Small, Shy Green Bird

I only have a few things left from my art classes in college. One piece I have carried from apartment to apartment, from home to home, from state to state… and will be with me forever until it crumbles to dust like all my other masterpieces from that time. It was from Illustration class, a class that was one of my favorites, because it was a combination of words and art, which felt like home to me. This particular piece hangs on my side of the bed – so I look at it every night right before I drop off, and every morning before I start my day. The assignment was to swirl brush strokes on the page, roughly mimicking Japanese Shodu calligraphy, and pair the illustrations up with a famous haiku. Over and over with the brush strokes, to best evoke the feeling of the poem. We did three different illustrations, but this one below was by far my best, and was by far the most personal.

I often say I am a mix of an extrovert and an introvert. Weird, but true. When you meet me in person, I will probably hug you, get in your face, or maybe laugh so hard you have to plug your ears. But the reality is, I am very nervous. Scared. I talk a lot to fill up silence because I am worried about what people are thinking.

And almost always, when I hit publish on a blog post, even just for a minute or two, I almost always feel like that small, shy green bird from so long ago.

This article has 15 comments

  1. zipper

    gorgeous.

  2. The Bug

    Your art is beautiful! I feel the same way when I hit publish too.

  3. daysgoby

    Aimee, that’s beautiful.

  4. zenrain

    I remember that.. it’s lovely.. 😉

  5. merrymishaps

    It’s beautiful.

  6. Caroline

    WOW…your blog is beautiful and soulful…so glad to have found this…

  7. Anonymous

    Aim,
    I loved that project.
    ‘Hovering above a brook, a cloud is shattered by a leaping fish’.
    My parents have mine hanging in the bathroom…every time im on the crapper, I think back to those days. Good times, good times!
    -PattyC

  8. chloebear

    I thought I knew everything about you, I really love this.

  9. zeghsy

    oh, i love that. it’s so beautiful.

  10. Angela

    I hear you on feeling insecure. I feel like that in real life and I don’t even blog. Lovely painting.

  11. Creative Captures Photoart

    beautiful!

  12. Becky

    Aimee, the art is amazing and this post was really beautiful. Thank you for sharing that side of you…

  13. Anonymous

    I love when you post things like this. We all get caught up in the franticness of writing and posting, and sometimes the personal part of communication gets lost.

    This post reminds me that every blog is a person speaking, and that person has an entire life of which we only see a tiny snapshot.

    Thanks for letting us in for a moment.

  14. daniela

    such a beautiful piece aimee, both the post and the art. lovely…

Comments are now closed.
Send this to a friend