Internalizing My Actions & My Thoughts, or visa versa

Carole, of a rumble in the distance, has gotten me thinking lately. I really love her blog and her work, and the way she thinks and talks and writes about art. I think it's maybe the best place for any non-artist to read about "artsy" ideas. An open-minded non-art person, that is. Any way, I was thinking about the Golden Bumble just now, and I was wondering how I came to making it. It is the first thing I have made in months. I used something I was making during the week of thesis, the golden bumble as well as a small pot of paint I mixed up in Color and Design last fall. Does this have any relevance? Of course, if I had skipped Color and Design that day, I wouldn't have ad that exact color laying around. So what color would I have chosen? I think it still would have been a green, because the tassels that inspired me in the first place are red. And in my mind, it's not Christmas all year, nor do I love those year round Christmas shops, but red and green were made for each other. They are married to each other. I love how they vibrate off of one another, and the fresh, clean, crisp feeling they exude when next to each

other. So either way it would have been a green color. But if I hadn't made the gold bumble thesis week....I know exactly how the piece would have come out. I would have dipped the tips of the red balls, as they hung, glued to the canvas, into white paint. My obsession with dipping things in white paint is similar to my marriage opinion about red and green. So I have this small piece of art work that I am very very pleased with, but no one to talk with about it. I am left with my own thoughts. I am left thinking about what Betsey might say, or what Abbey might say, or what Cait might say. Or better yet, what a grad school application review board might say.

Does it look tacky? Maybe. Why? Because any piece of art can look tacky if it not being viewed with the right pair of eyes. Maybe that is a false statement. I think it is clever, and adorable, and I love the golden bumble. But I am the maker. So my opinions really don't count. It'd say maybe they count when I am being questioned by my audience and peers. But even then, isn't that the beauty of the art world? That you can say anything, and have it legitimize your work? Or maybe that is all backwards.

I know I am learning a lot about my process. I visualize something, usually after finding something that sticks me so deeply that I just have to make what is in my mind. And then I make. Usually in a shorter amount of time than longer. As Carole says, "taking about work before it is done kills it." If I am moving and creating too quickly to judge or think, then only honest actions happen. Back to visualization. For me, visualizing something, rather than setting something up and mimicking it on canvas is a fast path to frustration. While creating the Golden Bumble, I can honestly say I only spent about 7 minutes actually making it, spending time on it. I painted the first green, walked away, let it dry. I painted the stripes of the second green, walked away, let it dry. Then I cut and glue on the red tassels with hot glue. Talk about a fast adhesive. No, I do not have tons of super glue lying around. Yes, I have tons on hot glue lying around. So I finished the canvas surface work, and I looked at it. It could be done. I turned it upside down so the tassels sort of stood up, instead of resting on the canvas. I liked that even better. Should I dip it? I might have walked around. I spotted the golden bumble. Either mentally or physically, I don't remember. I grabbed the canvas and strategically placed it under the bumble. That was it. That was right. It was done. And what do you know? It's a golden bumble sleeping in a bed of roses.

Photo via The Feather Circus