Transformation 36

I can't believe I've done 36 of these! It really doesn't seem possible (somewhat like the fact that it's already August). Some have been scrapped, some sold, some are at the gallery, and some still sit in the portfolio in my studio. The strange part is that the series came about entirely by accident. When I was in the Master's degree program at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, we were given a horrifying (to me, at least) assignment. At the end of the week, we were told we had to make 50 pieces by Monday. FIFTY!! This was inconceivable to me. Me, the super-perfectionist, think-about-it-for-a-million-years-before-starting, self-questioning, mind-changing, oh-my-god-i-can't-do-it- ME?

I was freaking out. Perhaps I misunderstood, or my hearing was going bad. But, no. Obviously, the instructors weren't serious, right? They were.

I had no idea where to start, but I thought, there has to a way to cheat...or- something. After all, necessity- and 430 dollars a credit hour- are the mothers of invention. I looked at the discarded work laying around the studio- the ones that didn't quite work out, and said, "Why not?" I started cutting them into pieces and gluing them together. It seemed a lot easier than starting from scratch. I don't remember how or why I came up with the 7x7 inch format, but for some reason I made them all that size. I worked all weekend, every minute, without stopping. I got my children to help me. Whatever, just so they were done.

Finally, I had 50 pieces. Granted, some of them looked like pieces of dog poo, but there were a few that were actually not too bad. Oddly enough, my instructors didn't hate them completely. I kept some of them. Then, I began to make more. Eventually, they became a series; now people even buy them! Who'd a thunk?

There must have been a point to all this- what was it? Oh, yeah... my point was... well, you just never know, do you? Also, thanks, Kim and Paige. I guess that 430 dollars per credit hour wasn't a total waste, was it?