I was still considering my Inspiration for today, as I moved into my studio this evening to work. Mulling over several possibilities, I turned on my Edison bulb in my creative corner, and sat beneath its golden glow. I had barely settled into my chair, when new inspiration struck. Seriously. I glanced in amazement at the light above me….and then quickly assembled what I needed for a fun little project.
I have my writing desk set up in a way that inspires me. My Taylor Kubicek art print is hung on the wall above the desk, and on the table top, Absolem the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland perches on his mushroom. I imagine him saying to me, as he peers through his monocle, “Who are you?” I have wanted to create a framed piece using his quote, to remind me daily that this is an important question. It is good for me to know who I am, and live from that certainty.
This evening, I received a very clear mental picture of what that artistic piece could look like. And for fun, I was to assemble it collage style, from cut out words. I love when an idea blooms in my fertile mind. It quickly grows, taking on a life of its own.
The hunt began, for the words Who, Are and You….and for a question mark. In a few moments, I had found Are and You, and a leaf cut out, all tucked within a drawer in my studio. I uncovered the perfect little frame in my studio too, just waiting for something creative to happen.
The challenge was finding the word Who and the question mark. I didn’t want to spend a lot of time searching. I was ready to create! I thumbed through several magazines and sorted through a stack of publications. Nothing. My mind returned again and again to a Doctor Who comic I had safely stashed in a drawer. Did I dare cut the word Who from it, and ruin the comic? As I slowly walked back to my studio, to do the deed, I spied an advertisement lying on the table, left over from Christmas time. Who’s Your Santa? was printed in several places on the publication. The Doctor Who comic was saved!
I remembered the set of vintage encyclopedias. A page about The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland was carefully removed and part of it became the background for the cut out words and the leaf. It was as I was adhering the cutouts on the page from the encyclopedia, that the magic happened. I had glued on the word ARE, when I noticed the quote within the article. From Shakespeare’s The Tempest, it says, We are such stuff as dreams are made on.
I had not noticed the quote before then.
I was amazed. I sat quietly looking at the words, Who ARE YOU?, and there the answer was, between my cutouts, for I couldn’t cover the quote with the last word and the question mark.
“Who are you?” asks Absolem the caterpillar. “Who am I?” I answer, “I am such stuff as dreams are made on. I turn dreams into reality, and birth ideas from my imagination. That’s who I am. Thank you for asking.”
I think Absolem smiled. I know I did.
