Last night, my husband and I did what we were “supposed to do” to celebrate Valentine’s Day. We went out for a lovely meal at a lovely restaurant and didn’t talk about our daughter. Not even once.
As lovely (and outrageously overpriced) as it all was, we couldn’t wait to get home to slip into something more comfortable and get busy. No, not THAT kind of comfortable nor busy. I mean getting into our Lululemons and having at a blank canvas we’ve been meaning to tackle. Apparently, it’s what we do.
Inspired more by the restaurant’s abundant artwork than its food, we cracked open a bottle of MacLaren Vale and went to work, with no real plan in mind for what the finished piece would look like. After all, canvasses are pretty cheap and we knew we’d have fun regardless of the outcome. (Am really working on this non-attachment stuff). I did my thing on one side and Greg did his on the other…and then we met sort of in the middle. An hour later, we were done. We thought.
We stood back and felt pretty pleased with how it had come together. Here’s what we did.
Untitled 1
Then a funny thing happened. I stood back to admire it as G held it against the wall, and then he rotated it 90 degrees. Huh. Different.
Untitled 2
Another 90 degrees.
Untitled 3
And another.
Untitled 4
Greg likes version number 2…something about it raining down happy goodness on the earth. Not bad.
I like version number 3. The upward motion feels aspirational. And somehow, 4 seems more pensive and sombre.
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not really suggesting that this is art worthy of great discussion. We don’t purport to be artists (we didn’t even have palettes so we used a plastic cutting board and an unused cat litter pan to blend colours). But we like it and it looks good on the wall and that’s the end of that.
What I’m writing about here is perspective. One painting. Several iterations. Many different emotions. All good.
We strung the wire on the back so it can be hung any which way we like on any given day.
My Valentine’s Day gift to you, dear reader, is the reminder that you too are always at choice. You get to choose your perspective. It can be as easy as turning the canvas around if you so desire.
I hope that today you choose to have fun, play, laugh and love.
XO
T
What a great way to spend Valentines evening, or any evening. I love it! And the different are interesting, too (I happen to share your affinity for #3). One gallerist I work with likes to rearrange my multi-paneled pieces – switching the order and orientation. At first I was a bit taken aback, but then ended up liking many of the new configurations. Gave me a fresh perspective on my own work, which is always fun.
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admin Reply:
February 15th, 2010 at 7:57 am
How interesting! Someone changed your perspective FOR you…yes, that certainly would have taken me aback too. I liken that to coaching…I can help a client find a new perspective, but would feel out of integrity if I just went ahead without their permission and TOLD them which new perspective to take. But in the end, it’s cool that you did manage to find a way to make the new perspectives work for you.
Thanks for stopping by!
TG
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Comment by Cindy Morefield — February 14, 2010 @ 10:37 pm
Ohh how I LOVE this post Tanya!
“You get to choose your perspective. It can be as easy as turning the canvas around if you so desire.”
This is something I have always known, however it’s something I should write down to remind myself from time to time.
Every moment is a new chance to turn the canvas- we all have the choice.
Thanks so much for sharing and I may just quote you on it.
Sounds like the perfect Valentines Day to me.
[Reply]
Comment by Shannon | Confessions of a Loving Wife — February 15, 2010 @ 10:02 pm