dotty seiter: now playing
diary of an artist at work

Switching Gears

Let’s Face It

though i sure do love
predictable routines, it’s
time to shake things up!

dotty seiter

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Kindergarten Dotty
detail from a self-portrait;
2021 rendering using 1955 original as reference

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Notes about poem and art:
• “Let’s Face It” is a haiku alluding to my intention to switch gears after creating a series of 35 color-swatches painted over the past few months of 2025.
• Is Kindergarten Dotty adorable or what? As evidenced by my kindergarten report card, each student in the class had to draw a self-portrait that was then pasted to the front of their respective evaluation. I post my updated rendering of the original here as an indication that, as when I began kindergarten, new adventures are on my horizon.



17 responses to “Switching Gears”

  1. Joyful Puttering Avatar
    Joyful Puttering

    I love routines…but I also enjoy switching gears! Your swatch series was a delight…but I can’t wait to see where you go next.

    That self portrait is a fantastic! Yes…kindergarten Dotty is adorable!

    Here’s to new adventures!

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    1. That swatch series is still calling to me, gotta admit, but so are countless other shiny things (you know that feeling, yes??!). Accordingly, here I go! Here’s to new adventures!

      Liked by 1 person

  2. First, you can shift gears. and still continue to do swatches. Those swatches are a great color learning tool.

    Yes, kindergarten Dotty is adorable! Maybe Dotty from the kindergarten will start painting?

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    1. Carol, LOL that you mentioned that I can shift gears AND still continue to do swatches—I’ve had it in mind to take myself in a new direction (I actually wrote this post a few weeks ago but didn’t post until today) but I’ve been struggling with the new direction. All of which is to say I’m grateful for your giving me ‘permission’ to keep doing swatches!!! I’ve also recently come to the same conclusion!

      It’s fascinating to really fully pause and consider kindergarten Dotty longer than just in passing, to recollect where she lived, who her friends were, how she responded to life, what her family configuration was at the time, and so forth. And to wonder if she will start painting—when you ask that do you mean that she might paint from that level of beginner’s mind? or did you mean something else?

      Thank you for your comments : )

      Like

      1. Meant, to paint like a child!

        Like

  3. I hope I will paint like a child! Thank you!

    Like

  4. ooooooh I can hardly wait to see where the muse takes you next! Yippee!! xo

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    1. The muse is already riding me hard, that’s what I have to say at this point! But I got engagedly and increasingly pleasedly lost in something new this afternoon, for which I am grateful. Thanks for cheering me on. I really do wonder sometimes what I might, or might not, be doing if not for my cheerleaders—yippee for my cheerleaders!!

      Like

  5. I love that kindergarten Dotty! I have it as my picture for you in my Contacts. I’m looking forward to seeing how you paint like a child.

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    1. I love that kindergarten Dotty also!!! As I think you can see, she’s my profile pic here at WordPress : )

      As to painting like a child, remains to be seen!

      Like

  6. Ohhhhh…. LoveLoveLove kindergarten Dotty. ♥️

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, Roseanne! Isn’t she a sweety?! ♥️

      Like

  7. I have known this drawing already for a long time. Was it on your website?), but I never knew its history! So marvelous it survived!

    >

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    1. Simone, this drawing was featured twice in 2015, once in a painting for my mom for her birthday when she turned 86 and once in a painting for my sister-in-law Linda when she entered hospice care. It’s also my profile image here at WordPress, and I see it each time I open a reply window here in the comments. Can you see it when you receive this comment?? It’s original history as a kindergarten report card self-portrait is definitely fun!

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      1. Yes, that’s what I know it from – I now realise: from your WordPress account! Yes, I can see it!

        >

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Exciting!

    I always look forward to seeing “little” Dotty in my inbox!

    xoxo

    Like

    1. Little Dotty remembers being ‘corrected’ in first grade for coloring in circles on a mimeograph sheet the ‘wrong’ way. Balderdash! She knew even then her teacher was telling her nonsense. Onward!!!

      Like

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In 2014, I grab an unexpected opportunity to paint.

To make art.

I get hooked.

In 2015 I start a blog—a diary of my life as an artist.

I post my paintings and their stories. The good, the bad, the ugly.

My compass points: bust through fear, be playful, get messy, trust my gut.

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