Thursday Thoughts

The PSP Affair - Part 2

I took a sip of coffee, savoring the flavor, concentrating on remembering it. The ability to associate a name with a taste was just one of the things that strokes had wiped from my mind. I struggled to find names for flowers, birds and people too. As I sat the mug back on the table, it sprang from my hands, landed on the floor and began to spill it's contents across the floor. I did remember one thing quite clearly - this was the second time in 30 minutes that I'd spilled my coffee. A wave of self-pity washed over me.

It was time to begin my first PSP class. Why had I ever imagined that I could handle it? My clumsy hands would never be able to use graphics software. And how could I learn, if I couldn't even remember simple everyday things. What had I done to myself?

Nevertheless, I tackled the course. It took almost 3 weeks to complete the 1st lesson. The results were not stellar. But I kept going and it got a little easier. I had never considered myself an artisic type - in high school, I had chosen math classes over art. But as I continued the class, I began to derive a lot of pleasure from my PSP creations. Still, there were lots of rough patches along the way.

I sat one day playing with a page curl effect. I can't remember why, but I know that I was trying to make all four edges curl in and meet in a point at the center. It sounded simple, but I couldn't seem to make it happen. Unable to let it go, I persisted, becoming more frustrated with each try. Finally, I had to do something to vent my frustrations.

I added another layer to my image, selected an Easter Egg picture tube and proceeded to cover the layer with eggs. It became my virtual punching bag, as I slammed egg after egg after egg onto the layer. Some of the frustration diminished and I even managed a wry grin at the mess I'd created. Not yet ready to tackle the effect again, I selected the warp brush and began to swirl that eggy mess until the color began to blend. The result was quite formless, but the color was amazingly pretty.

Perhaps a Kaleidoscope would add some structure to this warped mess. I didn't play with the settings, just quickly applied the effect.

Then, my mouth dropped in surprise. A pretty flower in shades of green was the result of my effect and beneath it was revealed my half completed page curl.

And that's how Warped Eggs began.

Come on back tomorrow for Friday Freebies!