And away we go. We women who find a way to go over, around or under every obstacle. We who won't accept defeat. I'm one of thousands of women like me who have met challenges with a sense of humor and resolve. Resolve, that is, to keep my eyes on the goal and not on the problem. An old proverb goes something like this: to walk across a field of snow in a straight line, keep your eyes on a distant tree, not on the ground.
Though sight-impaired, this seventy-four-year-young fiery blond author of an historical novel, Mamie and the Root Woman, available in book stores everywhere also likes to paint and draw. Your readers may read an excerpt of my low country book on my website: www.elizabethbowles.com, or, www.authorandspeakerbowles.com.
If this artist and author can achieve these feats, anyone can do anything they really set their minds to do. In addition to writing and painting, I am a professional storyteller performing in school, hospitals, retirement communities in and around Atlanta. I am a motivational speaker for large corporations and companies with sales agents. Imagine getting paid to stand up in front of a group of strangers and get paid to make them happy and productive. What a gift The Universe has given to me.
For this gift and all other blessings I am grateful to God. My Source is my Higher Power and I have learned to depend only on Him. You, too, can learn how to make The Law of Attraction work in your life.
After forty years of rearing children, teaching, and, well, just life, I got the urge to paint again. Yes, I used to paint. I thought "if I painted long ago and enjoyed it so much, I can do it again. I purchased water colors, acrylics, brushes and a few canvases. My first effort was a kitten hiding in tall grass. The whiskers, eyes, ears, and nose were in the right place. It was a whimsical piece showing a yellow kitten crouched as though ready to leap out and attack an ankle. I loved it. Next I painted landscapes with mountains and waterfalls, more kittens and cats, an aborigine, women all dressed up and one nude toweling her hair. At an art show, I sold everything on my display except two small paintings. I was pleased that people wanted to buy my paintings.
II have had to re do some failures and throw away a few disasters. I paint what I see in my mind's eye rather than what is shaping up on the canvas. The important thing is: I can paint. I sketch, do charcoals, pencil drawings, and anything I want. I just had to find the courage to try.
I execute a painting by imagining, a certain amount of guesswork, and maybe a bit of luck. I don't see the details of faces (nose, eyes, and mouth) until I get over to my bright, full-spectrum lamp. If it's not exactly right, I paint over it. I thought perhaps I'd produce a Picasso-like kitten with that first one, but no, kitty' had all his parts in the right place.
I have painted people, too. I painted a nude woman drying her hair, another, an attractive older woman, one, a man I entitled "The Aborigine", a priest, a long shore man and several little children.
My landscapes look natural and appealing. I like to work with light on water, or the sun on a mountain top at end of day. I enjoy the seascapes that I do, also. Clouds, mists, and fog intrigue me. Waterfalls with mists rising in the sun are fun to do and my buyers seem to like these types of art.
Oil pastels lend themselves to the impressionistic type of landscapes that I like to do. Charcoal and pencil drawings are more precise, but I love to work with this medium, too. Water color is unforgiving, but fast and good for impressionistic rendering of a subject.
I paint for the sheer joy of creating and to relax after a few hours at the computer writing. It has been an incredible experience for me.
What makes this unusual? I have no central vision. I don't see details; I see only what I can with my peripheral vision. (Trust me, that isn't much). I have macular degeneration. I am legally blind. I walk with a long cane. I continue to write, but with the help of a software program called "Zoom Text" which magnifies my screen and reads what I key into the document.
Macular degeneration has not stopped me from doing the things that make my life worthwhile. Why, it has hardly slowed me down. I walk three miles (sometimes more) three times a week. Living in the Buck Head area of Atlanta, I enjoy the parks, museums and art galleries. I walk to Piedmont Park and all the way around the lake. This often gives me inspiration for a poem or an article not to mention a new painting. The Botanical Gardens are a delight. Flowers and flowering trees in Spring and Summer; the beauty of bare branches in Winter and the blaze of color in Fall all fill me with the wonder of creation.
I shall continue to paint and to write as long as it fulfills me. My works-in-progress are:
a sequel to my historical novel, Mamie and the Root Woman
A nonfiction; "Ten Simple Steps toward Health and Happiness
A memoir; "The Alaskan Sundog Tales", a collection of true short stories of my six years living in Anchorage, Alaska.
a collection for an art show. After all, if elephants can paint, why not I?
