“Like Clockwork” by Michele Bledsoe
When I paint
I don’t make preliminary sketches
I don’t plan anything out beforehand..
I just sit at my easel
and dream.
It is a spontaneous conversation..
an intimate, spiritual exchange
between myself and God.
“Assemblage”… a work in progress by Michele Bledsoe
Although I have been exhibiting my work in galleries
for almost 20 years..
I have more or less dropped out of the public eye.
This does not mean
I have stopped painting..
that would be impossible.
The desire to create cannot be contained.
The work continues
behind closed doors
as constant
and as passionate
as the beating of my heart.
“Salvation and Desire” by Michele Bledsoe
“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”
Gospel of Thomas
I love to paint.
I need to paint..
but sometimes life intervenes
and pulls me from my easel.
I feel unbalanced.
Irritable.
Something is off.
I am suffering from art deprivation..
Like some kind of
horrible sleep deficiency..
there is an almost physical
longing to dream.
As artists, it is necessary to make time
to create..
our lives depend on it.
I have had insomnia all my life.
There have been bad days.
Very bad.
But, I have been given
a wondrous gift..
a way to counteract the terrible effects
of chronic, never-ending
sleep deprivation.
When I can’t sleep
I paint.
Groggy and delirious
eyes half-closed..
I sit at my easel,
pick up my brush
and dream.
“The Ghost and My Obsession” Michele Bledsoe
While painting the other day
A lens popped out of my reading / painting glasses
And landed on my palette.
In other words
I painted so hard, my glasses broke.
As it is now
I have to TEAR myself away from my easel
to perform the simplest tasks –
eating
showering
refilling my empty coffee cup..
but now I had to leave the house
and get new glasses.
As I drove around
I noticed
the further away I was from my painting
the more anxious I became.
I was longing to go back to it..
Back to my studio
Back to my painting
Back at my easel
where I feel closest to God.
Hard to tell
from watching me paint
that I am in the grip
of a glorious painting frenzy.
Outside
I am sitting quietly at my easel
slowly
meticulously
adding layer after layer
of analogous color..
Inside
my soul is on fire.
My husband is always telling me to take a picture of the weird collection of items I have on the tray of my easel.
I’m not exactly sure what the actual purpose is for this little shelf-like area..
but it is where I keep all my favorite stuff.
Polished rocks, glass marbles and rusty keys.
Floppy-limbed Micronauts, the metal license tabs from Gunther’s collar
and my father’s college ring.
My art studio is filled with strange little objects that have captured my attention..
but you can tell how much I like something by how close it gets to my easel.
