Thursday, January 7, 2010

same eyes, new visions

Did you ever see something in a way that you have never seen it before, and it’s like a lightbulb coming on in your head?  What you’re looking at could be something that you take for granted everyday, like an old candy dish, that, when moved out of the dark spot in one room & into a bright spot in another, suddenly looks shinier, more stylish, maybe even a different color? Or, it could be something you never tire of looking at, like watching your kids use their imagination while playing together, but suddenly you recognize things you never focused on before – like personality traits of future adults. I recently had the good fortune of ‘seeing’ old artwork in a new way, and then, resurrecting it. My eyes (and brain) were open that day.



 

I was inspired to make these volcanoes from old drawings I had found in a college-era sketch book of mine. Back in the day, a friend and I had some really cool and creative ideas about writing children’s books, and these paintings come from sketches associated with one of them called “Volcano Village”.  The top painting is acrylic paint on a 5"X7" canvas board, and the colored pencil drawing is a small 2 ½” by 3 ½” – ACEO size (art card editions and originals).

Not too long ago, I wouldn’t have reworked old sketches. I can just hear my internal censor now - saying things like…”it’s not authentic enough…..it’s cheating….been there, done that…” etc. But now I know that’s rubbish! Bringing back good ideas is always a good idea, especially since they originated from me in the first place. What do you think? Ever re-worked a creative endeavor? How different, or same, was it from what you originally started with?

2 comments:

  1. I think that I can relate. I had an ancient guitar chord progression from when I first started to learn. I "took it out" again and re-worked it. I added some 5ths and new chords in the bridge. I also changed the picking style and viole', a new tune was born. But the heart of it is from my teenage days of great intensity etc. You know this tune because it has your name on it.

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  2. yes, i do know the song well. and it is as lovely reworked, as I suppose it was originally. thank for the post!!

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