Smells and Memories

Today’s drawing of Mary Magdalene

My studio smells of the past, of early days in my college’s painting studio, and of old days before fully launching myself as an artist. I closed the door of my studio so the smells will remain a little longer.

I don’t think of the past too much, this is just a coincidence, part of 2 works in progress that contain the same materials as those past times. But it’s comforting to find that the memories remind me of the essence of who I am. That remains clear.

My new painting of Mary Magdalene shows her holding Jesus’ foot wrapped in her hair, and holding the alabaster jar where she kept her perfume in her other hand. The first layer has been drying and is ready to receive a second layer. This is the smell of the first painting class I attended in college. It is a smell that reminds me of how glorious it felt to finally arrive where I had always wanted to be. It took a lot of courage. I kept trying to study something else, something useful and practical. But in the end, the heart always wins.

The second smell came in a magical box, in the form of patchouli soap. The mix of fragrance it contains is crisp, powerful, energizing and very exotic. It envelops the entire studio. Originally, this soap was a gift that I used to keep in a beautiful box of memories, a box long gone, a bar of soap long gone. When I opened the box, for years, the smell of the soap would envelop me. So once in a while I order it, and remember the time when I decided to take the leap and leave my job, and be an artist for real. One day a few months ago, I decided I wanted to create a gift box that contained all the senses. This is the sense of smell.

It is a little miracle that these smells are enveloping the air where the painting is being created. It is what I will remember when I see this painting once it’s been finished.

Today I also drew Mary Magdalene trying to level the eyes, to find dark and light, to find beauty, connection and comfort in the process of a calm mind. Nothing makes me happier these days, although I often find myself without energy to do it every day as I had wanted.

But today is Saturday, and I am free. I am energized, and happy, and glorious, and feeling how I want to feel every day. And the more I remember how to feel, the closer I get to the other side.

I will post the progress tomorrow. This is the first color layer, it basically just a sketch.