I read somewhere – I think it was Annie Dillard – about the earth looking like a paint-by-numbers canvas and thought about the one time I got one of those sets as a child. Disaster. I never was much of a colorer – the lines absolutely defeated me and this was back in the day when staying in the lines mattered. Shoot, I wanted to stay within those lines. I just couldn’t. The perfection of hand and eye moving together simply defeated me. Did then, does now. So you can imagine the horror of my efforts to add to the color-line mix a sequence of numbers coordinated to color that had to be the same every time – with just one deviation causing utter failure as the lovely landscape or Raggedy Ann turned into a horror-movie version of itself. There are no do-overs when it comes to painting by the numbers. No margin for error. The expectation of that pre-set ‘you-too-can-be-an-artist’ lie weighed heavy on me before I even began. Who can meet that kind of demand from a piece of paper? I couldn’t. I didn’t. And I can’t.
So while I absolutely adore the writing of Annie Dillard, I have to say she took me to a far different place than I’m sure she intended with that passing reference to farmland laid out so neat and precise that it minded her of painting by the numbers.
Maybe painting outside the lines is something to be celebrated; but I have to tell you that coloring like a five-year-old when you’re 57 isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Sounds like a day not filled with peace. We all have those too. I think what Annie meant was that the world is made up of so many different things which come together to make the whole. Even in our imperfections we too are a part of the whole. AND without the imperfections there could not be a whole. Blessings to you this day.
ReplyDeleteVery true about those imperfections. Thank you for the blessing and the observations. Peace, Beth
ReplyDeleteLOL!! I agree painting (or for me cross stitching) by the numbers "isn't all it's cracked up to be"! I struggled with those shared color spaces, half and quarter stitches on those little tiny squares.
ReplyDeleteI prefer the "suggestion" of a pattern and empty canvas (or Aida cloth) and then I can create unrestrained by lines, color choices and the "tyranny" (grin) of someone else's idea of how it should go!
"the tyranny of someone else's idea" - well said! On my way to WV soon - Mom coming home Friday! Hugs
DeleteAre you certain we aren't related?? (You are slightly older than my oldest child.) The things you write about often take me by surprise. The first portion of the following post I wrote in 2008 might surprise you!
ReplyDeletehttp://bhs1957classact.blogspot.com/2008/09/staying-within-lines.html
Your fan,
Marilyn