Stain

A few weeks ago, while I was practicing yoga in my parents' basement, I looked up at the ceiling and saw this stain. Being in a relaxed associative state, the stain captured my imagination. I had seen the stain before, but this time the conditions were different: I am learning Adobe Illustrator and now shapes hold new potential. 


I've intended to learn Illustrator for many years, but until last year it wasn't offered where I live. Last year I signed up for the course three times and each time it was cancelled due to insufficient enrollment. In November I bought the book, but it sat on my shelf until January of this year. My belief-system that I couldn't teach myself a computer program blocked my progress. I gave it a try twice and each session was 1.5 hours long and my brain was buzzing with too much information. Finally, by accident, I stumbled upon a brilliant solution: one day I started a lesson but had to stop after 5 minutes because the doorbell rang. I realized that I had actually learned something in those short 5 minutes, so I created a plan where I would do a minimum of 5 minutes of Adobe Illustrator learning or practice 5 days a week. Since April, I have spent over 11 hours with the program and it is infiltrating my thoughts. With much trial and error, I figured out how to import this photo into Illustrator and create a path (an outline) of the shape. A next step is to learn how to convert the outline into a jpeg file so that I can show you my progress. Ironically, as a result of learning Illustrator, I am discovering new tricks and techniques in Adobe Photoshop. Learning new skills opens new doors.