Ownership
Seventh Grade Writing Project
I want him to be better than he is
And better than I was.
I want him to be good as I is now.
So I tell him, “Do it this way.”
“Try this.”
“Change it to this.”
Trouble is, minute I do that,
Any good I think I is,
I ain’t.
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first application of paint on a titanium white base layer on a 6 x 6″ canvas panel
that has both a prior completed painting and a prior layered start
beneath what you see here
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Notes about poem and art:
• “Seventh Grade” came to me as I was out running an errand when Scott was in the messy middle of a sizable not-much-fun poetry project for his middle-school English class 30 years ago. I had poked a finger into the process and exacerbated the not-much-fun. I was grateful while in my car to have a moment of literal and figurative distance from the tangle of the whole thing and to have grace shake me by the shoulders. I realized in a flash that I needed to write my own damned self-proclaimed “good” poem and give Scott space to write his for his project on his own!
• The art here—work in progress— was inspired by a downloadable course from Llewellyn Skye and by my desire to create a new painting to tuck in a spot in our family room. As I’ve done in the past, I used the imminent arrival of houseguests to spur me to action. As I’ve also done in the past, I displayed the painting while guests were in residence even though it was in an early stage. It makes for an appropriate anchor piece for “Seventh Grade” in that it represents my staying fully on my side of the fence making my own creative messes : )
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9 responses to “Ownership”
Such an interesting post. How many times did we poke our fingers into the creative process of our kids? Too many for me. So good for you for writing your own damn poem.
The painting is so interesting…and will be fun to see where it goes. I’m so glad you hung it in progress for your guests and seeing it in the spot where it will live will feed and inform your creative process. How big is the piece? I hope at some point you give us a wide shot.
Well, I took a step in the direction of teaching myself to get out of my son’s way.
I immediately got attached to this new start! When applying the coverup gesso, I’d used a cheap scratchy old paintbrush from when my kids were little and it left delicious texture on the substrate that made itself known when I painted the loose wash you see here.
Yeah, it has already changed since this post. And not for the better yet!
As ever, grateful for your feedback, Carol.
holy WOW WOW WOW! This start! Are you sure it isn’t finished? It is a mystery of winter, of icy patterns on glass, and view on a microscope slide, of the cloud cover on an exoplanet….STUNNING!
And oooooh resonance. How hard it is to stay on our lane with kids. I remember those days, and am glad that all survived with their creative spirits intact! xo
I kept the start intact for a few weeks and then, even though I was VERY attached to it as it was, started inching forward with it. It’s currently intentionally out of sight because (a) I don’t like it right now! and (b) I impulsively signed up for on online poetry class that has had me way absorbed all week. Glad I have photos of the start : )
Yeah, staying in our lanes. Not intuitive! Happy to hear that all your kids survived their early days with their creative spirits intact. HUZZAH!!!
Roseanne, yes and yes! Isn’t the texture fabulous? I love happenstances of that sort—no idea that’s what would appear! And I’m so grateful for grace, happy to have her shake me till I pay attention : )
Thanks for your affirming comments.
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