Last Week's Pastel, a Mini With a Complex Background
"Purple Defiance" 5" x 7" soft pastel on gray Pastelbord
I've been working on my backgrounds in these miniature florals for awhile now and I find I sometimes spend as much time back there as I do on the focal point !
When I introduced this in an email, I wrote this background story;
" Thistles are Scotlland's National Flower because they symbolize resilience and security. (I have a strong Scots heritage.) Legend tells of invading Norsemen sneaking up barefoot on a moonless night to attack a sleeping Scottish army. The invaders stumbled into a wide bed of thistles, and their sudden cries of pain alerted the Scots, who defeated the Norse in a pivotal 13th Century battle.
So whether you're drawn to thistles because of the folklore and symbolism, or the sheer beauty of their fierce, elaborately architectural forms, they command respect.
All this must've been thrumming in my subconscious when I decided to paint a thistle last week.
In this new little pastel, I consciously twined toughness into the delicate flower's graceful poise. Multiple layers of pigment suggest the bloom's rich purples and soft lavenders over a hint of yellow accented with orange. Complex color. Thistles are very multi-dimensional flowers. Surrounding forms, hints of leaves and stems, grasses and petals silently weave in and out, supporting and flanking this a small wild thing with its strong, indomitable spirit.
That might be exactly the kind of energy a room needs to welcome You home. Sanctuary, like beauty, can come armed with thorns, which makes it all the more precious. "
Do you linger in the flower blossom or find yourself moving into the background?
There's something worth pausing on here. You said you sometimes spend as much time on the background as you do on the focal point, and the way you noticed that tells me part of you wonders if that's okay, if that's "too much" attention for what's supposed to be behind the main event.
But look at what happened when you gave that background your full attention. You didn't just fill space. You told a story about thistles and resilience and a heritage that matters to you. The work behind the focal point became the reason the focal point means anything at all. That kind of care isn't wasted time. It's the piece asking you to go deeper, and you listening.
The hours you spend in the places nobody is "supposed" to linger are often where the most honest parts of your work live. "Purple Defiance" sounds like it knows exactly what it's about, because you let yourself stay long enough to find out.
Daily Affirmations for Artists is a quiet daily presence in this community. Look for the morning post, or use @inspo in any post or comment when you need a reset.