The other day a friend gave me a book of Mandela like drawings and they are for coloring. I’ve done that online on an app and liked filling in the lines. I enjoyed it on line because if I made a bad choice of color placement a tap on the screen changed it. But on the written page once I put a color on-it is on. No going back. I saw a meme with a Mandela with some colors filled in and then great red streaks scribbled all over it. The title said, “ My effort to relax by coloring.”
I’ve often had artists around me and have compared my scribblings to theirs. I’ve compared my composition to theirs. Often become suddenly less satisfied with something I liked a few moments before.
Years ago I took a friendly class in pastels at church. I had fun. I promised myself I would not judge myself and just be present to the process. We would have our easels and I’d try to set up toward the front. Why? Because I would do my work without looking around and comparing. It worked for me. But, alas, it didn’t work for a woman who stood behind me. She was ultra judging of her work and others around her. I discovered this as she once saw me stop with my drawing as the teacher told us to copy. I heard her say, “You can’t possibly be satisfied with THAT!”
Yup, she was talking to me. I turned and said, “Well, Surprise I am!” She only came to one more class. Not because of my failing (in her mind), but because she couldn’t live up to what she thought she should do herself.
I currently live in NM and visit Ghost Ranch where Georgia O’keeffe painted. When I get there I have this overwhelming desire to draw or sketch. The mesas are beautiful. I have sketched there. I use the medium of photography to capture what I see. This works for me. I can manipulate and change the images after when I may see a tiny part of the magnificent whole.
That is art. That is my art. Oh, I still dabble with my pastels and use gel pens on the coloring book pages and I try not to judge.
I suppose what makes it beautiful is the perception in the eye of the beholder. Sigh. I like that.
Am I a sketch in God’s notebook? Perhaps. In this statement I thank God for Grace and Mercy.
God Abides, that is Good News!
Bobbie Giltz McGarey
01/27/2020,
Raton, New Mexico
The Spirit Will Tell You 