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What’s in a Name?
Dotty Seiter
“What are you going to name it?” Ann said.
“Oh.” I paused. “I don’t know. I haven’t even thought about that.”
I looked at my painting. A title bubbled up, and I started laughing so hard I couldn’t speak. Every time I tried to tell Ann and Sylvia my thought, a fresh wave of hysteria swept over me in paroxysms—I hadn’t had that cathartic a laugh in a good while!
I’d never named a painting before. In fact, I’d never painted a painting before. I was coming to the end of a total immersion weekend with painter/teacher Ann and long-time close friend Sylvia.
As it turns out, I took the title idea that suffused me with hilarity—Tree at the Edge of the World—and discovered its deeper truth. My revised title became Leaning into Lessons at the Edge of the World.
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| Leaning into Lessons at the Edge of the World 11x14"; acrylic on canvas board landscape 2014 |
The title captures elements reflected visually on my canvas—a tree listing to one side, true to the one outdoors that inspired me, and the seeming absence of much in the way of background, which is what sparked my gasping for air and sent tears of hilarity streaming down my face.
What the title identifies further, however, is the internal essence of my adventure. Over the course of an all-in weekend of painting, I had put myself at an edge of my experiential world; I’d picked up a paintbrush for the first time and let myself lean into mixing colors and putting acrylics on canvas to see what I might learn—about painting and about myself.
I liked the lessons!
15 comments:
Love this perfectly pretty tree. Love Ann's work. Love that you introduced me to her. Love the hints of light, the whisper of leaves on the ground. Love it Dotty :)
Sheila, thank you for loving this sweet souvenir of mine of a wow-weekend of being introduced to painting : ) It's fun to notice things I did NOT do in this painting (had no idea I even COULD do) and to notice things I DID do that surprise me with their hints of places I might later go in my painting life.
You are a natural storyteller, Dotty. I am enchanted every time I enter your page. Thank you for being in the world. :)
Jen, thanks for your warm embrace. I may be at the Edge of the World, but I'm glad you're glad I'm in the world at all!
My favorite part of this tree (besides it's "aliveness" and personality) is the composition. I love that branch reaching out on his own, to the right. And the blues, oranges, and (violets) in the trunk. Nice Dotty!
Laurie, thanks for the specific feedback on elements of visual language. Really fun to have you comment on composition—I have no memory of how much, if any, conscious attention I gave to composition. That branch reaching out on its own on the right must be beginner Dotty reaching out over the edge of the known world into the mostly unknown world of painting—an adventurous branch, that.
Love to hear your story!
Thanks, Simone. That whole weekend was such an adventure, with many fun stories and backstories.
First you a great storyteller, agree with Jen. I also love the your comparison with the tree painting and your place on the edge. Thanks for the link to Ann's work, I will have to look on my computer. Writing from tablet.
Thanks for cheering me on with my writing, Carol. I do love to write and craft a story! Thanks, too, for taking note of my comparing my tree painting to my place on the edge : )
That was a very special weekend. I loved our routine, coffee, walk. Eat. Paint. Maybe take another walk. Paint. It seems that weekend changed your life and Dave's.
Changed Sylvia's life, too!
It WAS a very special weekend. Fun to have you bring to mind the totally awesome routine of coffee, walk, eat, paint, walk, paint, meditate, laugh : )
I should have known then (although I didn't yet) that I was already hooked, b/c I remember stealing into Sylvia's kitchen studio at one point to paint while you and Sylvia were still meditating—b/c I couldn't stay away!
p.s. When I set up my blog to link to yours, I took such delight in the painting you have front and center there: White is the Empty Space That Fills Our Lives—its softnesses, layers, whispers, and flames all reach out with invitation.
You are the real deal Dotty - you write from the heart and paint from that place as well! So here you are 4 years later.....I love the tree - the beautiful trunk and yes that single branch reaching off the edge. I have linked to Ann and Syliva's 'pages' - thank you for sharing and I love their work too. I have not forgotten about commenting more on the changes in your art....just trying to find the right words!!
Janet, thank you for your kind heartfelt sentiments re my being 'the real deal.' And thank you for taking to heart my nudging you to find words if you can for the changes you perceive in my art. LOVE the 'art-to-'art conversation with you!
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