"The meaning of a piece often becomes apparent only in the end.
It's like finding a secret message that you unkowingly sent yourself."
-----Michael Mew
This last December I was visiting with one of my neighbors. She was looking at some of my work and asked if there was a message or meaning behind my pieces....I admit, I said, "well no". Actually, that is not true. When I recently read this quote it reminded me of how many times the meaning of a piece stairs me right in the face after it is finished. Sometimes, long after.
This piece is a great example. This is an encaustic piece that I made at a workshop in Seattle. The instructor was fantastic. She gave us freedom to create and play. This is one of the pieces I made. The words are "fly away home". When my mom passed away from Cancer recently a couple of birds landed on the telephone wire outside. I will just say that my dad was having a personal moment saying goodbye to his wife of 46 years when the birds arrived. My sister and husband were at a table near by...he didn't know they were there. The birds began to sing. Kim says it was beautiful, it made her gasp out loud. Those birds were a true gift for my Dad.
Two days later, I came home from being out and the piece above was laying on the floor right outside the doorway of my studio. It had been hanging above my studio door for over a year.
This piece is a triptych made from an old hollow core door. The canvas hung on my wall for quite some time. I put paint on it. Drew on it. Scribbled on it and then one day, I saw it. I was walking through our family room when a red barn with trees appeared. So I began. I tore the trees from a large atlas I have. Painted the barn. Found the metal roof in my supplies and created the piece in my vision. I am fond of this piece for many reasons but especially because I used materials that would have ended up in a land fill and was the biggest piece I had made to date. But where did that image come from? What did it relate too?
We have been given this fantastic gift of "The Refuge". It is a cabin (very nice A frame) in the woods. A place where peace resides. Walks in the trees dripping with moss from all the rain. The lake always beautiful, even on gray days. This past Christmas my husband and I spent a couple of days at The Refuge". One morning I got up and went for an early morning walk. Smack! there it was. A beautiful log cabin (huge) in the woods. The one that I have taken pictures of, the one that I admire, the one that I comment on everytime we go. A cabin or barn in the woods. I clearly saw where this piece came from.
God is great and creativity is a must. Many say, "oh I am not creative". I do not agree with that. I can say that becasue I too have said that many times myself. We are creative, we were created in His image....created. Creativity comes in many forms, shapes and colors. It is a true blessing and many times the meaning becomes apparent only in the end.
sue, thank you so much for this post. it is where i am right now in my own work. your words give me hope that i will gain perspective and understand the scope and meaning my work (and indeed my life) in the end. thank you. :) xoxo
Posted by: jan avellana | February 18, 2011 at 12:51 PM
Sue this is truly a beautiful and inspiring post!
Posted by: Crystal Neubauer | February 19, 2011 at 08:14 AM