“The Legacy of Mildred’s Basement” by Michele Bledsoe
When I was a child
my favorite place to play was in my grandmother’s basement.
I would stay down there
for hours on end.
That was so many years ago.
All gone now,
along with my beloved grandma..
but not really.
I still go there
when I paint.
My husband gave me a wondrous gift the other day..
a dead carpenter bee he found in the yard.
He knows me so well.
This beautiful
black-velvety little creature
and his single coppery wing..
will live again
in my paintings.
The part of the brain that controls our feelings
has no capacity for language..
Perhaps this is where art comes from;
I can’t tell you what I find there..
I have to show you.
I didn’t paint much
while I was working on my book.
But now..
I am unleashed.
I painted and painted
and painted.
That night..
my hand hurt like crazy.
Muscles aching from disuse;
I smiled to myself
in the dark.
All I could think about
was more painting.
Work in progress, by Michele Bledsoe
It is rare when I introduce something new
to my beloved palette of colors…
That is an understatement.
But when I returned to my easel
after finally finishing my new book..
it appears that I have wondrously
and joyfully
lost my mind.
Without hesitation
I started gathering strange tubes of paint
one after another..
And as I fearlessly applied these alien pigments
to my work in progress,
I understood the true meaning of enthusiasm:
To be possessed by God.
Cerulean Blue, Sap Green, Yellow Oxide… I had to write them down so I wouldn’t forget.
Instead of our regular raisins,
my husband and I picked up some golden raisins
during our weekly trip to the grocery store.
When we opened the box
it almost took my breath away.
We marveled at the rich colors –
an assortment of gold, deep yellow and amber
tumbling like leathery gems
into our open hands.
Since we are both painters..
we tried to identify the colors we saw
in terms of paint:
Yellow Oxide?
Turner’s yellow….?
Burnt sienna??
As artists, we can only attempt to reproduce
these beautiful objects with brush and pigment –
We might even come close..
but they would taste awful.
Inside the treasure chest.. paintings by Richard and Michele Bledsoe
Since my husband and I are both painters..
we have a lot of art on the walls.
“We live inside a treasure chest.” Richard often says..
I couldn’t agree more.
I have spent countless hours
wandering around my house
staring at one piece
or another..
discovering and rediscovering
each precious jewel
again and again.
The Church of Instinct, As Above So Below and From the Old House by Michele Bledsoe
Just as the negative space
around an object
will define its shape..
You can tell a lot about a person
by what they like.
These things reveal something about us..
But art is different.
More than just a human-shaped outline
formed by the things we respond to..
When you create art
it IS you.
My husband Richard’s book is now available on Amazon.
Remodern America is educational, entertaining and inspiring..
Almost equally inspiring is the story behind the book.
It is an epic tale of detached retinas,
aquariums
and divine intervention..
but most of all,
it is a love story.
When I first started painting
I had no idea what I was doing..
but that didn’t matter.
All I needed
was the unshakable
unrelenting desire
to create.
