Month: June 2015

Ursprung, 2015
Oil on paper
21×29.7 cm

My Messy Masterpiece: A Confession (and Maybe a Title?)

Let’s be honest, this isn’t the Mona Lisa. You won’t find throngs of tourists flocking to museums to see it (although hey, if the Louvre comes calling, I won’t complain). But there’s a certain undeniable charm to a well-used artist’s palette, wouldn’t you agree?

This particular oil on paper, which I somewhat pretentiously titled “Ursprung” (big word for “origins,” fancy that?), is basically a close-up of my most prized possession (after my toaster, of course). It’s a testament to the glorious chaos that ensues when creativity strikes. Think of it as an action painting in miniature, except instead of flinging paint across the room in a fit of artistic pique, I (mostly) confine my mess to a designated area.

Look closely, and you’ll see the remnants of countless landscapes, portraits (questionable at best), and abstract masterpieces (emphasis on “abstract”). There are blues that have morphed into greens, yellows that have seen better days, and the occasional stubborn glob of crimson refusing to be assimilated. It’s beautiful, in its own gloriously messy way, like a chef’s workstation after a particularly inspired culinary adventure.

Now, I’m not saying this is a work of genius. But there’s something undeniably inspiring about staring at the source of so much artistic…well, activity. It’s a reminder that even the most basic tools can spark something beautiful, or at least moderately interesting. Who knows, maybe someday these very pigments will be transformed into something truly magnificent. Or maybe they’ll just end up on another messy palette like this one. Either way, the journey, as they say, is half the fun (and the other half is cleaning up).