Radically Retired

Category: Art

  • Stereotypes

    Stereotypes

    Over the past few years, there has been a bench alongside one of our walking trails here that has often had a small painted rock sitting on it.

    I’ve always wondered who the generous artist was. Who would paint a rock and leave it for others to enjoy?

    In my mind’s eye, it was a middle aged to older woman who was a member of our local artist’s guild. She would be of petite stature with grey hair, glasses, and a friendly smile.

    The other day, as I was on that same path, there was a tall, heavily built, younger fellow walking ahead of me.

    I saw him stop at a bench, take something out of his pocket, and spend a few moments. He was far enough ahead that I didn’t know if he was tying a shoelace or what he was doing there.

    When I finally got to the bench, the young man was long gone. My feature photo shows what I found on the bench he had stopped at.

    Now, did this fellow paint and leave the rock? Is he the one who has been doing this all along? Did he maybe take the rock on a previous stroll and was now returning it for someone else to enjoy? Did he just spy the treasure and stop to take a photo of it, as I had done?

    That little painted duck provided much more than a gift of beauty along a hiking trail.

    It afforded me the opportunity to speculate and examine my sometimes stereotypical assessments.

  • Velkommen

    Velkommen

    Those of you who have been following me for a while, may remember that I’ve been trying to learn Norwegian Rosemaling, a decorative folk art.

    My goal was to do some pieces using palm husks that I pick up here in south Texas after a strong wind forces them to shed the ground. The canvas is free, so what’s not to love about that?

    Although hubs is third generation Canadian, he’s of Norwegian ancestry – 100% on both his mother’s and father’s sides, as far back as they can trace their roots (which a family genealogist has done), thus my interest in their culture. When I came across Rosemaling, I fell in love with the colours, the sweeping scrolls and swirls, and the simple flowers.

    It looked easy. It isn’t.

    I’ve practiced and practiced in sketchbooks and finally decided it was time to try it out on a palm husk.

    To my eye, the end result (left in feature photo) was a disaster.

    I submitted the left photo to ChatGPT and asked for suggestions on how to clean it up.

    Not only did the app correct it perfectly, using my design as a guide, but with further questions from me, it provided step by step directions for the brush strokes of Telemark rosemaling – my style of choice. I’ve watched YouTubes and researched other step by step tutorials, but the one provided by ChatGPT gathered the information quickly and provided exactly what I needed, based on my skill level (or lack of skill).

    Velkommen means welcome in Norwegian, so I wanted to make one of these husks for the back patio of our home.

    I think now, that I’ll follow the design sent back to me by the app, but make the background sage green.