Thursday, November 1, 2007

Taking Down Fences

Maybe it's how I'm made, or how I was raised (Nature VS. Nurture, anyone?) but I seek perfection. In proportion, in color I look for perfectly balanced symmetry. It's the same part of my brain that still chases after fairy tale endings. I'm sure the answer is found somewhere in my childhood, but I'll be darned if I can find it and erase it.

I was just looking at my friend Heidi's Etsy shop. (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5317531&order=§ion_id=&page=1) I love Heidi's work, it is deeply emotional and beautifully colored. Since she is my neighbor I get to see the work up close and really examine it. I get lost in her talent. Looking at her Etsy shop however, I got some distance. I found my favorite pieces didn't appeal to me as much, but others spoke much more clearly to me. What I see overall is that Heidi doesn't share my perfectionism fence. She's not bound up by rules. How did she get so free?

I've noticed this with artists before. They don't play by the same rules as other people, me specifically, and so their products are surprising and breathtaking in a way that mine have never been.

Gotta knock down some fences.. anybody got a sledgehammer?