04/16/2009: "I Dreamed a Dream"

So, everyone has probably already seen this by now, but it really touched me and I wanted to share in case you haven't seen it yet.

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent.

I was wondering why this performance has touched so many people so deeply, and I think it's more than the fact that she is older and plain and has an unexpectedly beautiful voice. I think it's because we know that she's never been kissed, lives alone, has had a hard life, and yet she's still dreaming of being a professional singer...and the song she chose "I dreamed a dream", is a song about a person who's looking back at how all the hopes and dreams they had for their life were crushed. And yet, Susan Boyle's dreams may actually come true! Sometimes when your dreams seem impossible, there's still hope.

God, this performance really got to me...and I'm not one to forward youtube videos around and I'm not an American Idol fan or anything. I just relate to this woman, and I hope that wonderful things begin to happen for her.

In other news, last night was a WONDERFUL night in the studio. Some days I paint and paint and paint and have very little to show for it. The night before last (for example) I took a painting that I'd finished (signed and everything) and I wanted to fix a bluish shadow on her chin that was bothering me.

Next thing you know I was changing her mouth a little, then her nose was off, then her eyes, then the shape of her face. I spent hours re-painting something and ultimately, it looked better before I'd started.

But last night...I took a new painting that I'd done on a whim with very little planning, and I developed it some more, and it looks so good to me.

I know I'm not posting stuff right now (my pieces) and I'm not sure why. I think because it's close to my opening and if I post things and no one says anything then I'll feel like they must be terrible and I'm already totally stressed out. So, I will consider posting a few images when they are getting closer to being finished.

Right now I have about 8 paintings that are nearly finished, and two or three that are still "in progress" that I may or may not choose to have in the show depending on how they pan out.

Still, last night in the studio was a delirious trance of painting goodness. And I'm pretty sure it wasn't just the painting fumes.

:blush: