It has been a fruitful summer and I want to finally share some of my harvest with you all. Similar to a farm, which is in prime-time during the hottest months, my fiancée and I have been quite busy with our doings. A highly productive season, only hindered by a few days of extreme heat (the kind that puts folks in the hospital for dehydration) and forest fires (they are blazing not that far from where we live).
In the last couple months, we have managed to move to a different city (so I could be closer to school), organize our living space (our first place for just the two of us and the queen pup), pick up some new jobs (so we can afford to live here), and go backpacking with some friends (my first official time). It’s been a whirlwind and I am very grateful to my parents, who visited last week, for helping us finish getting everything in order and make our house feel like a home. It’s nice to have visitors (they’re already threatening to visit again!)
I also made the time to work on a veil painting. Veil painting is a process by which many thin layers of water color are painted atop previously painted dry layers. Steiner suggests that rather than paint with intention, one should allow the painting to reveal itself during the process. It is very fun, weirdly abstract and a great practice in patience and clearing the mind. One simply begins with a complimentary 3-color scheme (even additional colors should “reveal” themselves to you.)
Below is a gradual progression of the painting. Note that while I was creating these initial layers, I would turn the page every so often to see if something popped out at me. I also kept asking my fiancée if he saw anything in the pictures. We were usually in synch. I have oriented all the images here so that you can more easily see the progression.
My primary color was blue, the compliment being orange, and the analogous being yellow. I began with a yellow-orange (cadmium) but also used true yellow in spots.
This is when it began to look like something, like a rock face. I was also called to incorporate green into the image.
And the final result.
After this experience, I can say that I find the process motivating and intriguing… motivating because it’s intriguing? I really enjoyed the act and even when I thought that I had ruined the painting, I kept pushing until something good came out of it. I am excited to create another.
The Sanguine Soothsayer 