Blood Water Paint: Part I

by Joy McCullough
Growing up in Renaissance Italy, Artemisia becomes a talented painter — but her father gets credit for her work. This novel in verse tells the story of how Artemisia finds her voice, both as an artist and as a young woman.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. converge
    move or draw together at a certain location
    That single point on the horizon
    where all other lines
    converge.
  2. tirade
    a speech of violent denunciation
    My father’s rants
    tirades
    rages
    over debts
    commissions
    jealousies

    recede into the background
  3. palette
    a board on which an artist mixes paints
    It’s funny how the painter’s not:
    the one with pigment smeared into her skin
    the one whose body
    is as permanent a fixture
    in this studio as stool, palette, easel,
    the only one whose heart is flung across this canvas.
  4. luminescent
    emitting light not caused by heat
    I study my palette,
    wonder how to blend
    a luminescent glow.
  5. incite
    provoke or stir up
    Dwelling on
    my talentless brothers
    only incites him.
  6. gnarled
    old and twisted and covered in lines
    Seventeen giulios
    will buy a certain amount
    of bread when Tuzia
    hobbles to market,
    clutching the purse
    between gnarled fingers.
  7. commission
    a special assignment that is given to a person or group
    The bread is paid for
    by commissions
    I complete and so
    my father does not dispute
    a girl apprentice.
  8. mediocre
    moderate to inferior in quality
    A mediocre painter,
    Orazio Gentileschi,
    but from time to time
    he drops a seed
    I can nurture
    into something more fruitful
    than he’s ever imagined.
  9. recede
    become faint or more distant
    Though if I am careless,
    my mother’s voice
    in my imagination
    will recede.
  10. dismal
    causing dejection
    My head tipped back,
    gaze heavenward,
    these dismal surroundings
    fall away.
  11. flaunt
    display proudly
    ...loudmouthed men
    ascend to fill the studio
    (my studio),
    intent on courting favor
    from the church
    by flaunting pious art
    to make up for
    less-than-pious lives.
  12. pious
    having or showing or expressing reverence for a deity
    ...loudmouthed men
    ascend to fill the studio
    (my studio),
    intent on courting favor
    from the church
    by flaunting pious art
    to make up for
    less-than-pious lives.
  13. covet
    wish, long, or crave for
    Two men pass
    without a glance my way,
    the third makes very sure
    I feel his gaze.
    No longer do I covet light.
  14. consumption
    the act of using something up
    But either way we’re beauty
    for consumption.
  15. ogle
    stare or look at, especially with amorous intentions
    I blink,
    try to shake off
    the weight of a gaze
    I never welcomed
    from a man
    who now occupies
    my studio, perhaps
    even sits on my stool
    as he ogles
    my Madonna.
  16. fresco
    a mural done with watercolors on wet plaster
    Piazzas, churches
    named for a teenager
    who gave life to the Christ.
    Sculptures, paintings, frescoes
    devoted to her holiness.
  17. apothecary
    a health professional who prepares and dispenses drugs
    We must stop by
    the apothecary.
  18. menial
    relating to unskilled work, especially domestic work
    When I am wrenched from easel
    to fulfill some menial task
    just as easily completed
    by one without the skill to paint,
    I am determined to use the time
    to my advantage.
  19. aqueduct
    a conduit that carries water over a valley
    This fountain
    in our little piazza
    will now be connected
    to the aqueduct
    Acqua Felice.
  20. pigment
    dry coloring material
    Each time he barrels past
    I brace the table
    where I grind our pigments,
    prevent them from tumbling
    to the ground.
  21. mortar
    a vessel in which substances can be ground with a pestle
    I turn my head
    from sour breath
    as he looms over
    my shoulder
    to peer into my mortar
    at the pulverized vermilion.
  22. pulverize
    make into a powder by breaking up or cause to become dust
    I turn my head
    from sour breath
    as he looms over
    my shoulder
    to peer into my mortar
    at the pulverized vermilion.
  23. vermilion
    a vivid red to reddish-orange color
    I exhale too hard.
    A bloodred cloud
    of ground vermilion
    balloons into the air.
  24. relentless
    never-ceasing
    The onions needle
    at my eyes, my nerves,
    no matter how many layers peeled back,
    the same relentless stinging.
  25. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
    (No matter how skillful my painting,
    Father’s incessant nagging.)
  26. meddlesome
    intrusive in an offensive manner
    Somehow even more meddlesome:
    my brothers darting
    constantly through.
  27. aptitude
    inherent ability
    They have no aptitude
    for painting, but still
    they could be taught
    the business.
  28. fortitude
    strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity
    Father says
    they do not have
    the head for numbers
    charm for clients
    patience
    cunning
    fortitude.
  29. whim
    a sudden desire
    the days of tugging
    on my mother’s skirts
    in hopes of being lifted up
    at every whim
    are hazy round the edges
  30. delirium
    a usually brief state of excitement and mental confusion
    fever dreams bled
    into pain laced with delirium
  31. righteous
    characterized by accepted standards of morality or justice
    Those stories
    of a righteous woman,
    her virtue questioned
    through no fault of her own
  32. leer
    look suggestively or obliquely
    Every time my father shoos me
    down the stairs
    away from my studio,
    each time he speaks to buyers
    as though I am not there,
    each time they leer at me
    as I descend in seething fury,
    my mother’s stories
    stoke the flames inside.
  33. seething
    in constant agitation
    Every time my father shoos me
    down the stairs
    away from my studio,
    each time he speaks to buyers
    as though I am not there,
    each time they leer at me
    as I descend in seething fury,
    my mother’s stories
    stoke the flames inside.
  34. maestro
    an artist of consummate skill
    We mostly deal in Bible tales,
    some portraits, ancient histories, myths.
    But all the maestros
    sign their names
    to David, Adam, Moses.
  35. upstart
    an arrogant or presumptuous person
    I can paint a David—king or upstart boy,
    but when I do
    there’s nothing of me
    on the canvas.
  36. transpose
    transfer from one place or period to another
    Why then can I not transpose
    the image in my mind
    the image of my flesh
    onto the canvas?
  37. apparition
    a ghostly appearing figure
    Or perhaps he does not enter
    like a mortal man
    but appears
    fully formed
    a miraculous apparition.
  38. propriety
    correct behavior
    I grope for hiked-up skirts,
    fling endless, heavy layers
    of propriety
    toward my ankles.
  39. avert
    turn away or aside
    The man averts his eyes,
    steps back to give me space,
    as though he doesn’t realize
    his mere presence in this room
    drives out all air.
  40. canvas
    an oil painting on a heavy, closely woven fabric
    And even now as I
    recover
    steady my breath
    check my skirts once more
    his eyes are not on me
    but on the canvas.
Created on Tue Oct 09 11:00:44 EDT 2018 (updated Tue Oct 16 11:53:37 EDT 2018)

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