Creating art is like life, and that’s the gist of my thoughts after all this time spent making Red Playground 8 and 9.
in the beginning
The paper represents my life.
Originally, clean and smooth, early decisions made on my behalf, along with my own youthful choices, marked the surface of the paper. Not too badly, though.
A bright, lovely future seemed inevitable. Surely, this one is destined to be masterpiece. Perhaps.
testing and proofing
Just as the paper needed to be treated for the purpose I had in mind. My own ideas, direction, and choices had to be challenged, tested and proofed.
Wetting, folding and staining the paper is likened to consequences of my big choices; university, marriage, babies, multiple cities, divorce, a house fire, re-marriage and moving to a foreign country to blend two families. I certainly felt soaked, folded, and stained, at times.
Surface beauty
Eventually, a beautiful patina formed on the paper. However, I envisaged the works to be even more dramatic. So, I soaked and dyed the paper again. Then, to really give it direction, I deeply dyed the folds of the paper.
After all that rough stuff, I flatten the support with a steam iron.
The results were so beautiful that I hesitated to add marks to the surfaces. However, my vision for the works surpassed the beauty of the patinated surface. It is was up to me bring that vision to life.
The results
My imperfect life has a patina that makes me into a better person than I would be had I not experienced difficulties. Likewise, I’ve pushed my works beyond that which I would have considered a year ago. I embrace that.
my why
In spite of all the challenges, if I did not purposefully create art, I will have wasted all the heartbreak and the beauty that emerged from my past that created the present.
Red Playground 8 and 9 Videos
