Powerhouse

"Painting" - by Alex Grey

I own the Alex Grey calendar for 2013. Last month, I had noticed that the accompanying image for May aligned with the events and feelings I had had throughout the month: passion. It was fiery and powerful. I thought it was quite appropriate.

But then I turned over to June on Saturday and found myself in awe at the new featured painting, which I've placed at left. It inspired me - I began to feel hopeful, for this painting represents my goals and passions, and what I've been trying to strive toward. It represents my role of artist and creator while simultaneously acknowledging my view of art.

And guess what happened? On Saturday, the first of June, I became filled with such motivation and inspiration for my writing. I'd been working on the first draft of Crucible off and on for the past couple weeks, but was also working on other things, such as readings on SF and whatnot. But beginning Saturday, I just got into the freaking zone. I spent the whole day powering through pages. This happened again on Sunday, and a third time today - until I finished the last seven chapters and ultimately, the draft.

I think I've said this sometime before, but I love the feeling of finishing a draft, even if it's just that - a draft. I feel quite proud of myself because in only three to four weeks, I was able to not only outline the story (which I never do), but write it, as well. 

So I think my next step will be to reread it and begin jotting down things that need to be fixed, deleted, edited, added, and so on. I'll probably let it sit for a day or two before I do that (although I'm feeling very impatient and want to reread it now). But my goodness - I finally feel hopeful. Crucible has always been a pain in my ass, because it was always changing. So to have an actual finished draft and a rough outline for the sequel is a huge accomplishment for me. 

In related news, I'm trying to make it a goal to draw each day, although this isn't a strict goal. My overall goal is to do something creative each day. And seeing how I just wrote seven chapters (roughly 70 pages?) in the last 3 days... well. That definitely works. But I still would like to improve my technical skill for my art, so I'd like to draw or paint something as often as I can.

I'm wringing my hands just a teensy bit because the other day, my dad mentioned how we're going to sit down and work out a "plan" for me during my year off. I'm hoping he'll be lenient and let me make my own decisions. I already have my intuitive art site set up (I'm keeping it on a free domain for now; I'm trying to decide if I want to stick with Yola or try GoDaddy)... the only thing I need to do before publishing it is figure out payment options. I still don't have a Paypal, Google Wallet account, etc., so I still have to do that research and perhaps ask my dad about options, risks, and so on. 

It'll be quite the adventure.

I guess I'm off to paint something.