Despair in Shadow

the headline: Despair in Shadow

initial reaction: I pulled this one a few days ago .... putting in time after I turned off the computer, while a thunderstorm passed overhead. ....I wondered if I would lose my hdyro experiencing my own despair in the shadows... in the dark... would lack of electricity drive me to despair.. ok well hardly

recollection of origin: I do believe this one came from the financial section... so very appropriate in these difficult economic times

the brainstorm: wow ....that's heavy. dramatic... although despair to one person is not the despair of another we all experience despair ...desperation on our own unique levels... financial despair, emotional despair, desperate times call for desperate measures... so they say

the process: I started with a small canvas because well who really wants a large canvas filled with despair! darkness, depressing stuff
then...
I discovered this abandoned canvas. it was dark and depressing .... a dark blue empty void of random colours running all running vertically through the canvass. I painted that out of frustration after finding out that my sister was diagnosed with a late stage melanoma cancer. I remember my own desperation during that time over two years ago now. I was so frustrated that I could not even express the anger, hurt , pain, and helplessness during that time. Today was a fairly open day for my scheduled design work.. so i took advantage of it and decided to put my despair down on canvass. but something drew me to oil pastels so I put down the oil pastels over my old acrylic base now I have a mixed media piece that I will have to protect.

the result: a new use for that depressing canvas sitting by my easel... a woman maybe homeless, or not, maybe lost, surrounded in her own despair for whatever reason... her hands held in prayer to see the light beyond her shadows
perhaps a few depressing thoughts displaced from my mind - now out there on canvas - that feels good and the first of many new creations from News From the pickle Jar! Now on to the next creative Pickle!

News from the Pickle jar

The Idea
Been staring at this big beautiful oversized pickle jar on my counter...
calling out to me for a use other than housing giant dill pickles...
a vase ? ...no already have enough vases...
more storage for homemade preserves? ...I'm not that talented in the preserve-making department



all labels and potent garlic aromas carefully removed... I knew this jar had a purpose... a calling
or rather it was calling out to me... it's been too long since I put brush to canvas... my problem is I'm aways dreaming up grandiose themes for art ventures, then overthinking them to death... literally... I have more beautiful ramblings, sketches and thumbnails that are just taking up space in my studio... in folders in notebooks, on bulletin boards... I decided it was time to forego that planning process and add a little chaos, an unpredictable element and random direction into creating new artwork.

so I took my newly refurbished pickle jar sat down with a few weeks worth of headlines, word, phrases from the Globe and Mail and voila! instant art project...

The Rules:

• begin when I have time (the kids are off to school... so this creative project is off to a running start...)
• with each new headline, word etc.. that I pull from the jar I will create one new piece of art
• I cannot put that headline back in the jar or trade it in for a "better" headline
• I must create one piece of art based on my interpretation of the headline
• there are no limitations on the type of art I choose to create
• I will not stop until the pickle jar is empty
• I can continue to add to the jar as long as I like as long as I create one new piece of art from each headline

What I've learned so far:

• I have a new appreciation for the media's talent for developing interesting & attention-grabbing headlines even if they are writing about the most mundane of subject matter
  
• this little creative exercise is fun & infectious - my daughter has created her very own "pickle jar" containing headlines and images from her collection of Owl magazines... and vows she will pull an idea from the jar and go create something to stave off pending boredom

What I hope to gain:

• freedom to translate an idea, that has been separated from it's original context and subsequently to create an interesting piece of art
  
• test my memory to see if i can recall it's original use was that phrase "soul-searching" really referring to a the new CEO of a financial services firm?!
• to increase my creative reflexes and increase my ability to think on my feet and creatively problem solve
• an understanding of how we as humans translate, filter, and ultimately use and integrate the vast amounts of information that bombards us daily