I have spent countless hours shopping and foraging for the most extraordinary materials that now pack my studio with glorious color and history. I have a wide selection of stained glass and tile and china. I have boxes of stunning vintage jewelry and findings. I have rhinestones and beads and just about every choice a mixed media mosaic artist could dream of. Just poking around looking at all of it makes me incredibly happy.
So, here’s my frequent dilemma. On the one hand, I’m fortunate that when a project calls for something very specific, a certain color or shape or material, especially a vintage one-of-a-kind thing, odds are I have it. On the other hand, if I put that perfect thing into the art, then I will have USED IT and therefore I won’t HAVE IT anymore.
But didn’t I purposely acquire said thing to USE in the art? What good does it do to sit on the shelf for me to admire and never find its way into the art it was intended for?
While I love being surrounded by so many beautiful things I’ve decided not to angst over letting them go to the greater good, which is my art. I know there is more where they came from and that means I can keep shopping!
