ORIGINAL COPY POSTED ON INSTAGRAM DURING THE CHALLENGE
Nearing the end I thought to paint some fireworks as a little pre-emptive colour hooplah for being almost done with this challenge.
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I started painting the great puffs of colour in the sky and just could not get into it.
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“Why is this not working for you, Andrea?” I asked myself. And as quick as lightning another part of me replied – ‘Because fireworks are too removed from nature’. (Yes, the chemical elements used are natural but the way they’re propelled into the sky with gunpowder is human-engineered).
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Hmm. So I painted over it all and started again, tapping into nature’s own colour spectacle. Okay, this sky is a little Willy Wonka but none the less, it flowed, and therein lies the rub for me.
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It’s SO easy to slip back into conventional associations or societally reinforced thinking structures. On the creative path, if you’re not questioning your why for stimulus often enough, you can quickly murky the source fire of your creativity. Of course, it’s fine to do so, but do it because you’ve decided to break your pattern, not because you’ve slipped unawares into the habitualness of life around you.
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(artist retains all rights to print reproductions of this painting)
Inspiration image: artist’s own