Living In A Fishbowl....

...Shedding a Light on My Subconscious

It All Began With Pointy Hats and Wings...

This week I received a surprise invitation from Nancy Baumiller to join her Flickr group, Pointy Hats and Wings.  I was in the process of raiding my kids' stash of unused 3-ring binders and getting my stacks of collage sheets categorized and filed away in page protectors when the email came.  The timing couldn't have been better.  Having previously kept collage sheets in a box, then out of the box and all over the place, then back in the box, ad infinitum, I can't tell you how liberating it is to have them in binders that can be flipped through where you can actually see them!  The bowl in this piece was right in front of me at the time I opened the email, and without any other thought, I decided to begin my collage with the bowl.

Evolution...

I auditioned several of my painted backgrounds to act as both underpinning and underpainting, and came up with a yellow one, positioned the bowl, and painted the border.  The rest of the piece came together without a preconceived theme in mind.  I made choices by deciding what worked with the composition, then let the theme evolve by itself.  It took a few days to resolve because it needed lots of rest periods between elements, as so often happens when working with intense color and intense image at the same time.  Don't ask me why I pulled the fish from my collection and used them here.  I just did.  The children and the bowl seemed to require them.  The same with the fishbone letters.  After I finished lettering, those lines and dots just seemed to be needed, so I played along with whatever the piece asked for and added them accordingly.  Afterward, I realized they were fishbones.  

A Journey Into The Psyche...

But what does it mean?  OK, I play that game: Looking at artwork and trying to figure out what the artist is trying to say, both consciously and subconsciously, as well as looking to see what a piece has to offer for me personally.  And the benefit of working with a theme as broad as "pointy hats and wings"--so broad as not to impose a theme at all--is that you don't know until you're finished just what the piece you're making says about you--or in this case, me!  So I put it to bed, myself as well, and let it rest until morning. 

Analyzing The Dream...

Looking back on surreal artwork and trying to fit the pieces is a lot like dream analysis.  It's guess-work, but at the same time, it isn't.  

So what did I learn about myself?  Well, to begin with, it's true that lately I've been feeling a bit more exposed than fits my comfort range and have been dealing with keeping private things private, hence---the fishbowl.  But it isn't a proper fishbowl, it's a colorful kitchen bowl...and it's opaque!  And here's a quick lesson:  If you find yourself unwittingly in a fishbowl, make the best of it.  Choose colorful and opaque.  

And the fish?  Well, it was a piece of deceitful, stinking gossip that brought me into the fishbowl to begin with, under very "fishy" circumstances in which someone took a little bit of the truth and ran with it so far that it took on a very different spin and became a lie, and just like fish, sometimes life stinks!  But you make the best of it, hang on to your umbrella for safety, listen carefully to wisdom offered by a trusted little bird, and wear your party hats and crowns as often as possible.  Most importantly, you remember that love is always right there in the center of things.  The heart at the heart.  And no matter how tempting it may be to stoop to the levels of others, it's love that conquers in the end.   

As for the clock, well, it's only a partial clock, and that's just the way it came.  I didn't cut it; I just glued.  What it says to me now as it sits there at the top, is that time looms large over us all.  If only we could get a firm handle on time, everything would be possible.  But we have to deal with what we're dealt, and don't have all the time in the world at our fingertips--hence, the partial clock, which represents the particular time-frame in which we work out our lives.

Is this what this really means?  Who knows?  But it's an adequate story, and it's mine, so I'm offering it to you as well, for whatever it's worth.

Kismet...

Sometimes when you're not looking to closely, things just work out right.  Saturday Surprise has chosen "in the kitchen" as it's theme this week, just where I prefer my bowl of fish to be kept, and Inspire Me Thursday is open themed.  

Now I'm...

Off to run the daily errands

Looking forward to the weekend and wishing it contained a bit more free time

Glad it's finally a little cooler

Appreciating true friends and family, and

Looking forward to an even brighter future!

Have a great day, Everyone!

Comments

[Linda]

What a fun and wonderful piece!! love all the sweet details and fresh colours!! Well done!!!

Linda

[Shelly]

I just commented on this lovely lovely piece in Flickr, and I still love it! I enjoyed reading about how it all evolved. Glad that I found your blog:D Hope you have a great weekend!

[Peggy Gatto]

All I know is I really love this charming piece!!!

[Connie]

Nice interesting collage and I liked your story that went with it, too. Take care. Sincerely, Connie PS Thanks for visiting my blog, too.

[Rosie]

Well, I love the analysis and the analogy!! Keep the faith - as you say, it'll come right in the end.
What a gorgeous piece of art... I love your attention to detail and your dots inspired me to use them on my own page a couple of days ago! Love what you do... xoxoxo

[katherinemccullen@yahoo.com]

Don't you just LOVE it when a page tells you waht it needs? And this page (or your subconcious) certainly knew best because it is a delight. And your analysis is just fascinating. I'm going to start trying to figure out what my compositions mean. It may surprise you, but that I haven't ever really done that. To me it's always been about the visual effect and how a piece makes me feel. I mean, I realize that recently I've been in a spiritual phase, but that's as deep as my analysis goes. I'm going to try really looking at the elements to understand what they represent, Veeerrrry interesting, Barbera....

[Saila]

Beautiful work!

[patti pfaendtner]

I love when all of the elements just seem to come together as though they were meant to be and I'm just the conduit. Nicely done :)

[amy]

oh my, I do love it!!! Such a fab title too..love all the fish

[Crafty green poet]

I've enjoyed browsing your recent posts, I really like the style of your artworks

[AscenderRisesAbove]

life is no longer a bowl of cherries... but a bowl of babies. ;-)

[Gayle Page-Robak]

This is beautiful, Barbara....so much wonderful detail! Excellent artwork! There is a post on my blog with your name on it...please stop by. Hugs, Gayle.

[Heather Robinson]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog posting after seeing this marvelous piece. It not only described in detail your artful journey but also the undercurrent of thought. What a pleasure that you shared it all with us.

[Laura]

You artwork and depth of thought always makes me smile!