Day Two

I bought a book while I was in Yosemite titled, Art and Fear -- Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking. I'm glad I did. I'm about half way through it--taking my time reading it, which is good because what I am reading is sticking with me.

So, when I finished my second mosaic for this project, and readied it for a photograph, I remembered what I read in that book about how art nearly always looks better (sounds better--depending on your medium) in your head than it does in the physical world.

I saw the things that could have been better, what I should have done differently, contemplated removing a piece (which I am still contemplating) and replacing it so  it conveys my thoughts when creating the piece, and I thought about pointing them out to defend myself.

I have decided to let the piece stand as is, not to bash or defend it, and just to appreciate it for what it is.  Hmmmmm could this be a lesson that is to be learned from this project.

A few years back I created a mosaic that I really didn't like once it was finished. It sat on the shelf for months before my friend saw it and said she liked it.  Gladly, I gave it to her.  Now, each time I see it at my friends house, I almost regret giving it to her because I really like looking at it when I am there.  Don't know where it'd fit in my home.  Maybe it just needed the right home for it to come alive.

This was the first time that I used broken dishes in a mosaic.  Now I can begin to hack away at the broken dishes that fill a small dresser that I absconded from a trash can somewhere and repainted. Once you begin mosaic, nearly all broken things become worthy of saving.

Now that I have used them, I suddenly am evaluating in my head which of the broken dishes deserve to be preserved for larger "more thought out" mosaics, rather than being used for this year long project.  There I go with the thinking thing again.

...by the way the book I mentioned earlier is by David Bayles & Ted Orland; and, thanks to Marisa Zocco for taking the artsy photos of my mosaic for the day.

This mosaic is titled: Friendship