Happy Discoveries

I have a studio. I have art supplies. I have a business and a brand. I have my days loosely scheduled to accommodate creativity, gallery submissions, social media, and production. My days are as predictable as any small business owner’s can be. I am used to making lists, long lists, and I check items off with some regularity. It’s the ebb and flow of productivity. For this throwback Thursday, I opened my notebook, took out my pink pig pen and thought that I was going to continue a “to do” list. Instead, I found two wax figures I had made in an art museum back when we did things like go out to museums.

I am constantly creating in public and I remember sitting in this particular gallery, having just taken my time to consider each piece, feeling inspired and feeling lucky that I had some materials to “doodle” with. The gallery was on the second floor of the MFA in Boston and the painter featured was Mark Rothko, one of my favorites. I took my time, enjoying being in the presence of great art, and made some wax figures.

Today, I opened that notebook and there they were. Two of them nestled between two sets of pages. I remember that moment, thinking about how I was going to preserve them and seeing my notebook in front of my sketchbook in my purse. I thought that could work as a temporary storage solution, planning to remove them that evening and start a painting. That night, though, I worked on a painting that was already in progress, replied to some emails, kissed my kids, conversed with my husband, ate a good meal, read my book, took a bath, researched the latest gallery openings, connected with other artists around the world and so on. In a word, life happened and the two wax figures remained in their home between the pages waiting to be rediscovered bringing a small chuckle and triggering a pleasant memory.