It all started with blueberries. After painting gooseberries, the thought of painting blueberries was exciting and motivating. To be honest, it was supposed to be a pleasant and relatively easy endeavor. It wasn’t and still isn’t.

Blueberries grow on blueberry bushes, not trees. My blueberries looked like they were fruits growing from a branch of a large tree even though there were no actual tree trunks in my paintings. It was the flow of the painting that did not allow for the feeling of a branch growing as part of a bush. I was stuck so I decided to work on my basic brush strokes. I referred back to my sumi-e instruction books and was reminded that the four gentlemen (bamboo, orchid, plum and chrysanthemum) provides all the tools one needs to paint other subjects. I practiced the bamboo brush strokes including the intricate branches and then pulled out some of my old practice paintings. I had kept these out of the many practice pieces believing they were somewhat decently done. The bad news was that they were rigid and lifeless; the good news was that I now see this. The painting example in my sumi-e instruction books look different from what I had seen before. The bamboos, orchids, plum trees and the chrysanthemum flowers were alive. They grow out of the ground; alive and breathing. Some of the decay of the plum tree is a sign of life that had lingered for some time. Just as the paintings of LeRoy Neiman play jazz music, sumi-e paintings have their own distinct music or rhythms. I am pretty sure one must lose himself/herself in the painting for such music to play.

I know these thoughts are nothing new for the accomplished artists, but for me, the progress in “seeing” is a cause for celebration!

Now that I see more, can I paint better? Not necessarily, but I feel I have a higher goal to reach which is uplifting and exciting. It’s a goal I will never reach so, again, the joy rests in the process.

And yes, I am still working on my blueberries.