Making and re-making

These are uneasy times for us all, of course. As it happens, the last few weeks have also been a time of some big decisions for me, personally. 

In unsettled times, I am especially glad to have my studio, to have art that needs making every day, to have an easel and a table awaiting me in the corner like friends. In fact, my happy friendship with such things goes all the way back to childhood. Making art has been like a balm, a friendly presence, an ally — especially in the hard times. It is still like that today. 

Lately I’ve been cutting up some of my old pieces, acrylic on paper. Some folks might find that alarming, but it is quite the opposite. I’ve always reprocessed, recycled and repurposed old work. They might be unfinished pieces or fragments, or things I’ve laboured passionately over until the steam ran out. It’s funny how certain pieces, after they have cooled awhile, start to suggest new directions.

I cut them up, rotate the pieces around, add collage layers or hand stitching. I let new marks fall over old in a free and easy way. I don’t fully understand this process, but it always feels refreshing and takes me back. As children, we re-imagine things every minute, without effort. One thing becomes another.

I find it comforting knowing old things can always be taken apart and new things made of the pieces. The world will always be whole, one way or another.