Today’s project was embellishing squares and rectangles that will become more of the little boxes that I am obsessed with. I am embarking on a winter-long surge to build up my inventory of finished art with a goal of applying to juried art fairs in the next year.
When I was in high school, I remember going to some higher-end art fairs and thinking about going on the road for a year, selling what I had made all over the country. At the time, I still had not discovered the art media that worked best for me, nor had I developed any sense of my own creative voice.
Of course, I’m still working on developing that creative voice, and I always will. Speaking of which, I want to get back to my boxes, so I will leave you today with the quote that inspired me to start making boxes.
You came upon me carving some kind of little figure out of wood and you said, “Why don’t you make something for me?”
I asked you what you wanted, and you said, “A box.”
“What for?”
“To put things in.”
“What things?”
“Whatever you have,” you said.
Well, here’s your box. Nearly everything I have is in it, and it is not full. Pain and excitement are in it, and feeling good or bad and evil thoughts and good thoughts – the pleasure of design and some despair and the indescribable joy of creation.
And on top of these are all the gratitude and love I have for you.
And still the box is not full.
-John Steinbeck, dedication to East of Eden