butterflies had flown away. The idea was to have friends and family send postcards from around the country and the world telling the kids where their butterflies had been spotted.

My son has been bugging me to write a postcard to his class. He's totally on to the game, and wants me to participate. So I did, and here it is:

Caelum

Toying with names for the painting when I should be going to bed. I have no idea whether it's finished. I had originally intended ONE of these to be an acrylic rendering of an old pencil sketch I'd entitled Silent Reverie. However, I like them both so much, I'm afraid to mess with them.

Aaaaand another...

This one's a bit of a teaser, as I've only included the corner of the canvas. Actually, i guess it's just a little less than half of the canvas. I started this painting and left the last as it is because I liked the latter so much, and was afraid to mess it up. I am now falling in love with this one was well. *Sigh*. One of them will have to serve as fodder for a more complex painting. Dunno which it will be yet. Maybe both.

Back to painting...

Even for a woman of 33, with 2 kids, a fabulous husband, and a relatively stable, ridiculously happy and satisfying home life (it took long enough to get here); even having already weathered the storm of divorce in my own life, watching the marriage of one's progenitors dissolve is nothing less than harrowing.

I've had an image in my head for a while which expresses, for me, a portion of the chaos of it, and I started painting it today. I think for this one, I will dabble in mixed-media for the first time, because there are some things I simply cannot do in acrylics. We'll see how it turns out. Here's a peak at Stage 1. I apologize in advance for the quality of the photo. My husband is out of the country, and he accidentally left with our good point-and-shoot digital AND the digital SLR. So I have to work with what I have.

Untitled-- nude in acrylic

Newest painting

This one emerges out of some recent events--a little too personal to explain, but I think it's a cool painting anyway. I don't think it's quite finished. But it has a very fairy-ish, will-o'-the-wisp feeling to it.

Back at painting...

My work for today. I started this one last night, late, and finished this morning.


After I finished the one above, I sat for about 45 minutes *trying* to paint, and nothing happened. Well, three or four cruddy paintings happened, one on top of another on a single canvas. I finally set that aside and started fresh on a smaller, square canvas, and this is what I came up with. It's about 5 x 5 inches, so the face was quite a challenge.

Black & White

Another Sculpture

I'm getting better at this, and I'm enjoying every moment. I cannot WAIT to get my hands on soapstone. Or ceramic clay. Or ... whatever.

Seeing Red

New project- painting in primary colors. I painted this image like a black and white, only I substituted red for black and yellow for white. I'm really happy with it.

Sometime soon, when I have more paints, I'll do a blue & yellow and a red & blue. I have some other combinations in mind as well, but thought I'd get through the primaries first.

Sculpting

My first attempt at sculpting a face. The medium is Sculpey Clay.

Windy Day- finis

I think I might be done painting now for a while. At any rate, I'm plum out of images right at the moment. I'm very happy with this one. There are still a couple of things to be done- the yellow paint is very transparent, and needs several coats to cover the sketch beneath it. Other than that, though, it's finished.

Windy Day

This one started in my mind years ago as a poem (senryu, I believe):

The tide is turning.
I stand on the cusp of life
awaiting rebirth.


I hadn't connected the two (the poem and the painting) until I sat down to paint this morning, but they definitely go together. The painting is not yet finished. I blocked in the color last night so our daughter would be able to see it before she leaves us for the next week. She was impressed.

The Fields

THE FIELDS
7 January 2008, 12:17 PM

O, Beloved- you've told me of your Africa,
and I've longed to see Kericho, and the lovely
green fields of tea- the flavor embodied
in the top two leaves and the buds of Kenyan chai.
I could almost see the kinsmen of your heart
walking through the fields, singing beautiful songs,
laughing and flashing bright colors in the wind and rain.

How many died in the fields today?

So strange to grieve so deeply for a place and a people
I have never seen except through your eyes. But I do,
Beloved. I mourn the ebony of midnight skies,
the white diamonds scattered within, the red
of an African sunset, and the blood
seeping into the emerald fields.

Sycamore- FINAL ANSWER

Finis.

Sycamore

Have worked on this painting since last I posted it. In some ways, I'm happier with it now than I was before. In some ways, I think it needs more work. Not entirely happy with the shading.

Sycamore

Have worked on this painting since last I posted it. In some ways, I'm happier with it now than I was before. In some ways, I think it needs more work. Not entirely happy with the shading.