In The Eye of the Beholder

Writers: Heather
Date Posted: 27th March 2014

Characters: Esiah
Description: Esiah decides to take his work in a new direction
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 6, day 7 of Turn 7
Notes: Introducing Esiah :) Coposts anyone?

Esiah

Esiah hastily ducked the hairbrush that whizzed past his head, "Ma'am,
you should really calm down I -"

"HOW DARE YOU PRESENT ME WITH ... WITH THIS?!!" The woman screeched as
she chucked the portrait of her that he had pain stainkingly sketched,
and then turned into a beautiful painting, out onto the stone floor.

Raking his hair from his eyes, Esiah's arms were full juggling his
satchel and art supplies and trying to pick up the thrown painting, "I
don't understand why you are so -"

"LOOK!" She interjected again, "Just LOOK at the way you drew my nose!
It has a huge BUMP right in the middle!"

Esiah looked down at the painting and then back up at the woman, "But
ma'am your nose does -"

"GET OUT!!" She screached before slamming the door to her weyr in the
harper's face.

One of his Master's had once told Esiah that people always wanted to
be painted how they PICTURED themselves, not how they ACTUALLY looked.
Now he understand what the man had meant. Still, Esiah felt it
important to his integrity as an artist to honestly protray people in
the way that they really looked. He sighed as he looked down at the
picture. **I can kiss those marks goodbye.** And all of the time he
had spent working on the picture.

**It's not my fault she's a hag.** Esiah stuffed the painting in the
nearest trash bin and continued on his way, whistling softly to
himself as he stepped out into the sunshine of the Weyrbowl. Adjusting
the strap of his satchel across his shoulders, the harper continued
toward the Dining Cavern.

It was getting old, trying to find people that wanted pictures
sketched of them. He hated having someone try and nitpick the way that
he drew simply because they wanted to make their breasts larger, their
waists thinner, or their skin less wrinkled. Couldn't anyone be honest
with their appearance?

Slipping into his usual corner in the Dining Cavern, Esiah thanked the
drudge that brought him a cup of klah. He always came to the Dining
Cavern when he needed to unwind. Pulling out his sketch pad and a thin
piece of charcoal, he looked about for a good "victim."

**Ah, there we go.** It was a mother with her child. The boy was
probably no older than two, and was gaping up at his mother, mouth
wide open as he waited for her to ship in the spoonful of mashed
tubers that she was "flying" into his mouth. Putting charcoal to
paper, Esiah began studiously sketching the mother and son as they sat
together. His keen eyes captured every minute detail, every reflection
of light, the adoration between mother and son evident in every stroke
he made.

Drawing allowed him space to think without stressing and worrying,
which was one of the reasons he had always enjoyed it and had followed
his mother's advice in joining the harper craft. Still, he needed to
do something a bit more productive with his talent. He glanced up
towards the Head Table, it was empty, but he knew that it was usually
where the Weyrleaders and other high ranking Weyr folks sat. He tapped
his piece of charcoal on the table.

**Maybe I can begin doing portraits of all the Weyrleaders to go into
the archives.** Esiah smiled and snapped his sketch book together.
**Perfect!** He would start with the goldriders, after all, women were
usually more prone to allow a man to draw them, and if those went well
then perhaps the Weyrleader and his Wingleaders would be more willing
to allowing Esiah to do their portraits.

With a new purpose, Esiah left the Dining Cavern and hurried back to
the harper's quarters to get the Weyrharper's approval.

Last updated on the March 30th 2014

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In The Eye of the Beholder