Picturing what you want

One of my absolute favorite art bloggers, Martha Marshall, wrote about a wonderful dream she had in this recent entry, titled "A Beautiful Dream."

I was so inspired by her dream that I have decided to create an experience like this for myself, on the theory that we attract what we visualize. Often we imagine the outcome that we fear; why not imagine the one that we desire?

I'm going to try, whenever I have a quiet moment available, such as just before I drift off to sleep, imagining being the artist in a scenario similar to the one in Martha's dream. Perhaps it will help bring this visualization into my reality. If nothing else, it will certainly be a more enjoyable experience than imagining a scene of rejection or failure. (Either symbolically, like dreaming I'm trying to open the door of the gallery and finding it locked, or realistically, like imagining I go into the gallery and they say, "We think your work sucks!")

The picture at the top of this blog entry is of a painting I made back in 1998. I ended up continuing on with it until this particular view was covered. But I'm glad I happened to capture this stage in a photo. There are some lovely shapes and colors in here, and it shows how experimental and playful my work can be.

It was a big piece, 68" by 64", and it's made of pieces of cloth I had colored with acrylic paint and oil sticks, and then cut up and glued onto stretched canvas with gel medium. I love it so much, maybe I'll try going back to this technique for a change.