Fun with Watercolors

Last week I painted with Stacie. I have this watercolor set I bought and never touched. I figure now’s as good a time as ever to try it out. The last time I used watercolors I was probably a child, and nothing’s changed - I still don’t know how to use those things. Color theory is just a theory to me, a tangible thing, I’ve never made colors mix and form the way it’d like them to. Regardless, I had a lot of fun letting streaking paint across the canvas. I was thinking of an article I’d read on the Guardian, about a woman named Daisy Lafarge. She created a series of watercolor paints whilst suffering from extreme pain. It was as if the paintings were ripped from her insides - a necessary relief. I thought of her work and tried to rip everything from inside myself. I felt emptied afterwards, as if I had thrown up many worries. Sometimes it’s necessary to empty yourself. This can be done on a toilet, or, as I demonstrated above, through an artistic process. (Not that a good poop can’t be art. But it’s usually not.) I find that I collect a lot of the tensions and anxieties throughout the week. They collect and sit and sometimes drag me down with their heaviness. I try to empty myself in writing. Watercolors are a different method, but they do produce a lightness I feel after I write. It’s effective. I’ll use this watercolor set more, I think.