Thursday, August 20, 2009

A Cool Summer NIght

We had writer's tonight and I learned that I'm out of practice writing without judging and doubting what comes first. It was a real struggle to freewrite for a couple hours. Lots of backspacing. Tsk, tsk, tsk. I'll get better. Need more practice.

Jennifer, I really like the feeling of your 9 Reasons... piece. I could really feel the self-doubt.

August 20--Elisabeth Louise Vigee-Lebrun, Portrait of Hubert Robert. Such strong hands he has. They are so relaxed as one holds his palette and brushes. They look like workman's hands, sturdy and competent. The man himself looks more like a farmer or laborer than an artist with his broad shoulders and barrel chest. He wears his jacket unbuttoned and his silk cravat tied casually at his throat, unconcerned about his appearance, only interested in art and his next commission. Eliza could sit and look at him until the light in her studio faded so that she could no longer see to put paint on canvas. She was energized by his presence in her space. She had seen him across the room in the bistro at the end of her neighborhood and been struck by his magnetic appeal. She was usually attracted to more patrician men but she could not get him off her mind. It took all her courage to convince him to let her paint him and he extracted her promise to pose for him afterward. The more she looked at him the more she thought she would do whatever he asked of her.

Whew. I didn't see that coming.
--Barbara

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