peaches and cream

an art-filled little check in & an ode to summer (aka the monthly poem)

via pinterest, by Derek Penix, via pinterest, via pinterest

my august, at first glance, seemed to be off to fairly disappointing start… i took time off to go to a concert which was canceled, and almost every other plan i originally had was canceled, too… i’ve decided this is a sign that i should spend some time alone.

i’ve never been very good at doing my own thing. i get anxious when i’m by myself sometimes, especially when i’m out of town. i’ve always admired people who were comfortable with themselves… it never seemed attainable for me.

this time, however, i have a list of things i’d like to do, and i’ve got my mind set on doing them, with company or not.

• go to a coffee shop to write

• go to a park to enjoy the weather & read

• go antiquing

• watch some of my favorite movies again

• create bad art because i can

one thing i was able to check off my list was to visit an art museum!!! i did have company for this, which made it so much more fun. it was a beautiful experience, and here’s a few photos i took of some of my favorite pieces:

1) Adam and Eve, 1605, Engel Jansz. Rooswijk, 2) Campbell's Soup, 1965, Andy Warhol, 3) Refridgerator Pies, 1962, Wayne Thiebaud 4) Flowers in Terra-cotta Vase, after 1780, Jan van Os

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I’ve been taking a much needed break from being online. during this time, i started working on “The Artist’s Way” recently and i’m excited to continue working with it. i’ve gotten into such a creative slump that even just the idea of taking photographs feels impossible—i don’t even want to touch my camera. (a clear sign something is very wrong)

i know that it won’t last forever, and i’m looking forward to coming out on the other side. in the meantime, though, i’m also really looking forward to exploring other creative mediums and making art that is awful, just to create something. i think we all have this idea that we need to be creating perfect, meaningful, gorgeous, thought-provoking content all the time, and that’s just not attainable. i’ve said it before, i’ll say it again: we are not machines. we are human.

sometimes we need to remember our own limits, and create them if we don’t have them.

i’ll send my “bad art” out in another post so that i can talk more about all of that. plus, if you get a chance to make bad art, maybe you would consider sharing it! we can all make bad art together :) (full transparency: i’m saying this here to keep myself accountable!)

here’s a little summer-y poem for you:

peaches and cream

the world is green,
and I would rather
the leaves turn gold. I’d 
like a dawn lit by candlelight, 
or a crimson sunrise-
the kind sailors fear,
with clouds that look like 
a plate of peaches and cream;
so vibrant and succulent,
like the dewdrops on grass
first thing in the morning.
I keep asking myself if
I made the right choice,
trading one happiness 
in for another, just 
because the timing 
was right. no
matter what i do, the 
tree will still grow 
peaches, and the sky
may not blush with
color, but the sun will
surely rise.

“One and a half peach” by Daniel Chiriac

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Still Life of Peaches by William Rickarby Miller

this poem is kind of a gentle way of telling myself that the world will keep moving even though things aren’t going as perfect as i’d like them to be, and that it’s still going to turn out beautiful in the end. (sorry to get cheesy and sappy on ya) maybe sometimes we just need those little reminders to keep going.

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links to the art in this post:

• peach lace by derek penix

• one and a half peach by daniel chiriac

• still life of peaches by william rickarby miller

(the images that say “via pinterest” do not have credit to the original creator, and i couldn’t find them… if you happen to know who they belong to, please let me know and i’d love to link to them!)

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thanks for being here, i hope the month treats you well. have a peach, or if you don’t like peaches, do something nice for yourself. make some bad art just for the sake of making something that’s outside of your comfort zone. it doesn’t have to be perfect. it doesn’t have to be anything.

and the same goes to you. i promise you’re probably doing much better than you think you are.

love,

emma xo