Welcome back everyone!!!
I know I have been gone for a while but I promise I've been a busy bee. Along with some family events and unfortunate mishaps on the home front, all is now well. I'm back to painting and it feels sooo incredibly good.
I completed the 100 eyes challenge. To be exact, I completed 102 eyes!!! Yes!!! Look at me go! It was so much fun. I also, realized that I tend to gravitate to a particular eye. Each time I tried to draw or paint a reference I always ended up changing it. This challenge was a huge lesson on capturing likeness and embracing variety. I can't complain at all. I'm now planning my next 100 challenge and I think I will be doing lips. Another body part I end up changing to a particular fashion. I know, I know, it's just preference but the world has an incredible amount of uniqueness, so why not portray it?!
Speaking of uniqueness, I've spent a great deal of time going through my ENTIRE inventory. Like, I mean, artwork from when I was 14 years old. I found my "portfolio" of paintings from 2002-2004. It's amazing to see my progression over the years. First off, can you believe it's been nearly 20 YEARS!!!! I know I am aging myself but holy moly.. time flies. This find made me sit and think for quite a few hours. In 20 years, I have let certain opportunities go by because I never thought I was good enough or that I couldn't make it. After looking at this and thinking for days about things I could've done or places I could've been, I stopped, looked at myself in the mirror and said "Nothing would have been different. Everything happens as it should, when it should and because it needs to as it is." So, finding this binder really helped me wake up and love myself and the path I am on.
From a young age we are told to follow a particular path because it's a successful way. I am here to tell you, that is not the case. There is no one way to the light. The light shines in all directions and at all different times. Whether yours is more direct and mine a rollercoaster, the point is, we strive for our very own definitions of success and that.. to me... is an encouraging thought. Boy, did that stroke of wisdom help me get through the mound of paintings I still had left to work through. People are so quick to judge when in reality, they have no right to. Sure, we should worry and care for one another but that's a completely different struggle from obsessing over someone else's way of life. We live in a world where other's make decisions for us, where social media is "real" versus what's outside our windows, and how media gets your attention by instilling fear without knowledge. Think about that for a second. How many people know history or the medicinal strength of a plant over a pill or that there is a golden ratio literally proving that every single thing is unique? Yes, it's amazing how much people don't know. There's this movie I genuinely love. I call it my girly religious choice lol. It's called "Saved", it came out in 2004 staring Mandy Moore, Jena Malone and Macaulay Culkin. It's about these teenagers in a Christian High school and one of the main girls finds out her boyfriend is gay. Now, I know it sounds kind of argumentative but I promise you, it's worth a watch. There's a specific line Jena Malone says to the principal of the school that has replayed in my head since I was 15 years old. She said "So everything that doesn't fit into some stupid idea of what you think God wants you just try to hide or fix or get rid of? It's just all too much to live up to. No one fits in one hundred percent of the time. Not even you.....Why would God make us all so different if he wanted us to be the same?" YESSSSSS!!! It's the most powerful line(s) in that entire movie. Why in the world is this movie not popular?!!! Who knows. How can we not embrace all of the little quirks and diversity on this lovely planet?! Life is too short to spend it hating and asking why. Live with joy and cheer.
Excuse me for getting all philosophical. Finding something that makes you feel older can do that to you, haha. Well, I hope you enjoyed this read. Please follow me on my other social media platforms. Thank you for visiting my blog!!
