Paint and Powder

I don't normally do my nails since they always seem to get chipped right away or acrylic paint all over them, making it pointless. However, since I saw a great tutorial from TheBeauty Department I have been looking for the colors they used because the blue is my all-time favorite type of blue and I love gold accents.

Two coats of the base color. It is really important to let your original layer dry all the way because that gives the rest of your layers a solid foundation and will (hopefully) keep your nails chip-free for longer.

Instead of doing a line straight across my nail like a traditional french manicure, I have been doing a diagonal line across my nails for the past 3 years for 2 reasons: the diagonal line is easier to make because you can just roll your finger away from you (and it isn't so obvious if you goof up), and because the diagonal line {nerd alert} makes for a more interesting composition on your nail.

Some laughs: A ship is always referred to as "she" because it costs so much to keep one in paint and powder. - Chester W. Nimitz

To Practice Any Art . . .

In the past 9 or 10 months I have been working on combining flat space with 3-Dimensional space in my art work, which has pushed me to work on developing abstract pieces and works with strong repetition of form. As you saw from my post On To the Bedroom! I recently created a large abstract painting to go in my bedroom. I combined a lot of elements and different applications of the paint to come up with a work that I really enjoy.

Just this past week I completed another abstract work in which I added the element of symbols (in this case: words). I used a line from a poem of mine and translated it into 4 different languages, rewriting the line over and over. I would tell what it says, but, well as I was told recently after receiving a message in Spanish (that utterly confused Google Translate) just enjoy the text for what it is: symbols. Maybe that isn't how that person actually meant it, but what matters more is how I took it (and ran with it, and eventually came to the idea for this piece I am showing you today).

This leads me to my final point before the painting reveal. Let things in your world inspire you. I feel that so many of my peers get caught up in using their internal eye only, putting down only their deep, personal thoughts. Be inspired and stirred up by what is around you! I don't mean making hundreds of propaganda posters for whichever presidential candidate you will vote for this upcoming election . . . but I do believe that when you let the world around you soak in a bit more, that internal eye sees a lot more. It's like stirring up the debris at the bottom of water: maybe you can't see as far down any longer but you can see a lot more that was hidden in that water now. 

I'm actually reminded of a verse, Proverbs 18:4 The words of a man's mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a bubbling brook. I honestly have no idea what that means and have been pondering it for some time, but was repeating it over and over to myself as I wrote this post. So do what you will with it, and enjoy my painting:

all taped off before the final touches! 

Thought on Inspiration: Do one thing everyday that scares you. ― Eleanor Roosevelt