Monday, March 23, 2009

Thank God for Garbage Bins.



I spent a good part of the afternoon in the studio. Here is what I learned:

1. I've made a lot of bad art.

2. There are a lot of bad hair photos of me in various stages of life (the photo above is not one of them). Even though I think I have destroyed them all, each time I go through the photos they all seem to crop up. I think this is because I think about destroying them but then I decide against it and put said photos back in the box and close the lid.

3. It is okay to destroy one's bad art after the experiment is complete (see #1 above). I know some may disagree with me here. It certainly is a personal decision. For me, being able to move on from the experiments to something more fruitful that results from the experiments is key. I find bad art hanging around like a 10 pound weight around my neck. It weighs me down. If I had to look at every bad piece of art I have ever made over and over, it will probably kill all future hope for something good.

4. Keep the good art! Yes!!! This maintains the momentum and hope to keep me experimenting and making not-so-good art. Good art will come!

5. Although there are a lot of bad hair pictures of me around, I do not destroy these (see #2 above). For me, photos are like a story line of our lives. While every picture comes with a set of memories and emotions (some good, some not), I find them extremely important in helping me to remember where I have come from.

6. The cavernous bad art cave, a.k.a. my studio, is slowly being emptied out (another full garbage bin and recycle bin and 2 more boxes of donations today). I can see the floor of the entire room, I can see the back of the closet, I can see the walls. I can definitely see the possibilities for a new space with new energy forming in front of me. (Side Note: I can NOT see the top of my dining room table as all the desired art supplies that will be staying with me are sitting on it....but that is another story).

7. I truly do have the best husband ever! He has been so helpful, so patient and so understanding through this gigantic mess of mine. Today he patched holes in the studio walls so I could start painting these walls tomorrow. All the while, encouraging me and listening to me talk about all my bad art as I marched it outside to it's new home. He even offered to go to Ikea (gasp!!!) on his vacation. I must have done something incredibly noble and good in a past life to deserve such a wonderful and kind man in this life.

In other news, I was thinking about how important some places are in my life. Places that play such a key role in the things that occur in my life that I can not imagine what life would be like without these places. One of these places is our coffee hang out, Lux, which I mentioned yesterday. For me, Lux is a reprieve, a treat in my week, a ritual, a place to go with my old friends and to meet new one's. It a place where I have reconnected with people I thought I had lost contact with. It is a place to sit with my hubby and talk through ambitious plans and to dream, all while getting hopped up on caffeine and sugar. Life is good with places like this in our lives. The owner of Lux, Jeff, is so incredible and works tirelessly to create a space for community to come together. The people that Jeff employs are so kind and energetic and happy to be there. Thank God for people like this on the Earth that are so completely committed to bringing something special into being for the rest of us to experience.

What places are special in your life?