This week’s prompt challenge was to create a portrait with the face obstructed by something. Some wonderful entries were an elderly lady with a butterfly on her nose, a hat brim pulled low obscuring the eyes, clouds of galaxies drifting across a godess’s face, and a guitarist holding up a guitar to block half of her face. They were well done.
Here are the technical aspects of this submission: Gencraft – Model: 40% Olafs-Whimgear 3.0; Style: Anime
Front view of lovely delicate woman with black skin and bioluminescent golden eyes staring straight ahead with chin lowered slightly, as candle flame and smoke from a candle flame in the foreground swirl magically blocking view of her mouth and nose as it lifts into the air in front of her; magical; swirls; cosmically divine ambiance. She wears purle and amber flowing silk and cotton voile garments that shimmer and hang beautifully on her frame, with amber and amethyst jewelry as earrings, rings, bracelets, and necklaces.
Week of 6/8/26 “Flamma Velata”
And here are some honorable mentions that did not get submitted, but turned out good:
This week’s art challenges have been fun. The discord community has been very welcoming and the ideas for art are non-stop.
The first challenge of the week was in honor of Pride month. I wanted something elegant, but simple. People were doing really over-the-top bright colors and such. I tried really hard to make a cake topper with two brides, but AI could not figure it out.
6/1/26 “Pride Love”
The next challenge was to create a single image using two dominant colors to create contrast, emotion, or meaning. I chose the contrast of red and purple. And I thought she turned out lovely. I got the most votes on this one, so it was my first time to win a challenge! That meant I got to pick the challenge for the next day.
6/2/26 “Red-eye Beauty
I decided to name my challenge “Unexpected Embrace.” The idea was for it to be a hug between two different beings. People were so creative. There were people hugging magical creatures, a Republican embracing a Democrat, people hugging birds, cats, zebras, and a cheetah hugging a zebra. But the winning image (by a landslide) was a boa constrictor hugging a bird very, very tightly. It should have been named “The Hug of Death.” But it was unique.
6/3/26 “Unexpected Embrace”
The next day, I got to participate again. It was a really fun challenge to create the Worst Super Villain ever. It could either be a Super Villain who was terrible at their job or possibly a Super Villain whose powers are silly, pointless, or unimpressive. There were some really funny ones, including a villain who likes to go around and tilt every picture frame so they are slightly crooked, an evil genius who extracts caffeine from coffee, a sock snatcher, a villain who tries to lure children away by offering veggies (spectacular failure), and a really bad sketch artist called Bad Sketch Girl. I went with Spine Breaker and wrote this little blurb with it:
Spine Breaker is the bane of bibliophiles. She has the power to crack hardcovers, dog-ear pages, mis-shelve multiple books at once, and summon mysterious coffee stains. She leaves devastation wherever books are cherished. Though banned from every library in the world, she continues to sneak in and wreak havoc. Her most notorious crimes include refusing to whisper and telling every reader, “You should just watch the movie,” at full conversational volume.
6/4/26 “Spine Breaker”
The next day was all about “Thresholds”, both boundary and beginning, that moment between before and after, what was and what could be. There were many different directions this one could go, but I decided to focus on the mystical realm between awake and dreaming. it is made with dots (pointillism.)
6/5/26 “Dream Threshold”
The next challenge went with the theme of the “Outcast.” I wanted to do something with overweight people shunning a thin person because that would be the opposite of how things often work in our society, but I decided it might offend someone. I tweaked it a little and used the same idea, but with aliens. It was well received.
6/6/26 “Alien Outcast”
The last one of the week required a ton of thought because it was about storytelling. It was titled “Moments Before Disaster” and was meant to show that moment right before everything will go terribly wrong. I worked through many scenarios but settled on campers unaware that they had pitched their tents somewhere very precarious indeed.
6/7/26 “The Giant Wakes”
And here are some of the honorable mentions that I did not submit, but still published on my art website:
I am having a blast generating a creative piece of art at least once a day as part of a new group I was invited to join of AI artists. The community is active, small enough to feel intimate, and wildly creative. The daily art challenge has been one of the first things I do in the morning and are providing a creative, joyful boost to the start of each day.
My first challenge was to generate something that included pyrography (the art of decorating natural materials by burning designs into their surface with a heated tool.) I am trying to do something unique or that contains a slight twist to challenge myself a little extra. I chose leather as the material, which was different from everyone else’s because they all used wood as their materials. And I featured a black cowgirl. I will note that AI has no idea how to render “chaps” and I had to describe what I wanted in detail. Some of the results were hilarious, but here is the final image I chose to submit.
5/26/26 “Cowgirl”
All images generated by Rebekah J. Marshall on Gencraft.
The next challenge was to create an image that shows a subject both directly and as seen through a lens, highlighting the contrast between raw reality and the captured perspective. The lens could be any type of lens: binocular, microscope digital camera, phone, etc. I knew what I wanted to do right away, but it was harder than I thought it would be. The model did not want to make the alien look into the microscope and wanted to put the inserted close up image in odd places. It took a while, but I finally got something I could use.
5/27/26 “The Specimens”
Then we were challenged to create an image with stained glass in it. Any theme, any style. I was determined to try to create something 3-D and moving. My first ideas were not looking good, but when I decided to try to start working with a flying bird, I was hooked. Each one got more and more beautiful and then I became determined to get the lighting right. The result was gorgeous.
5/28/26 “Flying Glass”
The next day we were challenged to create a version of a property space for Monopoly and include token pieces, houses, hotels, etc. And don’t forget to collect $200. I did not have much luck with creating only one property, so went with the entire game and made it for cats. I honestly kind of gave up on this one because I couldn’t get it to do what I wanted and didn’t have the time to commit to work with the model. It still turned out cute.
5/29/26 “Catopoly”
In honor of National Mint Julep Day, the next challenge was to create a cocktail (favorite, funny, magical, poison, etc.) I am sober and have not had a drink in almost 15 years, so I wanted to do something that would depict a cocktail as gross. The grossest thing I could think of were those Garbage Pail Kids cards that were popular when I was younger.
5/30/26 “Toxic Waste Punch”
And the last challenge of the week was to show something growing from a body, like flowers, vines, crystals, tree branches, light, wings, etc. I knew immediately what I wanted to do. It was really hard. Nothing looked right and I got frustrated with AI being stubborn, but we finally compromised and got something close to what I wanted.
5/31/26 “Growing Stars”
I am definitely going to keep doing these challenges because I’m having fun and enjoying using my creativity at the start of each day.
Here are some of the honorable mentions that did not get submitted, but turned out as pretty cool images:
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
I am reading Hafiz’s Little Book of Life, poetry by Hafiz-e Shirazi. He is challenging me to become more comfortable with ambiguity. I will share his poem and some of my thoughts on his poem (sometimes with the help of experts when the concepts are too hard for me), followed by a poem and some art inspired by his poem.
Hafiz’s Poem 39:
Forgive the warring of the 72 nations Not having seen the truth They’ve gone down the road of fantasy
Some thoughts:
This poem took a little digging to learn about the number 72 in mystical Sufism and other Islamic cultural contexts. Apparently, it was a known phrase representing division or splits that people would have recognized as symbolic, rather than literal. The idea of 72 sects or religious groups became shorthand for fragmentation of what was once unified in hadith literature and early Islamic traditions. For Hafiz to mention 72 nations was to at once tap into phrasing his audience would recognize as representative of all the human groups of the world.
What is even more interesting to me is that he is not condemning all these nations for their shortsightedness but asking for their forgiveness. “They know not what they do.” They are caught in “the illusion” rather than recognizing the truth of peace and harmony. All the nations of the earth come from the same source. We all return to the same source after death. Why not live united in kindness, shared humanity, and communal peace during our short time in this reality? Such a question we could pose to the 197 nations in existence on our planet right now.
My Poem 39:
Can you truly not see the shimmering promise of a peaceful tomorrow?
The glow of city lights lies just over the horizon where nation shall not rise up against nation.
This morass of darkness and despair is not the truth you seek in your waiting but merely an illusory nonsensical hellscape.
Continue to put one foot in front of the other until you reach the promised land of unity and peace, where bees drip honey into mouths open only to speak kind words, and dams nurse calves languidly, without fear of being separated by war.
Flowers are grown along every path purely for making friendship wreaths and decorative garlands to be given away free of cost or consequence because nothing is required nor demanded of citizens in this place beyond breath and awareness and love.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
I am reading Hafiz’s Little Book of Life, poetry by Hafiz-e Shirazi. He is challenging me to become more comfortable with ambiguity. I will share his poem and some of my thoughts on his poem (sometimes with the help of experts when the concepts are too hard for me), followed by a poem and some art inspired by his poem.
Hafiz’s Poem 17:
Vanity, my dear
Is merely proof
Of sheer ignorance
Some thoughts:
Hafiz seems to be addressing someone he cares about, by calling them “my dear.” This does not seem like a harsh rebuke, but more of a compassionate, gentle reminder. There is no need to be vain if we understand our true worth. Either we are over or under-inflating reality when we assess ourselves as less than or greater than we should.
If we mistake attention for worth, confuse a mask for the self, or are more concerned about appearance than authenticity, we are missing the mark. We are beautiful, magical, stardust creatures who are part of a giant, miraculous cosmos. We should not forget our true fabulousness by replacing it with vain imaginings that are neither helpful nor accurate. We are better than that.
My Poem 17:
Both extremes of vanity are inaccurate reflections of your miraculous beauty.
You are but dust and ashes, no greater than anyone else on this giant flying rock.
But the point is that you are stardust and magic, the hope of your ancestors made real.
Don’t confuse being ordinary with missing the fabulous truth that you are a singularity.
There has never been and never will be another you the same as the wondrous you right now.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
I am reading Hafiz’s Little Book of Life, poetry by Hafiz-e Shirazi. He is challenging me to become more comfortable with ambiguity. I will share his poem and some of my thoughts on his poem (sometimes with the help of experts when the concepts are too hard for me), followed by a poem and some art inspired by his poem.
Hafiz’s Poem 12:
I behold hundreds of thousands of flowers
Yet no bird sings –
Where have the birds all gone
& what happened to the nightingales
Some thoughts:
The absence of birdsong is unnatural. Seeing the beauty of outside, surrounded by flowers, soaking in the loveliness…and suddenly an uncomfortable sensation prickles the hair at the nape of the neck. We are coded genetically or ancestrally or instinctively to sense danger when the birds fall silent. And when do birds disappear (or at least hide in their nests)? When predators make the environment unsafe, unnatural events are taking place, or acts of God are about to be unleashed. I also read that birds sometimes decrease their presence and/or singing when they recognize that they are being watched. It is probably because the watching equates to potential predation, but it makes me wonder if increased surveillance in the form of cameras and other recording equipment interrupts their lifestyles.
Nightingales are some of the most singingest singers of the bird kingdom. They can make over 1,000 different sounds and males desperate to find a mate have been observed singing through an entire night. Their songs can reach 90 decibels and some know up to 260 different songs they can sing. In many literary contexts, nightingales represent the lover, the poet, the truth-teller, the one who sings no matter what. If even they have been silenced, we should be concerned. Hafiz may be speaking literally about human encroachment on nature with structural advancements and technological progress. But he could also be speaking metaphorically about oppression and the result of silencing freedom of speech. It is a false beauty that demands absolute obeisance.
My Poem 12:
Sing for those in hiding, doors barred by fear of discovery. Sing for those who are crying for their loved ones pulled away.
Sing for those out marching to speak up for the ones who can’t. Sing for those just starting to realize the sickening truths.
Sing for those who’ve been taken, whose futures are perilously unknown. Sing for those who will not awaken because their lives were stolen.
Hafiz. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life. Translated by Erfan Mojib and Gary Gach, Hampton Roads Publishing, 2023.
All images created by Rebekah Marshall’s prompts using AI on Gencraft.com website.
To lead with grace requires steel humility when praised and iron confidence when cursed, for either extreme wields the awful temptation to unsettle the serene pond of self. To yield to right and bow only to integrity fills her people with love overflowing, willing to sacrifice all in service to her rule.
Magic hair sends waves through the cosmos, a journey from root to tip and beyond, then ricochets back to the heart of the goddess from whence it came, the answer to infinite energy.
@Home Studio – 342nd poem of the year
Runner ups for the Magic Hair photos to accompany my poem:
rebekahjmarshall 