Life is a book I haven’t read yet…

The world flows in and out of consciousness
like tide pools
My intensity is uncovered
My feelings bare and open
I am fragile and raw
The sensations grow
Waves of emotion, intense and sharp
I am ready to explode
The dream, the world washes over me covering
me like velvet
Soft and warm until the next low tide.

by Cheryl McDonald

Do you ever look back at your life and feel like you have lived many different lives over your lifespan? I do. Every new chapter is an opportunity to try new things. I love that about life and as I feel like I am beginning a new chapter now, I am finding I miss some of the things I used to love and I want to figure out how to incorporate them in this new chapter if possible. That’s kind of where this blog is going.

I am getting ready for my first art event in almost a year and it is near the ocean.
I used to make a lot of beach oriented art because I lived near the ocean and that is what the customer base was most interested in. I had no problem with that I always loved the ocean and the beach and the lifestyle of Southern CA. I don’t have much of that art left anymore. Most has been sold, but I do have a few pieces, and my favorite is this drawing I did in about 2005 called Tide Pools. I used to write poetry to go along with many of my paintings, I have gotten more illustrative and less fine art oriented over the years. It paid better…
Anyway the poem I wrote for this graphite and colored pencil drawing was actually written before the art was created. I wrote it while sitting on a rock in Moonstone Bay near Cambria while looking down into a tide pool. It was a foggy, chilly day and the clouds covered the area like a big fluffy blanket and I was imagining what it must be like for the starfish and other sea creatures who live in a tide pool environment. As the tide flows out and they are exposed, I am sure they notice the difference in temperature and atmosphere surrounding them and I tried to imagine how it felt. These were my thoughts expressed in the poem.
I created the artwork a couple of years later by setting up my own little tide pool in a tray made up of shells I had collected over the years. The piece is very large for a pencil drawing 22×27” and it took me a couple of months to complete. There are many, many layers of graphite and color pencil which creates a soft “hand-colored photo” effect. I wanted the poem to be part of the piece so I hand wrote it around the edge of the paper. It is one of my favorite paintings.
Last week I was talking in this blog about doing one thing. Why did I stop making pencil art and poetry? I’m not sure, but I did love doing it even though it was time consuming and harder to sell. Maybe I need to go back to it? Here is where a whole lot of fear creeps in and my monkey mind goes spinning out of control. This is always a sure sign that this is important and probably a very deep desire. Back then my art had passion and meaning to it. It was personal and scary to share sometimes. And isn’t that what art is supposed to be? Not just pretty pictures but something that makes you think. I guess this is my definition of art. And this is a part of me I really miss. I need to identify these fears and sit with them, acknowledge them and thank them for wanting to protect me, and then find a path through them so maybe I can get back to myself. If that is even who my Self is anymore (another fear?)

As you can see I am still thinking all of this through but working in one direction really is my primary goal, how can I incorporate all of these aspects of myself into this? Some more things I need to explore. Experimentation of new ideas and experiences and remembering what we loved in the past helps us find the new path we want to follow now. However, we also must not ignore the gnawing desires we have within us. So I shall think about all of this some more.

Life is good, and life is for living, I hope you are doing your best to make the most of the life you have been given and if you feel the need for change, it might be time for your own exploration and adventures!

If by chance you are near Oxnard, CA this Saturday August 27th come and enjoy some art at the Art Walk at the Shores all the information is on my website.

Have a happy day

Cheryl

P.S. Tide Pools will be featured in my booth this weekend along with many other drawings and paintings of various styles and subjects.