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 Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 7:44 pm
The intermediate art students were progressing nicely. This was the level from which Prosper culled his Studio Art students, and so he paid close attention to who the standouts were, and who frankly did not care.
Today he had them working on a still life composed of several classroom objects - a stapler, a coffee cup full of pens, and a tape dispenser. It was a nice change from the usual fruit and gave the students different surfaces and angles to work with. He made a careful circuit of the room behind the easels, surveying the students as they worked. On one end of the semi-circle, Orli had given up entirely and was now drawing an elaborate spaceship. Opposite of her, Carlisle was making a hopeless mess of his supplies and had managed to get paint everywhere but his canvas so far. The more serious students tended to congregate towards the center, where the view was better. Right in the middle of it all, chattering away, was Elizabeth Wickwright.
Although a recent addition, Elizabeth was quickly proving to be one of the better students in the intermediate level. Her sense of proportion in her work was spot-on, even if her technique was still improving. He had also long suspected that the girl had a great degree of untapped magical ability, and that the sense of proportion she showed was almost certainly a manifestation of that - it was not uncommon for those with potential to world paint to show abilities in their normal art.
Elizabeth was still chattering away as she worked, distracting the girls seated on either side of her while her own piece came together nicely. Prosper tapped her on the shoulder.
"Miss Wickwright," he said, "A word with you after class."
The way he said it made it unclear as to whether she was in trouble or not.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 8:00 pm
"And I learned about this thing, it's called "chiaroscuro" or something, and it means 'light in the darkness' in Italian, and-"
Elizabeth loved art class like she loved the color pink, which was to say a whole lot. Both traits showed- in the pink hairbows keeping her hair out of the paint, in her smock, and most especially in the raspberry-colored pencils she'd used to sketch out her still life before beginning to paint in the natural colors with a highlight of pale rose. There was a smudge of paint just under her left eye, probably from the smear of paint on her free hand as she tried with a fierce intensity to get all the acrylic onto the canvas before the paint dried.
"-And he cut off half his ear but I read somewhere that maybe his homosexual lover did! Wouldn't that be-"
It took, she reflected as she slowed to dab a careful logo onto the coffee mug, two completely different parts of her head to paint and to talk. Too bad the others didn't seem to see that- some people were still laying their background colors! Imagine! This class was definitely a godsend in that she was allowed to talk incessantly- math was fun, amazing, but she spent the whole time bouncing because she was not supposed to talk while Dr. Darnell was talking. That was rude, and also bad.
"-So anyway, it was really crazy, don't you thin-"
"A word with you after class."
Uh-oh, thought Elizabeth, shutting up and hunkering down to the top of the stapler, which only kept her attention for a minute or two before she had to stand up behind her stool and stare fixedly at the painting. Now she noticed that the pens looked kind of flat, so she picked up a smaller brush and started to try to fix that by adding a highlight. She'd only just started when the bell rang, and slowly she trooped over to the sink and started to clean her brushes. Did Mr. Prosper have a class next? Maybe she shouldn't delay like this. She took her sweet time to hang up her smock and put her canvas on a drying rack.
Then she walked over to the teacher, head bowed, and said, "I can be more quiet, really, Mr. Prosper," in the quietest tone she could muster.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 8:17 pm
Prosper was resetting the still life display for his next class, which wasn't until next block. He set the stapler down momentarily and looked over at Elizabeth. "While I would greatly appreciate if you could curb your enthusiasm the slightest bit, as it tends to distract your classmates," he said, "That is not the reason I asked you to remain after."
He motioned to the easels where the last class's work sat drying. "You like painting, don't you?" he asked. "You're very good at it."
This was the part where he hoped his suspicions were correct, because if he was wrong and the girl had no world painting potential then all this would be a waste of time.
"There is a kind of paint-based magic," he continued, "That I think you may be able to learn. It would mean taking extra classes, and exams outside of school if you excel, but I think you might be very good at it."
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 8:27 pm
"The slightest bit," she repeated, thinking about math class. Bouncing would really mess up her steady-hand painting, which she actually didn't have - her hand was very unsteady but she tried to work very quickly to she wouldn't have a chance to let the shakes make the strokes ugly or something. Really she would have never thought that school would expose her to something new and fun- still lifes and all. "I'll try to be more quiet."
And she meant it, at least right then, she would probably forget by next class. If she hadn't meant it, she wouldn't have said it, since she didn't want to make Mr. Prosper mad at her. It was important to be on the good side of the teachers in a class you enjoyed, like she enjoyed art. She followed his gesture to the easels and smiled, bright and happy like she never did at home. "Yes, of course I do! My mama always said that she could tell when I was happiest because I'd talk and talk and talk-" but she shut her mouth again to listen to what he was saying, even though she really did want to keep talking. It seemed important, anyway, or else he wouldn't have asked her to stay after like this. Not like she minded, since science was boring anyway.
Paint-based magic? Magic brought up recollections of that weird, driving need to get outside the night she grew. Any kind of explanation would be great, to figure that strange feeling in her chest out. Was that what the teacher meant? But to be able to paint whenever she wanted, and to be able to do something special, even! A wistful, somewhat dreamy look came across her face for a minute. "It would be worth it," she said, "Wouldn't it? I like to paint."
Only she felt stupid saying just that, but she couldn't think of anything else to say. Instead, she said, "But how would you know if I could?"
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Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 8:09 pm
"The type of magic I can teach you is called World Painting," explained Prosper. "It's the ability to travel vast distances by using a painting as a portal. I can test to see if you really do have an aptitude for it pretty easily..."
Whatever the test was, he looked to be setting up for it. He circled the room quickly, selected a painting that was dry, and removed it from the easel, leaving clean paper behind. He set out a set of watercolors, a brush, and some water.
"A principal among world painters is that every world has an appearance, a name, and a feeling specific to it. Generally to summon a world you will only need to know two out of three."
"The most basic world is called 'Home'. Its feeling is safety, but its appearance varies from painter to painter. Each Home world is unique to the one who summons it and can be accessed only by that specific painter unless they specifically invite others in." He motioned to the paper and paint set.
"You may begin whenever you are ready."
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Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 8:45 pm
World Painting. Even the name sounded like the best kind of magic, and Elizabeth savored that. "World painting," she breathed, excitement already building. She was beginning to think she'd never wanted something so bad as she wanted to succeed at this magic that the teacher was talking about, and she'd wanted many things very badly. If desire was any part of it, she thought she'd have this down in no time.
But, confronted with the challenge - paint a world where you felt safe? - she felt a little more confused than enthused. She didn't know what world was safe; the house with Demi had been safe, but Demi had died, and the house where she lived with Eight would never be safe as far as she was concerned.
So what was her 'home'? She bought time by mixing a pretty pale pink, like clouds in the sunrise. Which gave her an idea- she picked up the brush and set it to paper. An inexpert, childish likeness of a large tree with thick branches, pink light filtering through the heavy leaves. The place where she used to play with Kae-Askavi in the grass, she thought. Nothing bad ever happened there.
"Home," she whispered to it. Then, to her shock, it cleared up. She could see every knot and whorl in the bark of the tree; the light turned golden and bright. "High noon," she said, excited. "Did I do it right?!"
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 3:02 pm
Prosper nodded in approval, looking at the painting-turned-portal appraisingly. He wondered about the significance of her Home-world's appearance, but that sort of matter was considered to be personal and private among painters. "You've done excellently," he told Elizabeth, patting her on the shoulder.
"Would you like to go there?" he asked. Of course, that was the point of painting a world. "The portals stay open on both sides for as long as the paint is wet." Of course, there were ways to seal them from intruders, but that was far more advanced magic than she needed to be worrying about now.
"Of course, lunch is almost over," he added with a frown. "We wouldn't have very long there. But it would be a waste to paint it and then not to go."
He sighed in a sort of distracted way that indicated he would write a note of excused tardiness for whatever teacher she had next period and motioned to the painting with one hand, the other still on her shoulder. "Press your palm to the portal to travel through it," he instructed.
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 9:06 pm
A bright smile came over her face - not the normal I am chattering and you cannot stop me smile she wore, but one that showed all her teeth and made the corners of her green eyes go all crinkly. She'd done excellently. Elizabeth mouthed the word to herself, practically glowing with pride.
She could go into the painting? That would mean that she could go and stand under the tree again, maybe see if the things she had left in the roots were there, if they could be there. Was it really the tree? Kae-Askavi wouldn't be there, but... She glanced back up at the teacher, catching the sigh and her smile, if possible, grew even wider. Following the directions, looking forward to standing in the bright sunlight, she touched her fingertips lightly to the wet paint.
She could go into the painting. Elizabeth gaped at the old oak, its gnarled roots and the dappled light falling on the rough bark. She looked up at the sun, squinting to see the outlines of the leaves. With a second glance, she could tell it wasn't the same as the clearing back near Mama's house. It was almost the same, but not quite. That dulled her simplistic joy, but not for long.
"I did it," she caroled, jumping up and down once or twice in the grass. Then she stopped, arms at her sides, and turned to face Mr. Prosper (when had he gotten there?). "I did, didn't I?"
What happened now?
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Posted: Fri May 22, 2009 9:15 pm
"You did very well," nodded Prosper, surveying their surroundings. In the air behind them was what looked to be a window to the classroom they had come from. He studied it for a moment.
"We have a while before the paint dries," he informed her. "Would you like to look around for a bit before we go back?"
He was curious about the extent of this world. Most home worlds were of about the same size and logic, but he wondered what sorts of other things existed here. Clearly the tree was the centerpiece, but there might yet be other secrets to discover. Perhaps a shelter of some sort? Most home worlds usually had one.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 6:49 pm
"Yes," she gasped, clapping her hands together in front of her. Taking that as an invitation, she ran to the tree and circled it twice; the roots were thick, huge, twining with each other, then she paused under one of the larger knots in the trunk. Elizabeth was clearly staring at something. The something she was staring at happened to be a gap between two roots, leading into the center of the tree; it looked big enough to allow her entrance to where-ever it was it led. Without pausing to let Prosper know what she was doing, she slipped between the roots and promptly tripped.
"Ow," she said loudly, rolling over and sitting up. She had, evidently, tripped into a room carved out of the tree, hidden behind the roots and completely safe. The room had a sort of dusky, twilight feeling to it, punctuated by the golden light from outside. The inside of the wood was worn smooth; she ran her hand along it and watched sap flow where the heat had been. Entranced, she must have stood there for five minutes, tracing patterns in the still-live wood.
Then she remembered that Mr. Prosper was still up there; she stuck one hand through an opening in the side of the tree and waved, uncertain if he could see it. "I found a tree-cave," she caroled brightly.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 7:26 pm
Prosper smiled down at the waving hand poking out of the trunk. He'd expected something like that would exist - later they could come back and stock the space with painting supplies and the like and turn it into something at Elizabeth could use as a base of operations if she so desired.
He glanced back over his shoulder. The portal was beginning to blur, but they still had a few minutes to pass back through it.
"Elizabeth?" he called. "We need to be heading back."
He waited for her by the portal.
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 9:06 pm
"Okay," she called, and she climbed out over the roots. A leaf was stuck in her hair and she didn't much notice, too excited by the entire deal of being, well, in a world she had practically made, as she understood it. "Coming, Mr. Prosper!" And she hurried over to the portal. "Same way out as in, right?"
Elizabeth was sad to be leaving, of course. Not many people had their own worlds, after all, so why did she have to leave the one she had? Not like it much mattered, she would bet she could come back. Maybe that's what she'd do instead of going home- but the portals dried and she wouldn't be able to get back...
Maybe she'd better wait for more instruction before trying that. She tentatively held her hand up to the blurry portal.
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 9:22 pm
Prosper followed the girl in pressing his palm to the portal. A moment later, they were back in the classroom looking at a painting that was rapidly losing its last vestiges of photorealism.
"Well," said Prosper, "I think you've done excellently for a first lesson."
He strode over to his desk and began composing a note to admit Elizabeth to her next class.
"Which teacher do you have now?" he asked. "I'll get you a schedule for your next lesson as soon as I can."
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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:45 pm
She sighed. Why did it have to be over already?... The painting had already lost its magic and she knew that probably she'd wake up in English class in a few minutes. Elizabeth felt like an idiot, but still, it was such a happy thought -- that she might be able to do something more special than the things Eight could.
"I'm with Dr. Darnell for maths," she said, adding the s as an afterthought. Dream or not, she decided, she would treasure this thought! World painting, a giant tree with a cave inside, more art lessons. Definitely a good dream, or a most excellent day. "Today we are learning about multiplying decimals, I'm good at it." Not like Mr. Prosper would care. She just felt like talking.
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Posted: Thu Jul 02, 2009 5:35 am
Prosper leaned over his desk for a moment, scribbling a note, and then handed it to Elizabeth.
"That should get you in," he said. "And you're in my indefinitely, so I'm sure I'll be able to talk to you if I need." He smiled a wrinkly smile at her. "I really do think you have potential," he assured her.
He waved her towards the door. "Hurry along, now, and if anyone gives you trouble in the halls on your way, tell them to take it up with me."
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