Celebrating National Poetry Month 2026 Part 2

This week, I started revising the below artwork of my daughter that I painted years ago:

I generally don’t revise paintings I’ve deemed finished. As you can see, dear readers, my signature is even on the painting, indicating it’s complete. However, there was something about the painting that warranted improvement. I stored it away for years and finally took it out just recently and looked at it differently.

This one was challenging to paint in the first place. My then five-year-old daughter was in her first ballet class, and she was trying on her recital costume for the first time and glanced proudly in the dancing school’s mirror. One challenge was to paint her and her reflection in the mirror.

Even more difficult, the original reference photograph I took of her was blurry. Yet, I was drawn to create the painting anyway because I loved her overall pose, as well as the position of her right leg, which she slightly turned.

Luckily, I took other clear pictures of her in this costume, photos I forgot about, so I’ve been looking more intensely at them to gauge the details such as sequins, which I missed when just working from the blurry photo. And, this time, instead of working from only a hard copy blurry photo, I’m working from the photo directly on my phone, thus giving me the ability to enlarge sections, so I can more clearly discern colors and shapes.

Another challenge has been what to modify first. The tulle in her dress, which scares me a bit since I’ve never done this, or her hair, her right ballet shoe, or her arms. At first, I was so overwhelmed, I dropped some paint-laden paint brushes because my hands were shaking. After I cleaned up the mess, I figured I had to start somewhere, so I started correcting the proportions of her arms:

Right now, I just want to get the correct proportions of her arms, as well as the lights and darks. Once the arms dry, I will be able to add more accurate flesh tones, taking into account that some of the purple costume is reflected on her skin.

And for good measure, I completed the Arizonascape. I will wait for it to dry before adding my signature:

And, finally, a poem about the process of creating art:

Art’s All-Inclusive

Some feel art’s not their province –
only for talented
masters, the final product
connoisseur-deemed,
showcase worthy.
But art’s an all-inclusive ride.
And pride manifests
in the attempt –
in the process –
In the doing –
not only in the end product.
Talent’s a myth.
Practice is real.
Inspiration’s a myth.
Discipline is real.
Art’s a process
Where progress
comes from within.