Author: -N-

Eye Can See Clearly Now . . .

Well, not perfectly, but I got some new glasses a couple of days ago, and the world is a lot sharper than it has been. I got regular ones with progressive lenses, and a pair of gradated (faded) sunglasses where the coloring is darker at top than at bottom. I prefer the sunglasses as they are easier for me to adjust to, which seems weird, but eyes and vision are not perfect . . . and will never be what I would like. Still, I have nothing to complain about.

For the past month, my ability to see has been drastically compromised because, with each eye surgery and lens implant for cataracts, my old glasses failed to work as they did before. The world became brighter and close vision sharper, but I still needed to use +1.0 readers to see, and just accept the world was blurry – but not as blurry as formerly. The change in my vision went from -3.75 or so in both eyes to -0.50 in my left and +0.50 in my right. Just looking through my old glasses made me nauseous. Now my eyes are corrected to 20-20. There are still some retinal issues, but nothing that is serious (i.e. no macular degeneration) – just need monitoring. I am very lucky to have the eye specialists I have.

The glasses took a bit to adjust to. Balance and orientation can be weird with new prescriptions, as anyone who has gotten glasses knows. Sometimes nausea and headaches are side effects. I was a bit off balance just because of my sense of distance for stepping up or down, as an example; however, details are very clear in the distance.

Dog fur on the floor is very clear, too, so time to get that vacuum out today!

Singing a Song

I have a singing voice that sounds more like a bullfrog with laryngitis. Of all the things I wish I could do, singing is it. Particular to my heart is Irish singing, in Gaelic or Irish no less. Music is a big gap in my learning, and while I can read music, I am very unmusical. When my sister and I took piano, the dog would curl up under the piano bench as she practiced; he would go to the back door and whine to be let out when I practiced.

I tumbled across this video on YouTube a few days ago, and I found it to be both educational and entertaining. I never knew what I like so much about Irish singing, and it turns out this video showed me. The way a song is sung varies throughout areas of Ireland (N and S), and vocal embellishments are added to carry the words along. Add to that, the music is so lovely, and in my mind, heaven on aural earth is found.

Outside of the Old World, America has the largest Celtic population. Migration brought traditions, and singing is one. Time, of course, changes the “old” ways and “new” ones become the new “old”! The mountainous areas created their own cultures and traditions. There is a rich heritage here.

The above video is a bit long, but to me it epitomizes much of a culture long gone. My father’s side of the family were “mountain folk” – also called hillbillies (a derogatory term) – from Tennessee.

Besides the Celtic descendants, we also have a rich heritage of Black music, gospel and folk and spirituals. Rhiannon Giddens is a modern singer with wide ranging talents. Above she sings an original song based on an older one, and old traditions.

Gospel music always brings joy – old and new – Aretha Franklin sings “Amazing Grace”, an old Anglican hymn from the 1700s.

Altogether, vocalists are my favorite form of music to listen to. Strong voices, good stories. Mahalia Jackson, Odetta, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Billie Holiday.

I could go on forever, but folk music and singing always bring more to me than most instrumental music alone. That is not to say instrumental is not to my liking, but that is for another time and place. Maybe.

Storm Across the Water

I painted this shortly after doing the “Quiet River” watercolor yesterday. Still in a patient mood, which was good, as this painting, though small, needed a bit of thought and a bit of patience to complete. The effect of rain meant laying in heavy washes on damp paper and letting them run. In other areas, damp color had to dry only so far before a dryer brush could apply color. As you can see, I rather messed up with a second round of wet paint because of the bloom (aka cauliflower) in the middle right. Still, it works, catching the breakthrough of the sun and the scudding quality of a storm on a windy day.

This one pleases me quite a bit!

The Quiet River

This is a week for meeting up with old friends! After working in acrylic for several weeks, having eye surgery, and not doing much artwork of any kind, it felt great to do gouache yesterday, and this morning, watercolor.

It is interesting how some days just push me to the limit in frustration and dissatisfaction with what I do, and other days just move along in a calm and serene way. Why is this? My mood was patient and willing to wait today, whereas on other days, freneticism is the dominant emotion. I think watercolor especially requires a serene approach, more meditative than other media, simply because once the mark is made, it is there. With gouache and acrylic you can hide your messes a bit more easily!

Too Much Lavender Land

Well . . . I haven’t painted in gouache for months, much less painted in weeks, all because I had my first cataract surgery several weeks ago, and my last two days ago. I think my scanner is way off as far as colors go as well as my monitors. This scanned image is not the picture I painted.

I pulled out a camera to take an image, but cannot find my card reader to fetch it. My whole computer needed to be reinstalled because of some bad software.

I suppose the good thing is to get some painting done, but it really feels dreary to look at this abomination. I shall be Scarlett O’Hara now and say, “After all, tomorrow is another day!”