Week 3 is here! I don’t often do portraits for a number of reasons. I’m not very comfortable shooting them or getting people to pose for them. Also, I don’t seem to be as creative with a portrait as I am with other stuff. However this week I have ventured slightly outside my comfort zone with this composite. I didn’t shoot the photo or even ask someone to pose. This is from a collection of art that students of the Awake and Kaizen programs offered by Sebastion Michaels.
I had a strange thing happen when I was creating this. I kept trying to add things but it just wasn’t working, then my great-grandmother Marie stepped in. Now a little bit of background here, they say that Southern cooks don’t use a recipe to season. They say we just add each spice slowly until our ancestors whisper “That’s enough now, child”, and it’s true. My great-grandmother Marie from Louisiana guides my hand when I am cooking. She died before I was born, but I know she’s there when I am cooking up some etouffee or jambalaya.
Well, as I was working on this piece, as I said I kept trying to add things when I heard a voice in my head say “That’s enough now, child.”
“I believe you when it comes to food”, I replied. “But not when it comes to composite art. They didn’t have composite art when you were around. They didn’t even have photoshop. Not sure they even had photography!”
At this point, my great-grandmother Marie appeared before me in a ghostly form and said “I believe I said, that’s enough now child…” To which in my infinite wisdom I replied, ever so sarcastically, “And I believe I said…” and that’s kind of as far as I remember getting. When I opened my eyes and picked myself up off the floor, there was a ghostly visage of my great-grandmother holding what appeared to be a cast iron skillet. I sat in my chair, rubbed the lump on my head, and said “You know, I think you’re right. I think this is just enough.” I saved and closed the composite, got up and took some headache meds, and took a nap.
Your elders can help, or not. I think from now on I vote help.