Of course, the first thought that I could hear was "I want some peanuts", but after getting the peanuts, I found out that there is a desire in me to practice arts and/or crafts.
I had a sudden craving to go to the backyard, pile all the snow in one place (there's lots of it, it's a record winter) and mould the pile into a sculpture of some kind. At the same time, I wanted to paint/draw/play the guitar/do some woodwork/build a shed. I experienced a spontaneous surge of creativity.
Knowing that I had just a couple of hours of time before the rest of the family got back home again, I rummaged frantically around the household, trying to find some arts and crafts equipment. I considered carving a sword for the kid out of a plank, but doing it in the yard in the snow, in an hour, seemed a bit extreme. So, I managed to find a pencil, a pencil sharpener and some paper, sat down and drew a Fiat 500 out of memory:
Endearing, isn't it.
Having let out most of the steam, I got a mirror and attempted a self-portrait. It turned out that photorealism isn't my forté. The portrait was scarier than I assume myself to appear. Or then my assumption of the scariness of my appearance is simply wrong. Yikes. Or then again, perhaps I should practice drawing more than once in a decade.
I did manage to crock up my (working) life in a series of croquis drawings, however:
But how come this sudden burst of self-expression? At work, even though I do things that other people tell me to do, I get to decide a lot about how the things are done. So, in my opinion, I get to express, or actualize, if you will, myself a lot. Also, my choice of rather bicycling to/from work instead of taking the bus is a form of self-expression of some kind.
I don't know, but I suspect that I got a spark from the music I mentioned in the beginning. Viimeinen Atlantis, by Stam1na, was released this week, 10.2.2010. Already it's been hailed as one of the best metal records of all time, the best Finnish record ever et cetera, and I fully agree. So, I just find it astonishing that a relatively unknown group coming from a small Finnish village creates this epic record that will probably do more for the benefit of eco-awareness than Greenpeace ever could (at least in Finland). At least it did that for me.
I'll do that snow sculpture tomorrow with my kid. Who knows, maybe we'll get a creative outburst and it will be the epic snow sculpture of all time.
3 comments:
I was in Europe in December and hoping to get some snow but it was rather warm most of the time I was there. Then shortly after I leave and go back to a rather odd Summer, there is epic snowfall over most of the Northern hemisphere. Unfair, I tell you!
I found your drawings somewhat inspiring. They made me want to get back into painting. Time to make time, I guess.
I think that music affects us more than we realise. I discovered that listening to trance music while working makes me hyper-focussed and less easily distracted. I don't even listen to trance - I normally find it really annoying - but somehow, it keeps my mind on the painful task at hand. Furthermore, music has a huge and lasting impact on a person's mood. Very interesting.
How unfortunate. Right now it looks something like this in Southern Finland: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2010/02/lots-of-snow.html
I'm really flattered & touched that you liked my doodlings. About painting: Just Do It. Yeah, it's hippie stuff, but it is good for the soul.
That is a lot of snow! Using antifreeze as a coolant in a car suddenly makes a whole lot more sense to me.
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