musings, life lessons & poetry from Theresa Jarosz Alberti

Tag: art (Page 1 of 2)

Poetry Challenge Day 12: “Not Too Late”

No poem yesterday. In an attempt to slay my own perfectionistic tendencies, I’ve decided to relax my goal of doing a poem a day, if a particular day doesn’t work out. To be honest, my drive to be accountable makes me cringe and feel anxious at the idea of NOT achieving the goal I publicly committed to, and yet when I finally let myself off the hook, I was able to relax. So this is progress for me! I still want to try to write a poem a day this month, but if it doesn’t work out, I’m not going to beat myself up.

That said, today’s poem is actually one I wrote in the poetry challenge of 2018. It has recently been popping its head up and I’ve had a few people express interest in hearing it. So I will post it here– it’s a message that I myself need to be reminded of again and again. I hope it may be helpful to others too.

Not Too Late

Continue reading

Poetry Challenge – Day 24

Welcome to Day 24 of my 30-Day Poetry Challenge!

Comment on today’s poem to win a copy of my poetry book, “(After) Confession… I’m giving away a copy every day. Scroll down below the poem for more details about this Poetry Challenge.

But first, congratulations, Martha B, for winning a free copy of my poetry book! (I do a raffle from those who commented on yesterday’s post.) Martha, please email me your address so I can send your prize: theresa.sapphire@gmail.com

Now onto today’s poem. Don’t forget to comment, and check back tomorrow to see if you’ve won!

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All the art here is from my sketchbooks over the years, some of my “better” work. Believe me, I have so many pages of clunkers and mis-trials, but I’m not brave enough to show those! I’ve learned so much and found the enjoyment in all of it.  Any other little-a artists and experimenters out there?

Love at First Art Continue reading

Sketchbook Skool!

 

[In which one writer finds other things to do with notebooks and pens besides furiously scribbling words.]

I have had a love-affair with art supply stores for years.  Mostly it was drooling at all the colors and paints and pencils and artsy stuff like a kid in a candy store, but then circling back around to my “safe” area–  pens and notebooks.  I love buying pens and notebooks, as do so many of my writerly friends.  How fun to pick up different pens for $2 or $3, and fill up the tabla rasa of white pages.

And then, inspired by a writer-friend who was diving deeply into making art as well, I started dipping my toe in, buying a few art supplies myself.  Maybe a little watercolor box (cheap, like kids use), some colored pencils, some markers.  I found a few Groupons for getting great discounts at art stores, and then I could really have some fun buying stuff.    I didn’t know what I was buying and I felt like a fake in the aisles, an art imposter, but bought them anyway.

And then I put all of them in this set of drawers by my writing desk,  and mostly never used them.  Occasionally, I might hesitantly give something a try, like dabbling with some water colors, playing around, but not much.  I had a yearning, but let all the discouraging voices in my head get the better of me.  Some supplies I never even opened… Continue reading

Giving Up Perfection

This weekend I was driving down the river road and saw a young artist with his easel set up on the bike path.  He was standing in front of his canvas, painting the beautiful Fall colors.  I turned and craned my neck to see how he was doing as I drove by.  There were colors and lines on the canvas, a half-finished work of art.  “That’s brave,” I thought, standing there in public where anyone could watch his process, see the humble beginnings, judge what might not look like much in the middle.

I remembered watching Bob Ross on public television when I was a kid.  My dad liked to watch him teach the audience how to paint landscapes, and Mr. Ross did have a mesmerizing quality about his voice (painting all his “happy little trees.”)  I was fascinated by his process—he’d start painting the scene and it would look like a mess.  It looked like a mess until he was more than half-way through–  every time I watched, I was sure he had totally botched his painting this time.  Wouldn’t you know, he always managed to turn his mess into a miracle, and end the show with a lovely nature scene.

All this has got me thinking about Perfectionism lately.  Continue reading

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