You know by now, that I’m a multi-focused, multi-disciplinary, multi-tasking woman. And I have to admit, that’s just the way I like it. I thrive on variety. Of styles. Of genre. Of media. Of friends. Of cities around the world.
And all that variety goes into my studio with me when I create. Today, my regular-not-to-be-missed-unless-life-or-death studio time was the perfect reflection of my recent event-filled life. Today, I experimented with a new process. Inspired by my talented artist friend and life mentor Alice Ball, I made paper.
I grabbed from the detritus of my life. Brown bags. Scraps of tissue and wrapping paper. Even a bit of lint here and there. I tossed it all in the blender with a generous dosing of water, and voila! From this formless, aimless mish mash of pulpified remains, emerged paper!
I was surprised at how quickly the process went. As I worked, I began to wonder what would happen ‘if’. If I stopped right now? Or right now? What if, instead of squeegee-ing out the water, I left it to dry on its lumpy, bumpy own? What if, instead of ironing it paper flat, I put the whole darn thing in the waffle iron? (See how my mind journeys?)
More importantly as I worked, I realized that pulling together the bits and pieces of daily life, mixing it up together and then being willing to be flexible at where the process leads me, is just a metaphor for my life. I do the best I can with what I have at hand. Trash and treasure combine, and I know I can never completely control the outcome.
When I think of it, why would I want to? Because sometimes the serendipity that life hands you can be so much more spontaneously perfect than the same-old, same-old my conscious brain has on the agenda.
And isn’t that a beautiful thing?
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