shellartistree’s posterous

I miss the ocean and all that it brings to my soul.

I want to be floating... here.

It represents me, at my best.  

Inspired by and painted while listening to Moonlight on the Sea, a musical gift from a most special friend of mine, Ron Rodgers ( @rerkaizen )  

This beautiful melody surrounds me in my studio almost every day. It calms and restores. And it is simply magic to paint by....

Have a listen...  http://bit.ly/3HpqTn

Inspire/Expire    Watercolor    © Michelle "Shell" Rummel  

I got dizzy in the rain… (Where is a horizon line when you need one?)

So I spun and sank… (Or, was it sank then spun?)

Tumbled too, on the way down… (Bruises are to be expected, right?)

But…

Sand is soft, so I’ll stay… (Two night minimum? Please say yes?)   

And now, if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to rest my head…while the world spins silently on… (Selfish?)  

Questionable Journey    Watercolor and Ink     © Michelle "Shell" Rummel  

My instinct is to retreat, hide, fold in upon myself, blend...

Instead…I push forward, focus and don’t second guess myself or the pen/brush in hand which seems to instinctively know the lines.

And although I know it comes from within, the feeling is one of absorbing from all that is around me.

So I pull from you…absorb your emotions and your energy….and surrender to the moment.

You’re Within Me    Watercolor and Ink     © Michelle "Shell" Rummel  

 He offered me a leaf like a hand with fingers.

I offered him a hand like a leaf with teeth.

He offered me a branch like an arm.

I offered him my arm like a branch.

He tipped his trunk towards me like a shoulder.

I tipped my shoulder to him, like a knotted trunk.

I could hear his sap quicken, beating like blood.

He could hear my blood slacken like rising sap.

I passed through him.

He passed through me.

I remained a solitary tree.

He,

A solitary man.   

I love this beautiful poem written by Romanian poet, Nichita Stanescu. It speaks to me. So simple, yet vivid and powerful. Read the lines out loud…the way the words roll off the tongue is part of the charm.        

Mike Evans ( @storylet ~ http://storylet.org/ ) always inspires with his gentle haiku and poetic prose. I thought he’d enjoy the imagery that this piece conveys. This post is for him.   

 Take A Bow watercolor by Michelle “Shell” Rummel 

© Michelle "Shell" Rummel 

 Unwords Poetry by Nichita Stanescu

The moment I saw Liz Spurgeon’s ( @lizbeth33 ) latest painting,  “In the heat of the moment ~ at the heart of the matter”  I was taken with the warmth and energy that her painting conveyed.  I looked at her work and just felt like dancing/spinning/sliding/swaying…

And so I did…

Thanks Liz…for inspiring the most joyful moment I have had all week ~ xo  

View Liz’s Painting  J  http://imaginationroom.posterous.com/in-the-heat-of-the-moment-at-the-heart-of-the

© Michelle "Shell" Rummel

Contemplating~ Ink and Watercolor

Thinking….debating….reassessing….

© Michelle "Shell" Rummel

Slowly resurfacing….

Clarity comes.

A cautious comfort with the beautiful chaos that surrounds me….not so scary really, when you look it in the eye.  

Reaching up, breaking through...I’m…here… and I’m barely breathing, again.

Kiss my fingertips?

 © Michelle "Shell" Rummel

So, artistically speaking, lately I’ve been feeling like I’m stuck in quicksand….

 Wanting to break free from my usual painting style, I tried to work on some new ideas that had been swirling around in my head. But, each attempt at interpreting those ideas in a fresh way left me feeling paralyzed…each idea looked strikingly like my usual work. Feeling vulnerable, distressed and frustrated, I asked my twitter friends for help, suggestions, ideas….I needed to break free but felt I didn’t know how.

 “Blind Line drawings”….Mark (@Art_News) said.

“Morning pages” …Andrew (@Winsorandnewt) said.

“Just begin” …Tim (@elephantbird) said.

“Patience” … Luis (@luisdoamaral) said.

 “It will come in time, Shell” ….so many of you said.

So, after reflecting and writing, the feeling of being stuck began to materialize in a visual way. I tried to capture that feeling.  And so these are the beginnings….