For our prompt of “Dance” today, I thought about a couple of polar bears dancing the night away with a bit of aurora mood lighting. Yeah, that’s pretty much how my mind works. In truth, I also wanted to try another sky like this as it’s just really fun to DO! I never much liked slow dancing, though, especially when I was younger. I always found it a bit awkward. I would be a wallflower at school events where dancing was happening. Not that I really loved being out on the dance floor on my own either, trying to mimic the latest bumps and grinds, as that was even more awkward. Weirdly, I actually taught dance for a few years, but it was tap and jazz, where all of the moves were choreographed so you knew exactly where to put your foot next. Someone had already figured out how to move about without looking like an idiot. This made things much more fun and I felt more like I was a bit more graceful in those moments. Though, it’s been years since I last danced.
While I can still do a time step with the best of them, my dancing skills have pretty much atrophied over time. Looking back, I realize that my interest in learning to dance was because I was performing on stage. If one could act, sing, and dance they were considered a “triple threat.” Though I did learn to dance well, I was never terribly threatening on that front. Like most things that I was doing back then, just to prove that I could, I never really applied myself fully. I’d get bored and want to see if I could do something else as well, like set design and playwriting. While I ended up doing all of these things, I never truly excelled at any of them. One needs to focus on doing one thing over and over again in order to really achieve a high level of skill. But, trying so many different things was fun, and it’s only way to figure out one likes the most.
Now that I’m sketching and writing each day, I’ve certainly found something I like the most. But, I’m still searching for exactly how to apply these skills I’m learning each day. By that, I mean, I’m not entirely sure where I’m heading with all of this. I don’t have a grand plan where I’m certain of where the future will take me. I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those in my life. I just sort of live life and let it lead me where it likes. I’m certain this is a perfectly illogical approach, but it tends to work really well for me. Or, at least, I never find myself too far down a path that I don’t truly enjoy. That’s the worst thing I can imagine. Taking the time to excel at something when you heart isn’t really in it, isn’t a wonderful path to take. No, I think the best path is always the one that provides consistent joy. That thing that makes your heart sing so loudly you can almost hear the music, as you once again find yourself dancing the night away.
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Dancing. Ugh! It was ruined for me during high school. Two weeks a year, gym became dancing class. I was clumsy, incredibly shy, and have absolutely no sense of rhythm. The classes were run like a competition, the gym teachers making them as much like a sport as possible, and yelling at you if you weren’t scoring the goals. I hated sports, too, so double whammy. They were always just before Christmas, and for years, afterward, I couldn’t hear ‘Jingle Bell Rock’ without cringing and getting sick to the stomach.
Oh wow! They really did ruin you for dancing. Yeah… gym class was not my thing either in any form. When everything in life is meant to be a competition, the fun gets sucked right out of it! 😉
Polar bears, one of my most favorite animals and these two look marvelous!!! Dancing always seems like such a joyous activity. My maternal grandma used to sit at her piano pounding out a tune, jump up, grab one of us kids and dance us around her small living room; singing and laughing the whole time. Special memory.
Thanks so much, Mary! 😃💕 Aww I love that your grandma played piano and danced with the kids! That’s such a wonderful image!
Fascinante, Charlie, me gusto los osos bailando
Muchas gracias, Eduardo! 😃💕
Fantastic Charlie! What a marvelous scene to ponder and it makes me giggle.
Thanks, Karen! 😃💕 hehe… yeah, this is a weird one… glad I made you giggle!
Fascinating you doodle how you executed these those polar bears dancing the night away.when I was little a joined a group folk dancers it was fun !
Thanks so much, Fatima! 😃💕 Oh wow!! I was in a group of folk dancers as well! It was so fun!
Charlie, I LOVE polar bears. They are my favorite animal hands down. Okay, they would eat me and probably say, “Man, I just love Mexican food.” haha haha I think that’s funny. 😊 I know Pres. Teddy Roosevelt is responsible for the “Teddy Bear,” but why do we cute-sy ferocious animals? Weird, right? 😊 Anyway, both of my parents LOVE to dance . I mean, obsessed. My father passed long ago, but they met at a dance. Marisela…. not so much. Don’t get me wrong. I can dance and like to dance with the right music (don’t get me started on 80’s and salsa), but obsessed? No. I can’t even remember the last time that I danced. I can’t dance right now, but I think I need to change that when things (and I) get better. The Lord has promised me that I shall LEAP and DANCE again; full of health and healing to do so. I think I will take full advantage of it, Charlie. 😊 I think I need to live with no holds. We just need this virus to die so that we can live again. Paris, here I come.
BTW, so jealous that you have a sister. 😊 I always wanted a sister.
Thanks so much, Marisela!😃💕I love that both of your parents love to dance! That’s so cool! And yes, you will definitely leap and dance again my friend. I think we should always live life without imposing limits… it’s just more fun that way!!
What I wouldn’t give to be able to dance! I have a photo of Joe and me dancing at our wedding. We look so happy. It’s one of my favorites. That old saying, dance as if no one is watching fits here. I think everyone feels self conscious. That means they aren’t paying attention to you, just to themselves. If you can paint, you can dance!
Hehe! True! 😃💕 Yeah, I was actually good at choreographed dancing, and probably wasn’t horrible at the freestyle stuff, but give me a pair of tap shoes any day! lol
Another fantastic sky, Charlie! Is there a particular formula, or should I just begin with a wet/wet indigo sky? Reminds me of the sky with your sleeping kitty in bed, ready for dreams! I also appreciate (being a fellow Aries!) your honesty in your daily blogs. I, too, get bored very easily, especially when I’ve learned anything new, such as perfect counts on all closing register bags while I worked the front end at Target. I’ve always worked around currency, but not that closely or at least not viewed on 100 different cameras at the end of the night in the safe room. Yup. A month later it was “ho hum” time, and I looked around at how else I could earn extra money for my mortgage. While selling my artwork doesn’t bring in big bucks, or small bucks, I never tire of it. Isn’t that strange? But anyway, I always enjoy your daily letters, and learn something new just about every day, so thank you for that new daily nugget! (and I am, and always have been, an awful dancer, but used this to get on stage with the comedy of it, so I guess I was successful after all!).
BTW: my husband takes MY travel coffee mug from 2019 when he goes out each day! There’s that selfish part of me that feels if he doesn’t paint, he can’t use it, so I bought him a roll of 10 plastic cups from Starbucks 2 months ago. He STILL uses mine. I’d buy another, but he’d use that too under the auspices that the other was dirty. I’d get a 3rd, well, you see my point.
Congratulations on a rousing WWM! Well-done! 🙂
Fanna
Aww thanks so much, Fanna! 😃💕 Hehe… I adore that your husband uses your mug. But yeah, he needs to start painting if he wants to earn the right to use it! 😉 lol As for skies like these… it’s wet in wet and light colors first heading up to Indigo. There’s lots of demos on YouTube for Northern Lights Watercolor. On this one, I tried for a dark sky, but I think I liked my last one with more colors better!
I love all the colors you’ve used! The sky, water, ice, and reflections on the bears are just perfect.
Thanks so much, Sharon! 😃💕 Thrilled you enjoyed this!
Fun doodle, Charlie. You’ve nailed the sky. Slow dance is all I can do. I have no sense of rhythm in the dance floor.
Thanks so much, Gary! 😃💕 Yeah, I have rhythm, but lack the enthusiasm for random group dancing. hehe
Bonjour, vos nouveaux dessins se rapprochent de ceux pour les livres d’enfants, les contes – bien ! pour cet usage – mais moi adulte, je préfères ceux “d’avant” – car plus réels, plus travaillés – c’est tout à fait différent – bien que vous pourriez faire vos nouveaux dessins, avec le style d’avant non ? ce n’est pas une critique, j’aime les deux – mais la nouvelle version n’est pas aboutie, les visages des ours sont avec des sourires, c’est si loin de la réalité , j’ai du mal a m’y adapter..je préfère vraiment, un sujet unique et bien fini – ou alors tout çà va évoluer comme çà a été le cas depuis 2015 ou bien avant
Bonjour, Cathy! 😃💕 Yeah, I’m practicing storybook illustrations currently, and some turn out better than others and have more and less detail. I’m playing with the balance of the two and just making single objects was fun, but I want to tell visual stories more. These polar bears had less detail than the ones I did earlier in the month… that one was a bit more realistic. 😉
Hello Charlie,
Those polar bears look very happy and in love under the aurora special effects sky! I really loved your post too (I loved yesterday’s post too – it resonated strongly with me). I’ve always been too shy to dance so never gave it a try. But school and college dances always were held on nights when the sky was especially starry so I was never bored. It was the best excuse to get out of the auditorium and spend a long time looking at the stars undisturbed. 🙂 You seem to have done a lot of work with theatre and a thought popped into my head. You’d probably write a great children’s play. That way you could have a blast painting the set designs too. 🙂 Just a thought… you never know when magic may happen!
Love,
Mugdha
Thanks so much, Mugdha! 😃💕 Glad I’m not alone… I’d much prefer to be outside looking up at the stars than in a well.. just about any group setting! 😊 lol And yeah, I had thought about writing a children’s play back then. The two I wrote were both comic murder mysteries. But I did get to design and paint the set for a children’s play based on the story Billy Goat’s Gruff… I also played the tallest goat! hehe
What a beautiful sketch. Happy to see you continuing to try things. Life is too short to do things we don’t want to. There are too many things we “have” to do each day that are no fun….cooking is at the top of my list! I’ve noticed since I haven’t been working my creative spirit has been ignited. My job is crafting things I would normally not do. Earlier this year I was thinking I needed a change. Well, careful what you wish for!
Thanks so much, Lori! 😃💕 hehe! Yay for change! Yeah, I’ve been grabbing extra time to paint and play and dream, so it’s been a really nice change indeed!
The background is lovely. Admire your imagination
Thanks so much, Trivita! 😃💕 Still trying to practice backgrounds, glad you enjoyed this one!
Love this! And yes to aurora mood lighting 👌😊
Thanks so much, Kellie! 😃💕
Charlie I just this morning posted mypainting of my inner wild woman (as per Judy Reeves in her Wild Women, Wild Voices) dancing in her red dress! We must be synchronized (I hadn’t read this yet)!. Have a great weekend.
Thanks so much! 😃💕 Aww yay for your inner wild woman, that’s awesome. Hope you have a great weekend as well!
The secret life of polar bears – what a fun scene, especially against that beautiful sky. I loved dancing as a kid and even choreographed a performance for about 10 of my fellow dancers, but now I only enjoy watching other folks dance.
Thanks so much, Sharon! 😃💕 Aww cool! Love that you danced and choreographed as well. Yeah, it’s been years since I’ve danced, but still enjoy watching others do it!