Great Balls of Fire!

 "Great Balls of Fire" - mixed media on aluminum, 11" x 14".  Ready to frame.  Click here to purchase this piece on Artfinder.

A new substrate to play with - aluminum!  The same slick grooviness as Yupo paper, but a lovely hard board behind it and a fabulous surface to scratch into and make marks.  I will be using this support again - it is divine.

This piece was inspired by a prompt for an upcoming show - RED.  What is it about prompts I love so much?  Skew the masters?  YES!  One image, two visions? YES! Collaboration?  YES! Rescued dogs?  YES!  Mannequin legs? YES! Maybe because a prompt gets me out of my own preconceived limits, and forces exploration and experimentation.  A prompt also implies other artists are exploring the same concept, and there is a whole universe of groovy energy when artists are all creating together, even if they are actually creating separately from each other.

Of course, this got me wondering...what if I had prompts in my life?  Maybe today's prompt is EXPLORATION, for example.  Just by imagining having a prompt for the day, my wheels start turning and my inner cruise director jumps up and says "YES! Let's get going!"  and I feel more like taking a side journey in my day.  Or if my prompt was SPA, I might make time for a long soak in the tub or a massage.  If I gave myself the JUMP prompt, I might reach higher for some things that seemed a little beyond me or take a risk on something I'd been avoiding. Hmmmm.....self-prompted days sound quite adventurous!

Taking my own advice, I am giving myself the prompt SMILE for the rest of this day, which includes a bevy of  appointments and a few ho-hum tasks.  If I grin my way through the day, I am sure to find some fun and mischief in everything I do.  I'm curious, though, dear reader!  If you gave yourself a prompt, what would it be?