RIP Story : June 13th, 2024

Estella lived for the arts, but she was not an artist. Hours spent at ever-growing tables as a kid never grew her skills. When she had graduated to the dinner table to do her work, she decided she needed to find a new way into the arts. She loved the people, the community, and the vibe that radiated from the market square when the artists sold their wares.

For years, her mother would drop her off at the artist market and leave her to wander. The day she decided she wouldn’t make it as an artist was no different. She didn’t let this revelation get her down. She was there to admire other people’s work. She would worry about her place in the art world another day.

Her life took a turn when she sat down to absorb the lines of a small sculpture. It wasn’t for sale, but the artist used it as a conversation starter. The piece was a human figure with a blanket wrapped around it. The blanket had fallen off one of the shoulders and was about to hit the floor. The sculpture captured a specific moment in this figure’s life, a moment of transition from warm to cold, yet the figure was unaware. The gap between the falling blanket and the brain's recognition fascinated Estella. She traced the lines of the blanket, engrossed in the artist's discussion about a radiant moon oil painting with a lunar collector.

Meanwhile, the artist under the next pop-up picked Estella’s expression of wonder as inspiration to make a piece. Estella spent so much time with the sculpture the artist was able to present her with a finished charcoal drawing of her face. “So beautiful, your wonder is amazing. Would you sit for me next week?” the artist asked.

Estella arrived early the following week’s artist mart and spent the early morning sitting for the artist. It turned into a crowd inducing demonstration. The other artists of the show noticed and the net thing Estella knew, she was being asked to sit for demonstrations most weekends. Estella thought about those early days at the artist market when she sat in a chair having vines painted onto her skin and roses pinned to her hair. This was going to be her fifth photo shoot of the year. She recalled that feeling of acceptance that being an artist would not be in the cards for her. Sitting here now, she felt like she was always meant to be the subject for paints with which she was so in love.

Thanks for reading, see you tomorrow.

EPILOGUE: Not bad? I feel a little moved by this one. There are times when I finish one of these, and I feel like I really got the feeling I was going for. I think I was close here. However, the writing involves a world I’m not super familiar with. I’m guessing a little bit. Sometimes, not knowing makes for a better story. I remember reading about the best-written fight scenes written by those who have never fought. Those who know bring a lot of practicality to the flow where wonder and fantastic make for a more interesting scene. Anyway, not bad.