I really, really dislike blank pages. It doesn’t matter whether I am writing or attempting to draw something. I find the sight of that blank page is extremely offputting and intimidating. If am writing an essay or a letter once I turn the page and see a new blank page, my chain of thought is broken.
That is how I feel at the moment. Mum’s cancer has put a long row of blank pages in front of me and once again my brain has decided to give up the ghost and stop working properly..
I just cant seem to see the point at the moment.
I went outside and walked around a bit thinking about this post and about how I could word it so that it didn’t sound like I was looking for sympathy. Because I don’t want sympathy. I want ? I want ? I don’t know what I want.
I saw a white cockatoo flying across the empty blue sky. The sun reflected off the bird’s wing was quite metallic and dazzling and as I followed its flight I noticed some clouds. I was looking at the texture of these clouds and I began to think that a plate would look quite nice if it had just the same curve as the line of the cloud. Then the thought of making some curvy-edged plates reminded me that I have a give-away happening and I started to feel a little bit of enthusiasm. yay!
Then as my mind was skipping along one of its merry tangents, swirlingly filled with ideas for bowls and platters and almost sculptures, I began to think about photographs and Bang I hit a great, fat, brick wall.
Where am I going with my photography? Can I be bothered with wordless wednesdays and weekly winners anymore? I am not a photographer. I am a ceramic artist who takes photos. What am I going to do with the trillions of shots that I have?
Blank pages started assailing me. So I went into my pictures and opened a random folder and found some comfort in the fact that a lot of my photos are not just shots of things, they are also ideas.
Ideas for work, for glazes, for a curvy edge to a plate inspired by the line of a cloud. They are tangible evidence of how I see the world. How my world relates to my work.
I took the top photo because I wanted to see how the swirly water would look in a shot. I then saved the photo because I liked the greens and browns. I also liked the shape of the water tumbling over the rock. I started to think about how those greens and browns would look on the inside of a shallow bowl, or maybe on a larger bowl/birdbath thingy. I started to think about how the bowl would look filled with water and I wondered if a flash of blue in there would help, or maybe pieces of mirror as a mosaic highlight, curving through in a stretchy S shape.
Then, when I saw the second shot, I skipped ahead to thoughts of water nymphs and I wondered if they knew I had taken their photo? Something happens to the photo at such a high digital magnification, the lines of the water have become the brush strokes of a painting and I can really see what the bowl would look like with bold green, brown and white brushstrokes.
So whilst I might have a bit of a rest from formal photographic memes, I certainly wont stop taking lots of photos, because my photographs have become an important part of how I view myself as an artist.
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Kim,
I love that you see the good in the world when somedays it must feel like it’s all falling apart.
I love your photos too.
tiffs last blog post..Weekly Winners.
That’s the beauty of life…it ebbs and flows and changes.
Sometimes the changes aren’t beautiful at all.
I’m sorry this time is so hard.
Hyphen Mamas last blog post..Is it just me? Probably, but that won’t stop me from asking….
You see the beauty in nature and can transform that into an object. You have a gift – hold on to it and it will bring comfort.
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I’m glad you’ve found a way to comfort yourself. Your photos will be great inspirations for your ceramic work, the colours and shapes you’ve recorded are just beautiful. I love that top photo, especially the fallen leaves in it.
P.S. I love blank pages, they speak to me of new beginnings.
for something that started as a blank page, that was a very interesting look into how you process ideas for your art. 🙂
Mistress Bs last blog post..They should have been ok dammit!
your pics are always amazing..
🙂
Tazs last blog post..68 Weeks Old and 10 Weeks Old
That enlargement is stunning. What a piece of art.
lceels last blog post..Travel Lessons and Part 3
Hi Kim, nice to meet you!
🙂
Xbox4NappyRashs last blog post..Snakes and ladders
Kim, I always thought you took photos with an artist’s eye. I’m glad you think so too.
My heart is with your family at this trying time.
Rees last blog post..Shirt and Shoes Required
Oh, please keep taking photos! I love them. And just as I was thinking that the second photo looked like a painting, you went and took the words right out of my mouth! Great minds think alike 😉
I am obsessed with taking photos at the moment, and like you, I wonder what I will ever do with them. Who knows? Maybe in time I will delete them. Maybe I will do something else with them. For that moment in time, though, I am thinking about, and looking at, my world differently.
And that is a comforting thought some days.
That BoxBoy is such a smartarse…
Your pics are gorgeous, but I prefer your posts. The real Kim.
<3
Kelleys last blog post..From the doctors surgery that brought you gems like ‘Chlamydia of the throat’…
That blank page has turned into a beautiful post, and your photography will inspire your art.
I read the previous post, and I want to give you a huge hug Kim. Be well my friend. xx
Jientjes last blog post..Sepia Scenes The Kiss
I hope you’ll still be posting some of your pictures as well. The world will be a little greyer without your amazing images.
Barbaras last blog post..43/365 – A Basket of Roses
You know what is ironic? I went to comment here the first time I read it and the computer froze, leaving me with a blank internet page and your heading that said ‘I hate blank pages’ hmph!
Anyone can be a photographer, I am a drawer and couldnt major in drawing at Uni, so majored in photography and did fine. So now I am apparently trained to be a professional photographer….lol
Your photographs are great and they are important to you, so dont stop taking them!
Whenever I’m upset I have a bag full of old photos (which I’m too lazy to put into an album) and I sit and look through them, they clear my head because they are from so many different times in my life, as a child, high school, college and Uni and also camping and holidays.
Tanyas last blog post..Bushfires
Kim, i’m so glad you found the inspiration to fill your page….and what a page! I don’t know you but by visiting your blog for the last few weeks I really feel as though I do, through your words but even more, through your beautiful photographs, the way you truly appreciate everything is so obvious, you have a real gift which is clearly important to you and brings you comfort and everyone who visits your page joy :o)
I learn something new with every visit!
Lots of love to you…and your family xx
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