Getting the Brush Off

Getting the Brush Off — page 1 — To Finn for fueling my creativity and always making me smile

Getting the Brush Off — page 2 — One boardwalk are thinking I know what the people passing by on the boardwalk They’re thinking I’m strange They’re thinking I’m wild They’re thinking What on earth is she doing They’re too busy thinking to actually watch me create I stand in a ballet fourth position as I wait for the three beats of silence to tick by before the rapid drumbeat of Wayward Tides my favorite Maritime punk band pounds through the salty air of the Halifax Harbour I drop my arms and spin around in time with the beat grabbing a brush while I’m still mid-motion The people behind me notice the mass of snow-cone-blue hair piled in a messy bun on the 1

Getting the Brush Off — page 3 — top of my head They notice the small gauges in my ears and the silver ring in the right corner of my bottom lip They even notice the ripped skinny jeans and the paint-covered Blondie T-shirt But they don’t notice how my paintbrush dives into my palette or how the paint flies through the air as I swoop back to face my easel They don’t notice how the brush slams onto the canvas making dot after dot of color before I twist the whole canvas sideways and grab a different brush to work with a different shade of paint They notice the artist but they don’t notice the art Which is exactly how I like it I bob my head as I wipe gray paint on the black bandanna wrapped around my wrist I dip the brush into yellow paint instead and add it to the gray What’s going on someone whispers from behind me Just watch someone else replies I can almost hear the anticipation in their voices and I love it I love this 2 MERE JOYCE

Getting the Brush Off — page 4 — I lift up onto my toes and do a single pirouette pirouette I peek at my growing audience as I load my brush and swipe it in a wide arc across the canvas The group of onlookers started as only a couple of young girls but in the space of two minutes it’s grown to a dozen or more curious bystanders Perfect More people means more tips Plus it gives me a better chance of selling the finished painting afterward I rock my shoulders in time with the music and raise one leg high in the air in an arabesque stretch I grip my extended ankle with my left hand and bend at the waist penché coming in close to add fine black dots to the picture I’m creating I know what I want this painting to look like I knew the moment I started painting it It’s coming together fast People don’t hang around on the boardwalk watching someone paint for long So I’ve learned how to make an entire painting in the space of a single song Now this one is almost ready Almost but not quite I haven’t completed the show yet I place a last tiny dot on the canvas and then I throw my paintbrush to the ground as if I’m furious with it I flex my fingers raise them above 3 GETTING THE BRUSH OFF

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