
Purple robes from the snot of snails, rays from the tails of mango-fed cows.
Colour-wash fades, dribbles down the page,
Feeble brush strokes
weep over wet
paper.
In a misery of contempt she kicks the traces of her fractious art.
Screw it up and start again!
Ground from stones, hewn from rocks
poisonous pigments from the artist’s jewel box
cobalt and lead, one blue, one red
the venomous tools of her craft.
Carving curves with furious angst
passions explode and erode
while careless cadmium spatterings
join dread smears on the studio floor.
Scissoring through shards of purple-pink silk
the blood on the carpet of despair
raising her brush she rages on
rending the canvas in two.
Written in response to Sadje’s What Do You See #47 photo prompt.
Image credit: Elena Mozhvilo – Unsplash
Wonderful. Now that’s a vision. That will be me trying to navigate sons art lesson when it happens.
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Ha ha! Just remember to duck and cover 😉
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Ah yes, those days when it just won’t come true. Love, ‘the artist’s jewel box’.
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Writer and artist alike. At least my angst creates less mess 😉
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Sadly, even without angst I seem able to create the equivalent mess when writing…
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Oh yes, the messy desk! I remember.
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Sounds like my attempt at painting!
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It can be an anxious pursuit!
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This poor artist is being treated most unkindly by her Muse.
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A real bust up in the studio!
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😀
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i remember the days when i was a preschool teacher when kids get so frustrated about their works and they began to tantrum. expect crying and flying or art materials..lol.. but it was fun
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It’s not just preschoolers in my experience. I know a few adult artists… 😉
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Lol…yeah..you are right..
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Truly amazing! The imagery is palpable and so real. Thanks for joining in the challenge Chris.
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Thanks, Sadje! Good choice for a prompt 🙂 I’m looking forward to reading the other responses.
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Thanks Chris.
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Colors exploding on canvas would be me…throwing the brush at it! Love the image you created. I couldn’t if I wanted.
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Ha ha! I have no artistic talent either. That’s why I paint my pictures with words!
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Beautiful vivid imagery – really brings the scene to life 🙂
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Thanks, Tom!
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[…] Flying off the Canvas […]
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Well penned! It reads so vivid and real! 😊💜
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Thank you! I’m pleased you thought so 🙂
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You’re most welcome!
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My favorite phrase in this one is “Feeble brush strokes weep over wet paper”. I can just see that in my mind!
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As former secretary of the local amateur art group here I saw quite a lot of these 😉
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Wow, this is gorgeous and vivid
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Many thanks, Jude 🙂
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My pleasure 🌼
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Absolutely loved this – colour bursting from the text. I thought stanza four was particularly wonderful. Brilliant word choices!
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Thanks so much, Matthew! I’m pleased you enjoyed it.
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Love this, Chris. I feel those emotions when I try to paint something that just doesn’t look like it does in my head… most of the time, actually! Although I keep dabbling… and weeping with the feeble brush strokes over wet paper! 😊
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The poem is dedicated to artists everywhere! I hoped you’d appreciate it 🙂
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It’s fabulous!
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😀 *blushes*
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🙂
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[…] Chris; Flying off the canvas […]
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Just Amazing!! ✨
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Thank you so much!
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I was just watching a show the other day about the color blue. Which wasn’t used until someone crushed up Lapis Lazuli. If you look at older paintings and see rainbows you won’t find blue in them.
It wasn’t that blue didn’t exist – there weren’t words to describe the color! The sky was either white associated with clouds or grey associated with clouds. Look up Blue on Wiki. Very interesting.
I haven’t worked with paints yet… but other crafts and it is frustrating when things don’t go as planned.
Just keep trying. 🙂
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There’s some fascinating history surrounding paint, isn’t there? Like the colour of yellow from the urine of mango-fed cows – how cruel that was! Some pigments have recently been banned because of their toxicity too.
One a happier note, I’ve seen many happy accidents created by artists though. So yes, just keep trying!
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Oh this was a great read Chris, wonderfully expressive through colours 🙂
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Thanks, Rory!
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Hey Chris, always a pleasure 🙂
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