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2.1.8  Painting on Water and Body Tracing

Another method of painting I pursued was working with water in combination with paint. I bought colors to paint on water called marmorierfarben. Marmorierfarben are used in a very specific way, you through drops of color in the water, then you can play with design by playing and stroking the water to get a very abstract drawing. I have used it on colored paper and on white paper, the result is surprising but I would not like to do any more experiments with this method as you have to work very fast before the paint goes off and I am not always able to do this independently, however it is very fun for the children.

These picture are made with the use of oil paint in water. The first has a pink, purple, green, dark and light blue color with two red circular forms in the middle. The picture almost looks as if it is an egg with two embryos inside. The second is made on green paper with the use of blue brown and purple colors giving a very wavy affect. The Third was made on blue paper with green, purple, silver and blue colors which give a look and feel of a burning flame from a candle. The forth picture was made on yellow paper with pink, purple,gold,blue and red. I feel this painting has an oriental look about it.
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Body Tracing

The next creative project I began was to create my own body on white cotton, I needed the help of my assistant to accomplish this, he created the outline of my body and I painted the inside independently. It is interesting how my helper made the image of me, he drew the outline of myself without one hand and most of the lines were open as if I had no borders. It made me think about my own boundaries and what I agreed with and what I did not agree with. I wasn't aware of this fact until I started to color in the inside of the outline my helper created. I allowed myself to paint very wildly with many colors. I also used a water spray that is used for plants to wet the cotton so that the colors would mix, I then traced over the outline my helper had made with a silver paint color in order to make my boundaries more visible. Only when the painting was dry I discovered that the paint was not holding because I had used acrylic paint, that Is why I stopped painting any further.

This picture is the outline of my own body made with a silver paint color on a white bed sheet. It has an outburst of colors steming from the heart, yellow, orange, green, red, and blue can be found. The colors look like fireworks going off, very vibrant and alive. There is also some writing by the side of my body which says my body is wonderful.
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Close ups of the body outline on page 16. The first is of the explosion in color inside the body and the second is of the writing.
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I found it anyway a very important project because this time I could decide for myself what I wanted to do with my own body. I don't always have this choice as some of my doctors and some of my helpers actually take the decisions out of my hands, for instance when one of my helpers is vegetarian, they do not want to cook meat so I am not able to eat meat. Also there are doctors out there that I would like to say thank you too for saving my life on many occasion and I am very grateful to them for everything they have done for me but there other doctors that can not see beyond my disability and see my body as a problem but that is not how I see my own body and that is why I made this painting, most of the time they think I just need fixing but really what I need is for someone to listen and understand that although by body does not function as other peoples bodies do, my mental capacity and spirit are functioning just as good as anyone else's therefore I am able to find other routes to accomplish my goals and look for more creative solutions to what people find easy in their everyday life.

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