The Think Bottle Blog was created to gather great art, ideas, and inspiration into one place. I hope you get inspired to take a chance and dive into something of your own. Plus it’s a great place to interact with me on a daily basis. Cheers!
Back Home
I’m back home now, finally, from a two-week whirlwind tour of Chicagoland. Of course, it’s always good to be back home to my pups and my pictures, but I have to admit I miss all my new friends as well. Their numbers are too vast to name individually but suffice it to say they had an effect on me that will influence my work for a long time to come. Were it not for these thrice-yearly adventures out to visit schools and libraries I would’ve long ago morphed into one of those squirmy anemic cave dwelling worms in a pastel button-down shirt.
Art, like many other disciplines is an inside job. In the process of expressing my vision of the gooey interior stuff, I can become a little set in my ways. That is not to say my pictures are contrived or dishonest; it’s that there are no checks and balances. I don’t have a little dave checking the product as it goes out the door or manning the (800) number when the consumer calls with a comment or a question. What you see is what you get- and when you wonder “WHY”, you are pretty much left to your own devices to come up with an answer.
That’s precisely, what’s so good about getting outside into the sunlight. Getting questions fired at me and forcing me to answer them in front of living, breathing human beings is educational; I learn a lot when I hear my own responses.
“Why do I make big heads?”
{ANSWER} I can get more expressive stuff on a big head than on a little one, also Todd, my best friend in first grade had a big head and birds always flew smack into it; that most certainly had an impact on me as well.
“What’s with all the dogs?”
{ANSWER} If I were a cat person you wouldn’t be asking that question.
“Was I kicked in the head by a really big horse when I was a kid?”
{ANSWER} I can’t remember but I do recall having my eye poked by a toy dachshund and I‘ve been afraid of the breed ever since.
-Or during one particular presentation to a group of kindergarteners:
“Mommy dropped a brick on daddy’s foot and I got a gerbil for my birthday” {ANSWER} (I’m still working on that one).
“Why do I do this? Why do I do that?” {ANSWER} It might be because I was raised catholic or frankly, I don’t have the foggiest idea.
Not that I’m comparing myself, but I’d imagine even Da Vinci used to get those kinds of questions.
“Mr Vinci, Why is that woman’s head so big and why is she smiling?”, “Are hands hard to draw?”, “Do you really expect that thing to fly?” and so on. One could only guess whether Leo had an adequate response but I’m sure it got him thinking. He was probably a better artist for it; I’m better for it for sure (not that I’m comparing).
So I’m back now. Once again I’ve settled into my cozy routine of drawing, painting and lying on the floor with the dogs and I’m content beyond words. But it’s only been a week and already my complexion is looking a little pasty as I blindly navigate the furniture and litter-strune recesses of my brain. After all, I know where everything is and I don’t have to be concerned with the “whys” or the “whens” or the “whats” of things anymore. But I know it’s just a matter of time before I crawl out of my hole once again into the light of day to walk and talk again. And when I do, please don’t stare, I should pink up in no time.
Your Comments
Your Comments
thank you thank you- molly lou has a nice ring to it- i’ll have to ask patty lovell the author. did you know max spaniel hunts dinosaurs when he’s not in the kitchen?
We all love your ‘Funny Lunch’ book. We want to know where the name Molly Lou Melon came from. We just love your poetry too. When Mrs. Green reads them to us, we laugh our heads off!