painting and makeup

I was painting on a large canvas. The background was shades of black and there were many roses depicted in the bottom left-hand corner, sweeping around like a wave, until they faded out to black. I was painting over them in an oil paint that had been diluted so that the roses showed through. I was not sure that I liked the original painting, but as I brushed the paint over the canvas, I began to see the beauty of it. This coat of paint transformed an otherwise ordinary painting into something luminous and unique.

Later, I was with a group of people, standing outside around tall buildings, much like a university. One of the women told me she had some makeup that she though I should try. She opened a bag and placed it on a table. I could see cosmetics of various colours. I selected a pink blush and brushed a small amount onto my cheeks. Instead of a subtle glow, the pink was obvious and bright on my face. I tried to rub it off and in the process I spilled some blush onto the black coat that I was wearing. It was my grandfather's dinner jacket. I then tried to brush that off but I created hot ink finger marks that stood out even more. I asked for a tissue to wipe it off but instead of removing it, the smudge changed into a perfect map of my hand: the outline of the fingers and palm, the tendons, veins, bones and such all depicted in great detail.