(collage created from recycled materials)

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.”
Miss Piggy

I’m a far cry from an artist-philosopher. Only once in a while do I get some ‘brilliant’ ideas for a painting with a meaningful subtext. Meanwhile, the majority of my works come out without me having to intellectually labor over them. Unlike many other artists far more intellectual than me I don’t try to concoct hidden (or not so hidden) messages intended to the public in every piece I create.

I’m a ‘L’art pour l’art’ type of gal. That being said, if someone finds some deeper meaning in my paintings I’ll gladly step aside and let the Universe claim the credit for putting it there for that particular individual.

Some time ago when the world was still ‘open’ I was participating in a giant “Home show” taking place in a huge casino. Thousands of people circulated the space. Faces, questions, faces, questions… I was doing my best to engage with people without having to offer them canned responses. Unfortunately, by the end of the day I got really tired and turned into Zoltan (the fortunetelling machine) only capable of offering mechanical answers.

“Yes, I painted it myself!’

“It’s not stained glass, it’s a collage! It only looks like stained glass because of the shiny varnish.”

“You’re absolutely right, it does take quite a while to glue all those pieces!”

…and so forth, and so on.
“Why doesn’t she have any eyes?” I look up. A middle-aged blonde is staring back at me. Is she serious? It’s art, lady. She could have one eye instead of her belly button and the other on top of her head. There are no rules in art. What a strange question. Of course, I’m not going to say any of that out-loud. So instead I offer her, “It’s because she doesn’t need them.”

The lady looks at me. Purses her lips in what looks like deep concern and turns back to the painting. She stands there staring at the portrait for longer than anyone has up until that point. She gives me a quick glance just before she leaves. I smile at her. She smiles back knowingly…