Get up. Get dressed. Paint.

It’s early, 4:03 am.  I’ve already made the coffee, had my first sip, dressed as the coffee slowly dripped into the carafe.  I want to paint… need to paint, to exorcise all those demons from the first week of school.  Those demons are always there but are worse than ever this year; total dysfunction, no supplies, teaching assignments up in the air, bullying by administrators, threats of losing our job with any misstep…these have taken their toll and the stress has clouded my mind, left my body tense and ridged. 

I curse myself for not remembering to gesso the remaining pages in my art journal as I had promised.  My craft table is still empty and neatly organized from vacation.  Thankful that I don’t have to push aside clutter to make a space to paint, I gesso the next 2 pages so I can get started.

To get color on the page I add drops of acrylic ink then coax them to run down page.  The results are not what I was hoping for.  I grab a brush and paint through them.  Next I push black paint through a stencil to start a background.  

 As I paint I notice myself recalling techniques I learned through this practice.  I remember to lay the stencil across the gutter to bring the spread together rather seeing two separate pages and stamping off the edge of the page to give the illusion of a larger page.  Last week I learned to add paint to a rubber stamp which adds a light texture, something I wanted to try again.

I struggle with creating focal points.  I just never seem to get it right.  But this morning I am more focused on ridding my mind of the continuous loop of thoughts, the replaying of the events from this disastrous week.  I replace them with

Breathe

Let it go

My 4 square walls

Their incompetency no longer affects me

The carnage

The completed page.

Joining Paint Party Friday where having paint under the fingernails is the norm.  What colors are under yours?