Getting the Brush Off

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

Getting the Brush Off — page 5 — my head and wiggle them in the air so I know the people watching me can see Then I bring them down to the small table set up next to my easel where I keep my supply of paints I waste no time dipping my fingertips into several different blobs of bluish color the paint warmed from the midsummer Halifax sun This is my favorite part I lift my fingers paint dripping off my nails I twirl around in a flurried double turn before I push my hands onto the picture smearing the paint until I’ve got the colors just right A couple of people applaud my dance and one person laughs when I start using my fingers on the canvas But their curiosity soon makes them quiet again The boardwalk around us is busy but I don’t hear the bustle over the beat of my music I slide my fingers from the center of the painting outward to the edge and then wipe my hands on my shirt I step back from the painting taking a few seconds to consider the work as I lip-synch along to the music and play some beats on a set of air drums Then I prance forward snatch up a final brush and attack the canvas with short strokes of white paint 4 MERE JOYCE

Getting the Brush Off — page 6 — When I’m done I crouch into a low squat before I pop up into the air throwing my arms and legs out like a starfish On my way back down I grab the painting off its easel I slide into a side split no easy task in my tight jeans and place the canvas on the ground before me I dig my red lipstick out of my pocket coat my lips and lean my face right down to the bottom edge of the canvas I kiss the still-wet paint planting a rim of sticky lipstick in the corner Signed with a kiss Now the painting’s done I draw my legs in and pull myself up just as the song ends I wipe paint and lipstick from my mouth and give the crowd a grin I place the work back on the easel so everyone can see the finished product It takes several seconds before the clapping begins It always does The people around me don’t know what to expect from my performance but the pretty painting of what they can now see is the Halifax Harbour with its glistening water docked tall ships and glowing sunset still manages to surprise them It’s lovely a woman says and soon the others agree Their hands come together to 5 GETTING THE BRUSH OFF

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