I finished my “Wild Goose” sculpture made from driftwood found at the beaches here in Rhode Island.
This is how the raw pieces of driftwood looked. When I found that top piece of driftwood on the beach and I saw the natural eyes that could be created from the wood knots, I instantly thought bird head. I just love creating things out of what you find. It reminds me of looking for images in the clouds. If you stare long enough, things begin to emerge.
This is as far as I got the other day. Today I decided to add a back fin or a hump. I also added color to the head and details to the feather patterns. I also began to paint four lengths of driftwood in black and white stripes. I was going to make legs for my creature. It then occurred to me that geese have two legs not four. Two would not balance this heavy wood structure, so I abandoned the idea. It has been good and windy the past two days. I am going to try again to head down to the beach and see if I can find suitable legs. I think black and white striped legs would be a fun addition.
For now my silly goose is hanging with some of my black and white decor in the living room. It’s cool painting your own sculptures. Magically they tie in to my personal style. Fancy that!
Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving. I will be hanging with my family and playing with my niece, nephew and our kids. We usually have a game of capture the flag and assassin (you murder people throughout the day with a wink or handshake, if you’re killed you need to drop to the ground and act out a dramatic death, then everyone has to figure out who is the assassin). I know. I know. It doesn’t sound all that festive and Thanksgiving-y, but the kids love it, so thus it shall be our family tradition!
I have a bit of traveling to do over the Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas holiday. I only have 36 days left to my creativity challenge, but the upcoming month may be the most difficult yet! It’s a super busy time of year. The only way I have figured out how to make it through the past 331 days is not to worry about tomorrow. So that’s my plan. 36 days of not worrying about it. On days I have time I will push myself as far as I can go. On days where I spend 5 hours in the car with whining children, I shall go easy on myself. Either way, creative opportunities always seem to present themselves. The unexpected always seems to go better than the over-planned.
It shall work itself out.
After this I have a whole new something to worry about…what do I do when I’m done?
The answer is I have no idea. I’m hoping my near future will unfold in some perfect design. I hope this, because I really don’t know what comes next. It’s been nice knowing my objective for a year now. I’ve always felt like I don’t know what I’m doing. It’s never very concrete. This challenge was a great way to put a label on my life. To have some way to answer when people ask what I’m up to. I’m done though. It’s served its purpose and run its course. It’s time for me to reassess and pick another direction or simply rest.
Rest. Now that sounds very good :)
Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
Be Creative Mary 