Shaving me...Finally

One-of-a-kind art by one-of-a -kind artist,
Judith Parsons Art 2017

An artist understands colored pencil shavings. They are an intricate part of the creation that any other person would discard. Not an artist. The shavings from the colored pencils are the remnants which without there would be no creation.

These shaving you see here are from my daughter, Margaret. She is also an artist. There is nothing more exhilarating than opening a new box of colored pencils and a blank shining white piece of paper. She sketched and doodled while she visited. She sat upon my bed, propped up with my mountain of pillows and she placed her self upon her spiral sketch book.

It is what we do. We, as artist are always trying to step outside of ourselves and let the muse step in, getting out of the way, so-to-speak of ourselves. We are simple in that way, which might seem very complex to others. 

We are the pencil spinning inside of the pencil sharpener, trying to sharpen our points, trying to stay on point, trying to shed the old shell to get back to the core of our being.

As I was packing up the tin of colored pencils and pencil sharpener that I would need for an education event. I knew that the shaving of my daughter, HER shavings should be left pristine. We all know how fragile a shaving is. If I tried to place them into a plastic bag they would crumble and the nice swirling wooden shapes would be smashed, lost.

So here they are. I placed them upon a paper towel, put them in my window sill and prayed the wind wouldn’t kick up and blow them all away. I actually asked the wind to be patient with me while I took these photos. It complied. 

I took the photo into photoshop and played. I believe ART should BE MADE while PLAYING. I have been writing this blog "Art Being Born" since I began my art quest for my graduate degree. I believe this art should be placed into my final thesis presentation. It certainly conveys much about me, and how I create.

I swirled and smudged the shavings and created this for you, my special reader. Go purchase some colored pencils, doodle, and then sharpen yourself. 

Life is amazing!! Soaring, sharpening beside you!