Pastels

The paints in the artistic world dominate extensively over the realm of media. The variations in texture and flexibility is what reels in an artist, trying to fill in the curious and creative void in their mind. That figure would reach their hand over the top shelf, swaying it back and forth to reach a paint bottle, when in return she grasps a set of small oil pastels. The void had only expanded. Immediately, she grabs a leaf of tan paper and sets down the oil pastels, and lifts the lid off, uncovering the broad daylight to them. She removes scarlet red and is so near the paper when she hesitates, in fear that she will use it wrong once and that it’ll destroy the experience. 

The artist, a young adolescent who imitates the work of who she looks up to. A piece of work in process. She pauses for a moment, hearing the pitter-patter on her roof and taking a glimpse of the pouring rain outside. She decides that she wants to create a source of light, hoping the weather would follow her lead.

Soon enough, she sets it down and with surprise, it glides, it soars. In awe, she pursues them. The perfect, smooth end becomes blunt. Strokes and strokes fill the paper, while the subtle hints of blending, evidently shown by her multi-colored fingers. She contrasts them, aiming them at different directions, and leaves a trail of ochre brown. The pastels shorten with wear.

They dance across the paper with charisma, each color entering the art piece more vivid than the last. Each one moving to the rhythm of their own beat, but finding their way to synchronize together at different points. The agility of the imaginative mind moves at the speed of light when the aroma of success fills the air.

Small smudges of colored wax drapes across the paper. With time, the pastels shorten, becoming small nibs. They search the territory with a new profound interest and adjust quickly. Azure blue flows in waves of luminosity and wonder while indigo tucks in the corners of the paper with its saturated shade of purple.  Squiggles and shapes fulfill the pastel’s destiny. They glaze the paper with style and ultimately disappear into the abyss of aptitude. The soft, mellow appearance of the arrangements of colors lifted satisfaction from the artist’s expression.

With that, the artist finally understands what life can offer. What it could become when the energy and strength are conducted in the right place. It brings joy and the color that we miss and don’t take advantage of. It fills the vacant void that was once the world. It harmonizes the belief that with time being snatched away, she has to take back what she could hold and surrender it into the beauty of what life can be.