Collaboration – a word with varied connotations, yet usually
a positive experience in the art world.
At the very least, my last few encounters have opened my eyes to new
directions and possibilities for expression.
1. Recently, we were at the beach with some friends.
One of the younger friends was helping me make a sand sculpture, and it
was only when I added eyes to the top of the head that we realized a difference
in our vision. I was making a sand
dragon, while he was making a battle rampart filled with munitions. Adjustments were made to how the tail was
designed, and by the end of the day we were both happy with the results. (Explanations on the physical features of the
sculpture were vastly different depending on who was giving the tour of our
creature/engineered wall.)
2. The second
encounter also included a sculpting medium, though this time using play-dough. I was asked to create a Minnie Mouse. My sculpting skills are not great, but using
the patented three circle design (and no – I did not obtain a license for this
use), I elaborated a little with the bowtie and high heeled shoes. My 3-D character was greeted with ecstatic shouts
of glee before being flattened by tiny fists.
We called the finalized piece “Minnie in Distress”, and I think it says
much about the fall of Disney before its own collaboration with Pixar.
3. I am not much for using the oven, but I do love to decorate with candy so sometimes baking is a
necessary evil. This time I had a small
helper (complete with her own apron) who seems to thrive on baking cakes. Little did I realize our differences in
baking philosophies. While I was merely
creating a blank canvas for candy embellishments, she was creating a tasty
snack that should be eaten the minute it had partially cooled down. I’m now wondering, if the intent is to eat
the actual cake, should I have used a cake mix that had not expired a year ago?
