11/17/08

The imagination runs wild

Do you ever wonder why creative people insist on pursuing the arts as a profession, even though it's a hard row to hoe, to say the least...and even though the vast majority of people working in the arts never do more than scrape by even in the best of times? I think I can tell you. It's because the imagination, the life of the mind, is such a appealing, delightful, enchanting place to be.
The wall I cleared in my studio was just one in a series of projects that M. and I have been taking on around our home...making it more spacious, more user-friendly. The best thing about our house - a tiny ranch-style structure built in 1913 on a very solid foundation, and expanded by nearly half again five years ago, is its space. While very small, it has the feel of a loft - wide open spaces, good light, high ceilings.
When we moved in, as we are accustomed to doing, we proceeded to clutter. We filled all the lovely, freshly-painted space with the detritus of our travel, trappings of our outdoor sports, and materials for our innumerable creative projects...pinhole cameras, collage work, stacks of canvases, large-scale printing projects, etc. (many of which never see completion). So it has been a year and a half now since I've seen some of the wide-open spaces that originally made our home so appealing.
In the past week, M. took on the formidable task of rearranging the kitchen, opening up counter space and making everything more accessible for cooking. Inspired by his industry, I took on the much smaller project of rearranging the extremely cluttered "mud room" (there has to be a better word for a room as lovely as that!) followed, of course, by my studio.
I guess seeing some of the rooms restored to their original generosity of proportion made me a little crazy with creative impulses...and this was the result:
It means, more or less, "So much the better if you have dreams".
Doesn't it look nice up there in all that white space?
This picture pretty much says it all...my life in a nutshell. I'm just going to sit here and contemplate it for a while.

PS - My jar paints are out of storage and I'm armed with a paintbrush...don't expect me to stop with just one wall!

4 comments:

Yoli said...

Run with it Maia!!!!!!

Heather said...

I love it! I can't wait to see more!

Juliette said...

Et vos rêves sont si doux ma chère!
What a great idea, can't wait for the other ones.
Your new chair is sublime.
And the pics of your walk in town were lovely.

Vivian M said...

Sigh. My idea of creativity is a piece of parsley as decoration on my dinner plate. Sad, I know.