Painting Blitz

Let's see today (03.09.10), I wrote 2 paragraphs worth of stuff...one of them went up in an earlier blog.  Then I took a long walk in this heavy overcast day.  When I got back I intended to sit and write for a while but the petulant child inside of me resisted.  She sat in the corner, crossed her arms demanding for something more fun.  Well what could I do?  I've neglected her for far too long.  I scrounged around the studio, found a blank canvas, some paints and brushes.  This pic above was the end product. I painted listening to Nine Inch Nails, yes, I'm kicking it old school.  I forget how changing things up can help get me out of a stuck place.  I feel lighter and brighter for having worked on this piece. The colors are appropriate after such a grey day.  Reds and purples took center stage.  Tomorrow, I'm going to go out to the large equipment shed and see if I can scavenge some loose canvas.  I may be here to write but my spirit is really coming alive as I search for fun things to do.  I've forgotten that word in my vocabulary and here I am trying to reclaim it.  Or at the very least remember it. 

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2010 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

03.09.10

Chin in hand, my fingers curl over my mouth and I wait.  I look out the large window into a yellowish field and webbed tree line, watch crows fly overhead until they pass my sightline.  I wait while the heavy grey clouds above race past the hills that lay out to the north.  The only sounds I hear are the skittering of the Asian ladybugs landing on my stockpile of books, electronic toys and art materials.  The scent of sandalwood smoke fills the space to help with the odor that the ladybugs leave behind.  I wait for the voices to gather up but all I hear is silence and it’s deafening.  This quiet time alone without my usual distractions makes me tremble inside. So I watch the naked tree branches sway with each gust of wind that blows through the landscape.  I watch the clouds roll and skim and glide by and I wait for the stories to unfold.   

All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2010 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.

Brooklyn Girl Takes a Walk in the Woods...and Gets Lost

My day started off with sunlight streaming in through my bedroom window.  It must have been about 7 am when the light actually woke me up but I rolled over and went back to sleep for another hour.  When I finally got up,  I made myself some country bacon and fried egg for breakfast...and a big cup of earl grey tea with milk...YUM!!  A girl needs her caffeine. 

I thought to myself, today is the day I go out and take a walk around.  I putzed around the studio for a bit, chatted online with Christine G., visited with Katherine who helps Mark with OAC, fed the cat, etc, etc.  Now Mark (director) told me he was going to take me around to show me the paths but I thought well I've walked around the place with Tony so it should be fine striking out on my own...right? Uhm, nope.

The paths were really muddy and the first big hill with the steep incline had me half walking, half sliding down.  I tried walking on the sides of the path where the dry leaves were, however I didn't realize these dry leaves were resting on top of moss and mud and branches.  Right.  Slipping and sliding it was after all.  I almost made it down to the very bottom of the hill without falling when I slipped and fell into a watery muddy mess.  My boot was stuck in the mud, my foot outside the boot tried to find it again so as not to step into the mud with only my sock, my shin is hot and aching where I came down on it.  I wasn't hurt, just a little tumble and a bit of mud on my cargo pants but I was still intact.  I walked toward the first open field and sat down by a water hole so I can pass a hand over my achy shin, it's going to leave a bruise.  I'll take a pic if it bruises up. 

All right, so I remembered there is this old tree on the land and I vaguely remembered where it stood from the last time I was at OAC.  I went in one vague direction and took some pics of it and rested upon it before heading out down another path.  Now Mark had made it very clear that I should stay on the designated paths and believe me when I tell you I tried but I took one wrong turn and I didn't realize I was off the path until I was completely lost.  So now I can't find the path and I am elbow deep in prickly vines...uhm ouch!  I didn't realize they were even there until they started slashing at me.  Argh!  I walked on and I was a bit panicked so I stopped taking pics.  I was just trying to find the trail again.  

I walked around like this for an hour.  I finally found a barbed wire fence and a wide open field, which I recognized.  YAY!  Only then did I realize that I could have used the GPS system on my iPhone to find my way back to the studio.  Live and learn.  

It was a bright beautifully day and I walked around for another hour and just took some time to look around.  Today, I am content and filled with gratitude to be in this space. 


All artwork, photos, and text © Copyright 2008-2010 Liliana Almendarez unless indicated otherwise. All Rights Reserved. Any downloading, copying or use of images on this website is strictly prohibited without express written consent by Liliana Almendarez.