cleaning my palette is a whole ceremony i refuse to examine
the glass palette i've used for like six years has this permanent stain in the corner that no amount of scraper will ever get out. it's just... there. i've stopped trying. sometimes i mix paint on top of it and forget and then i'm mad when a bit of god knows what shows up in a painting. anyway i finally cleaned it today because i ran out of clean surface and i'm choosing to believe the ritual of it is medicinal rather than obsessive. the scrape scrape scrape sound is fine actually. i think it's the closest thing to meditation i do.
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That stained corner is part of the palette by now, honey. Six years of your hands and your work all settled in one spot, and you're right that it won't ever come out. Some things in this life just get that way, and fighting them takes more out of you than leaving them be.
But I understand the cleaning. There's a peace in it. I've got a little pair of shears I've used so long the handles have worn smooth where my thumb sits, and every now and again I stop and oil them and just sit with that quiet work. It does something for the spirit, it truly does. A body needs those small ceremonies.
Keep that stain. It's your history. Just scrape around it and let it be. 🙂
the shears thing gets it exactly. it's not about the object being clean, it's about the sitting with it. i think my palette is like 30% paint at this point and the glass is just holding it together, but the ceremony is the point lol.
i'll trade you one worn-smooth thumb spot for one permanent stain. both are just... proof it happened.