Art Ink – 4 – Infinite Bravery – A Short Story Inspired by Danielle Krysa’s Art
Links from the Show at a Glance:
Artist: Danielle Krysa
Title of Art: untitled
Artist’s Website: http://www.krysa.com/danielle/
Instagram: @daniellekrysaart
Danielle’s Podcast: The Jealous Curator
The first episode of Art Ink to hear the story of how The Jealous Curator podcast helped me solve a problem with this show
Art Ink Submission Guidelines: rebekahnemethy.com/artinksubs
Art Ink Podcast Transcript:
[Intro:]
Welcome back everyone! I’m thrilled you’re here to listen because I have a really fun story for you today.
Today’s featured artist is Danielle Krysa, and if you listened to the very first episode of this podcast, you’d know that her podcast, The Jealous Curator had a hand in helping me figure out a problem I was having with this podcast and so I figured I just had to include some of her work in this podcast because, I mean, karma, right? She did me a favor, even though maybe not intentionally, so I figured I should pay her back somehow.
I found this piece on her Instagram and… let me just give you a little description to start us off:
[Art Description:]
This is a minimalistic mixed media piece with what looks like watercolor and acrylic paints with a splash of collage. A sailboat cutout is resting atop a cloud of aquamarine blue paint on the bottom right of the image. Pink and metallic bronze paints hover above and to the left of the sailing ship, resembling a distant sunset.
On Instagram, Danielle captioned her art: “some guys promised ‘sailing off into the sunset,’ but cap’n carl f’n delivered.” And so both the art and the caption had a part in creating the following story which features the cap’n carl I imagined.
[Story:]
I was NOT dreaming. I’d already done all the tests: pinched myself, read the same sign twice without scrambling the words or letters, I’d even closed my eyes, spun around, and opened them again to see the same scene.
I looked over the edge of the bow. The ship was floating on a shimmery, blue cloud of water so shallow it was translucent. I was on a magical journey, about to leave everything I’ve ever known.
Cap’n Carl had a skullet, you know, the balding man’s version of a mullet, and black holes where teeth used to be. The top of his head was like a dandelion, when the breeze would pick up, and the sails caught the wind, so too would large petals of peeling skin. They’d flutter and flap in the wind and, eventually release into the sky. I wondered if I might have a wish or two come true if blew on his head and managed to unhinge all the dead skin in one breath.
According to Cap’n Carl, though, my wishes were about to come true anyway. I was going to a place where time was infinite and money non-existent. It was still hard to believe, though, just as it would have been hard for anyone else to believe I’d be on a sailboat that soared through the sky… yet here I was, living that dream; passing clouds, chasing the sun’s bronze rays as it painted the clouds in our path.
Forever was a scary premise for most people, but not for me, there were too many stories inside me that still had to come out. And if I didn’t choose forever, I’d be choosing death. I’d be choosing to let my stories die with me. With the cancer that was cooking inside me, doctors estimated that in six months I’d be done.
According to Cap’n Carl, there was still time to change my mind. We had until sunset before there was no going back; all we had to do was walk the plank, metaphorically and literally speaking, and we’d instantly regress into our old lives.
We’d set sail with about a dozen other passengers. Most of them were also terminally ill, death-fearing people like me. But apparently, infinity was much scarier to them than death, because there was only one woman left aside from me. She was peering over the edge, her gaze switching between the setting sun and the sparkling sea below.
I looked back at Cap’n Carl, his smile was eager, but bordering on maniacal.
A splash sounded and I followed the Cap’n’s gaze to where the last passenger had once stood. I knew she was already gone by the time I’d turned my head. I’d watched many of the others jump ship before her, and once their bodies were fully enveloped in the shimmering plasma, they’d simply vanished from sight, leaving nothing but sparkling splashes erupting into the air like fireworks, fizzling out before they fell back into the ethereal substance below.
“Go on,” he called, “you know you want to follow them. Go back home to mortality.” He looked sad.
“Do so many people usually jump ship?” I asked, nervously glancing at the sun’s dwindling light.
“All but you, so far, dearie,” he said.
“No one’s stayed on for the entire journey?” I asked.
“Not since I’ve been Captain.” He said.
“How long is that?” I asked.
“Oh, nearly a century…” he said, “I make the journey every year, hoping to find a soul brave enough to face eternity.”
The sun was nearly gone, just a soft, dark orange glow, rapidly descending into darkness, the captain quickly becoming a silhouette against the twilight sky.
“What do you get out of this?” I asked, and all I could see of his frightening smile were the few teeth left in his mouth, glimmering in the moonlight as my eyes adjusted to the dark.
“I get to die,” he whispered… “I finally get to die.”
And just like that he was gone. No splash. Just a million, billion tiny particles scattered by the wind. Gone.
The ship sailed on through the night… I wondered what would happen if I tried to jump now, tried to change my mind. I figured it was too late.
I thought of how the sunset was always the perfect ending of every story, but for me, it was just the beginning of forever.
[Conclusion:]
So that is it for today. As you could hear, Danielle’s art took me to a literal place, or I guess a figurative place, haha. But the thing is, her art although so simple and minimalistic, I mean, take a look at this in the cover art of your podcast player app. There are just a few brushstrokes, it’s so simple but it transported me to another place in my imagination and this is the story that came out.
Remember to check out Danielle’s art on her Instagram @daniellekrysaart to see more of her awesome art.
Are you an artist with a story to tell?
We'd love to hear your story on the next episode of Art Ink. Check out our submission guidelines to find out how to make it happen.
Become an Insider to Get:
• new Art Ink episodes delivered straight to your inbox
• occasional tips and tricks for artists and storytellers
Help me follow my heart
For as little as $1 per month you'll get VIP early access to Art Ink episodes & special bonus gifts (like my Artsy Reflections audiobook) that you can't get anywhere else. Plus you'll be helping me make more free stuff - what could be better?
Did you know Patrons get access to my exclusive art library?
You can download high res, digital versions of every fine art photograph I've toiled over in the past decade, and use it however you like. Yup, really, it's true! There are over 600 images available right now and the gallery will just keep growing.
