Every now and then I come across someone who talks about slowing down.
Slower food,
slower fun,
slower life in general.
My recent fun with acrylic glazes really illuminated that
"slow"
concept for me.
When using such a thick glaze, getting impatient and
quickly stirring the mixture creates air bubbles.
Then the pouring is slow,
slowly spreading,
tilting,
waiting
for gravity to work it's magic.
Back to those air bubbles,
figuring out how to eliminate them
during
the pour
requires some patience
but I've found that if you use a pallet knife
you can scoop up a bit that has dripped off
and deposit it back on the surface
and
actually drag the air bubbles off the surface.
It takes patience.
Then there is the drying time.
So after all this,
I still have to sit back and look at what I've created,
not satisfied
and trying to decide
what should happen next
and whether I'll like the out come.
I'm not a time waster
so I want to be sure
before I go to all the trouble
to repeat the previous process !
And there is more about this
SLOOOOOOOWWWWWWW
concept ~
The other day I was laying in the grass looking up into the trees while I talked to my daughter-in-law on the phone.
Looking up,
looking up,
more looking up........
looking up for quite a while
when suddenly I realize what I'm seeing.
A pair of hummingbirds and their nest !!!!
Oh my god,
I was astounded !!!!
Slower food,
slower fun,
slower life in general.
My recent fun with acrylic glazes really illuminated that
"slow"
concept for me.
When using such a thick glaze, getting impatient and
quickly stirring the mixture creates air bubbles.
Then the pouring is slow,
slowly spreading,
tilting,
waiting
for gravity to work it's magic.
Back to those air bubbles,
figuring out how to eliminate them
during
the pour
requires some patience
but I've found that if you use a pallet knife
you can scoop up a bit that has dripped off
and deposit it back on the surface
and
actually drag the air bubbles off the surface.
It takes patience.
Then there is the drying time.
So after all this,
I still have to sit back and look at what I've created,
not satisfied
and trying to decide
what should happen next
and whether I'll like the out come.
I'm not a time waster
so I want to be sure
before I go to all the trouble
to repeat the previous process !
And there is more about this
SLOOOOOOOWWWWWWW
concept ~
The other day I was laying in the grass looking up into the trees while I talked to my daughter-in-law on the phone.
Looking up,
looking up,
more looking up........
looking up for quite a while
when suddenly I realize what I'm seeing.
A pair of hummingbirds and their nest !!!!
Oh my god,
I was astounded !!!!
Hummingbird Mommy !(bad photo but the best I could do on a windy day with my little camera)
Paula - 2008
Paula - 2008
What do we miss when
we are in an everyday sort of rush to get there,
get it done,
move on to the next thing
on our to-do list?
Just something to think about on these
warm,
lazy,
summer afternoons.
Is there a tree nearby?
Can you take some time to stretch out and just watch ????
I highly recommend it.
we are in an everyday sort of rush to get there,
get it done,
move on to the next thing
on our to-do list?
Just something to think about on these
warm,
lazy,
summer afternoons.
Is there a tree nearby?
Can you take some time to stretch out and just watch ????
I highly recommend it.
6 comments:
Great story. It reminds me of a folk tale in Italo Calvino's book of Italian folktales. Called "The Art of Laziness," as I recall. A father sent his child to a school to learn to be lazy. The teacher taught him all sorts of ways to be lazy. Like if you want a plumb from the tree, don't pick it, good heavens. Just lie under the tree and when the plumb falls there you go. But, the student was one up on his teacher. He lay under the tree with his mouth open and when a plumb fell he didnt have to pick it up, it fell into his mouth.
Great to see the hummingbird nest. Be well, Suki
A hummingbirds' nest, awesome indeed!
I have been mixing my acrylic mediums with water in plastic bottles and jars with lids. I let them sit overnight for the bubbles to disperse. When painting on the varnish coat last night some bubbles did happen, but they seemed to be gone this morning. It's my first time using a varnish and I'll take a closer inspection when I get home tonight.
Paula,
Glazing does make you slow down. For me, it also translates into my days...and for that, I am grateful. I highly recommend Carl Honore's book, "In Praise of Slow"...and there are several others. I am so glad you have found this lovely process in other forms of your life, too.
...and a hummingbird nest...now not everyone gets to see one of those! Slowing down is awesome!
Thanks, Paula!
Oh how wonderful! Hummingbirds!
I totally agree, there is NEVER a time to rush unless perhaps a medical emergency. Life goes so much better when we take the time for the important things, like lying under a tree :-).
Just wanted to let you know I finally used my Kim recipe glaze mix today. It had been sitting around waiting for me for about a week or more. Part water, part gloss and part matte acrylic medium with a later addition of copper powder pigment. When I applied it I saw the bubbles but prob wouldnt have noticed them had you not mentioned bubbles. They unbubbled as the glaze dried. I glazed a kimono and a paper collage and a canvas. More to do.
I don't think I've ever seen hummingbirds here in France. I do enjoy watching the local inhabitants in our yard and watching swifts swirl high above.
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