Magic

                                                    I believe in magic... always have.

I had a set of ideas, made from a weird xerox copy...
    the same copy for all, but with a different frame of mind, a different interpretation. great exercise for the imagination, how to see the same thing in different ways - things are not always what they seem!

                                          Its a series I used for students trying to figure out
                                          what to do with the subject:
                                                                               Aladdin.
One of my favourite childhood stories... I believe it to be full of magic, hope...faith, wishes and dreams....
     all of what I believe to be the basics for a good happy life! =D

From the sketches I picked the 3rd one to paint... I find it to be the one that is most filled with magic and mystery. And so I have started painting, basically copying, interpreting my subject - something I very seldom do, since I find it to not exercise enough my brain in the search for content. But, every now and then its good to change our ways of doing, and definitely every now and then its nice not to have to strain too much the brain - to give it a bit of a rest.

                                         The first thing to notice is the lack of blue - yet!
IF I started off with exactly the same colours it would be no interpretation on that front... and just a mechanical technique exercise.

Remember... my subject is magic! I believe magic is spontaneous... a surprise... something you wish for but don´t expect - or imagine. For that to be in my painting I must trust on intuition and casualty...
   I must let the random become!

A bit like when you loose something - sometimes there is really no point in spending hours looking for it - just stop.... and you will find (the universal magic!)

                                         and so... magic starts to happen... suddenly I notice

on the lower left corner, what could possibly be a little fairy! - am I to be a slave to the original???? or play!!!!!  Well, so far this miss happening does not affect the original layout... and just brings some content to the corner... so I accept! - play is the key to magic!

    Session in full power... I thrust, I block, move my brush to the right, pull to the left...
         the brush wildly working the paint,
              thick, thin, sharpening the line, breaking it
   dark, light.... some colour here, and an unexpected hit with the same colour somewhere else,
                           searching balance amidst the chaos.....
exhaustion starting to creep in,
                            magic is not easy to wield....
      and I don´t want to let go....

So I go on, work some more... a sip of tea, a nicotine gum.... look from afar, think, strike.

            until, at some point.... I just have to give in.
And I say to myself,
                                 Mikki, back to Earth, ordinary is calling!!!!!

 I put my brushes aside, pack away my colours, try not to look at what i have done - it´s power to pull back is tremendous!!!!
   But I know, that in order to live magic, bathe in it, savour it... one MUST be part of the real world... the everyday life, ordinary happenings.
     Because without them there is nothing to paint.... and no real MAGIC.
I stop the music that is playing and go to clean the toilette of my three cats =D

I believe magic to be elliptic....
     and usually small - like fun, and beauty, and any other wonderful experience.... it cannot be big, because the more of it, the less its power. A lot is basically a key element to ordinary.

In that way, life is very much like a good painting.... can´t recall who was the great artist that said "in painting, the greys are like the sauce is for a good dish (I believe it was Hawthorne, but might be mistaken!) - in other words... good greys, rich in flavour and variation of tone, provide the colour a chance to shine. In life... our everyday happenings, good and not so good, normal things... are the key to the shinning moments of joy, love and bliss. My small ellipses. Magic!

Of course you can train your senses to be aware of the tiniest ellipses... the ones that usually pass unnoticed.

                                                  A short moment in the everyday... when things
align up to create something beautiful... spectacular. It can be a glance of your loved one, it can be light shinning into your room in a special way, it can even be the joy of savouring your cup of coffee from a new cup you recently purchased after having used old ones for the longest of times!

                                                    Bright lights in the mundane day...
make it seem like a good one!

   I was very fortunate to have my 50th anniversary lit up by many a bright light... so...
                I will definitely remember it as magic.
My sister came from Holland to celebrate my day - joyful thing in itself, to have family close - but her wonderful light came in the shape of a Diary!

                                          Now, my sister is not handy with arts and crafts,
so I was amazed by the beauty of the book, its richness in texture and content - artwork, clips from different episodes in my life... time spent creating love! Thank you Sonja for that!
                                       
I got wonderful greetings and support for my pilgrim dream in Santiago. Thoughts, wishes, joy.

                                         Thank you Dita, Ruut, Armi, Jessica, Sara, Hannah,
                                         Kai for the time spent weaving light for me!

                                         I got two amazing cakes - savoury and beautiful to
the eye - Thank you Bua and my stunningly beautiful goddaughter Anabel <3 I also want to thank you for bringing along your friend Wasana? (whom I called Wasabi! =D ) who sang for me happy birthday i Thai - first time in 50 years I get to hear that!!!!! <3 <3 <3

Then there is of course the lovely group that joined me at the Ocean Dragon!!! To my big surprise they all stayed from beginning to end - and ordered food!!!!! (special thank you to my ex-students for that - I know that when living in a low budget all extra expenses must be pondered thoroughly!!!!)

                                           

                                                 

I also got beautiful encouraging messages from former students ( wonderful when you can be sure the praise is not related in any way to getting a good number!!!! =D The most touching and inspiring, maybe this one:

                                        Thank you Wojtek for that! - hope you don´t mind
me making it public - but I have never before been told how it is my teaching affects you guys!!!!

I would like to thank Zê - for taking care and having fun with my Inda during the celebration... although it would have been nice to have the little one participate I am sure this way I could give my fullest attention to all my guests!

And of course Suvi - for making sure that gluten free cake was also served for those in need... and also for providing quality time with my beloved in Flamingo Spa next week!!!! Looking forward to that!

The list of things I would like to say, thank you´s and such... could go on forever. You all provided me with an awesome 50th anniversary! <3

                                         T H A N K  Y O U  A L L <3 <3 <3

For contributing with sparkling ellipses of magic that made my day special and unforgettable!

                                                My Aladdin and his elipses is not complete
                                                                         yet...

I believe it needs some grey inbetween days for it to get the final sparkle. But its on its way...
                              and I like to believe anyway,

        That Magic in life is allways alive... and waiting, for you to find it!  <3 <3 <3