Fast Forward

Fast Forward- December, 2007. It is such an honor to have been Jeanette’s childhood friend and grow up to have her write an article (shown in previous post) about my 1995 art exhibit at Mt. Hood Community College. My Mom, Esther, found a copy of Jeanette’s article in her attic, and gave it to me the other day.

It is a very timely topic because I have recently been reading Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists by Rice Freeman Zachery. So many images created by Jeanette in her story came to light again in this amazing book, which is filled with personal stories from artists just like us. The one common thread here is most of these artists grew up making things, mostly from nothing, just as Jeanette described.

In our neighborhood, we played outside or in. We build forts, slept on the grass on warm summer nights, climbed trees, made pretend stores with gray-weathered boards and dried mud merchandise formed in shapes of cans or loaves of bread; leaves and rocks became our currency. All of us, Quincy, Dot, Sonny, Joe, Francis, Jeanette, and many others played and made things out of nothing.

Paper dolls were over the top fun. Using finger paints and paper, colorful swirls were placed in lovely perfection and left to dry. Beautiful clothes emerged with careful manipulations of the scissors. In those days, anything could become something. A cork, some yarn, sticks, a piece of fabric, an oatmeal box, egg shells, and sea shells all were destined to metamorphose into a priceless object of art.

Today, just like then, while in my studio, I swirl pigments into paints making something from nothing. All initially were simple minerals, shells, insects, or carefully selected colorful dirt. With a measure of linen, a staple gun, and pliers, a tight and smooth structure is made on which to place those little pieces of magical colorful hues. Some things never really change. Thanks, Jeanette, for the lovely memories.