PAINTING

On Sunday, April 24th, at 3:18 PM, I painted.

This is my first real painting. I did stuff for my Humanities classes in high school, and I did artwork for some cash here and there when high school let out... but that's it.

I've had the paints, the brushes, and the palette for about two weeks. I've had the easel and canvases for months. Yesterday, I finally had the time.

I set the mood, made it ritualistic. I smoked some marijuana and then smoked a cigarette, to induce the Gods of Smoke. Then, I played this CD of Miles Davis' jazz-rock fusion as remixed by Bill Laswell, Panthalassa, and prepared the two colors I was going to work with: Black and Fleshtone.

The paint is cheap acrylic shit. I diluted some of it with water. I started with the two biggest brushes, to get the broadstrokes out of the way.

I forget how big the canvas size actually is-- I'd say it's an average size for a canvas, not too big and not too small. Specific measurements elude me-- once I removed the plastic wrapper, I didn't look back.

It was exhilirating. It was like music, especially as I was listening to Miles. The rhythms, the nuances, the strokes... like making love, like getting high, like laughing until you cry real tears... all of those pleasurable things...

I got ahead of myself, painting over shapes that hadn't dried yet. I stopped after twenty minutes, because I'd gotten further than I expected. I work very quickly, and I underestimated my speed. I am more than halfway done, with just the two colors I put down.

I had an idea of a disembodied woman's face, blindfolded, tears streaming down onto a desert landscape, pink crosses enclosed within each teardrop as they decorate the sand. The theme of this is painting is the women of Juarez, Mexico, who have been murdered and their bodies left to rot out in the open. Pink crosses are erected at the site of each body, now totaling over 400.

I have to pace myself. It feels good to explore this medium-- I have a lot to learn and yet I feel like I am a natural. It was special. It was magical.

I am working the night shift for one week, so when I get home, I will paint, then sleep, then paint again, then sleep again, every day this week until Friday, when I submit a digital picture of the work to the UCLA Feminist Majority... they need to approve my work for the auction to raise funds for a Juarez rape crisis center.

Wish me luck. There is the possibility that my very first work will be purchased, with the money going to a good cause. If that happens, then a goal will be met and I will be happy. Where it takes me from there is anyone's guess, but I think I'll stick with it.

Anyway, I will most likely blog later, but right now I'm just killing time until my shift actually starts. I just wanted to announce that I started painting, and so far I like it.

PS: This link will end up being incorporated into Chapter Six of the online novel. It's right up that alley...