Stubbornly blooming (Patreon)

I think I have established enough that the only way I can accomplish any art or communication is dumb luck or giving over to autopilot and improvising. So here’s step one of a fine art equivalent to it.

I owe certain docs a karmic debt, so BRIBES ARE NEEDED to offset what a difficult patient I am!

Like how the Momentum pics were in process nearly three years before I got one figure drawn for a few of ‘em, this series was started a year ago - and was ruined when the med side effect scare destroyed me last May. Every month or so, I’d chip away at another prep step, and finally I got my fingers to blurt two pieces out. My goal is seven, so I cut it down to a series of the best. (My fine art pieces always look great in a group, to show my purpose and echo the themes.)

The theme here, btw, is the VERY UNSUBTLE “blooming through chaos.” They are intended for docs who helped keep me alive when other docs were botching my treatment, so… yeah. A good story of perseverance makes them feel good, and could give them a conversion piece if they hang it in their office. “This guy has a condition 100x worse than yours, and he refuses to die! Be inspired!

I forgot to snap pics of the second piece before framing - especially bad, since it was an 8.5”x11” composition that I cut down to fit a 5.5”x8.5” frame, and all that extra context I drew is lost forever - but here they both are.

The first is a rose blooming despite a parasitic invasive species beetle getting involved. The second is a sunflower pushing through while surrounded by other sunflowers vying for the same light. (Tho, in cropped from, it’s really just a sunflower bloom, since most of the background got cut.)

I’m praying I can get a cohesive series out of this. Again, it’s improvisational. I start with a photo I took of my garden from last year, so I have a detailed anchor image, then let chaos creep in and try to steal that focus away from the bloom. Again, NOT SUBTLE.

As of today, I’m on new meds. I won’t immediately bounce back after months of mishandling - I am literally on the meds I asked for before this horrible downfall happened, so they would’ve helped me THEN. Now? *shrug* All I can do is pray they soften me enough that physical therapy can again get my muscles to respond and release. If muscles start relaxing, I can then get ahead of flares and prevent them from happening. If they continue to flare 24/7, then I’ll continue spending 95% of my waking life in overwhelming discomfort, with the 5% appearing randomly, and needing to be divided between house/body/cat maintenance and drawing/writing. That would suck, cuz the physical toll completing these pieces brings is more than I can afford to pay.

Anyone wanna go rob a pharmacy for me?