Finally, Progress

Wednesday, January 04, 2022

After acquiring the needed basics for a well-enough life (e.g., shelter, food, health, and [for me] re-flooring to ease living with dogs), I have begun re-exploring my potential to be more creative. In other words, with the floors done and my housework comparatively effortless, while moving and rearranging household items, I’m rediscovering pastimes to which I’ve paid little attention.

I’ve been dusting off and finding places for the tools of those pastimes. There’s my sewing machine. On it a couple of years ago I made a skirt. That became an article I loved but never wore, which still hangs in my closet. Now, on finding more clothing patterns, I remember wanting to keep sewing but lacked both the time and space.

Now, about the oil paints, brushes, pastel chalks, and watercolor supplies I’m finding. All were played with and then dropped. Along with those tools, I’m finding sketches and trial paintings. None were very good but all showed potential. I needed schooling and practice and without time for that hoped to dash off some sort of recognizable art.

I hope to return to those activities.

For sewing, I have set up my machine again. I have snow pants and jeans needing shortening that could provide useful practice if I could remember how to thread the complex electronic machine. In making room so the floor guy could do his work, I lost several instruction books supporting my hobbies. Recently, I found on eBay an instruction book for my sewing machine and ordered it. I might be sewing next week.

For the art supplies, it seemed I couldn’t restart without first taking classes. But I’ve had an epiphany! Recognizing that my outcomes needn’t be figurative but impressionistic, AI popped into my head, specifically, DALL-E, which can render pieces less figurative but very expressive. I will use DALL-E for pieces with which to practice art.

(A note about reproducing images. Art that copies a photograph isn’t considered original unless one artist produces the original image as well as reproduces it. I’ll argue that DALL-E would produce my own original art, for I must describe in detail what’s desired before DALL-E can pull together millions of pieces needed from worldwide sources to produce my desired outcome.)

Dear Friends: All that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Diana