Step Out Of The Box

“Masquerade Mania” sold at the opening night of the Mardis Gras Mambo Art Show at Mid City Artisans

When the owner of Mid City Artisans asked me how I came up with the idea of the pig, my answer reminded me of the children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (it’s a circular story). My first thought was that I wanted to do something fun, I mean it was Mardis Gras after all. Next I remembered that I had always wanted to try to paint a cow in bright colors, I’m sure you’ve seen these everywhere. My plan was to use purple, gold and green. Then I thought, well I’m a Texas girl so the cow makes sense to me, but doesn’t seem to fit Mardis Gras. How about a pig, they are cute and fun and I should put a mask on her (I named her Penelope lol). Of course she needs to be looking beautiful at a parade in New Orleans, so the mask needs to be glam. And that is the stream of consciousness that lead to “Masquerade Mania” and I had SO MUCH fun creating this one. Laissez les bon temps rouler!.

I decided to share this story with you because it’s a great example of the value of stretching yourself to do something different than your ordinary. When you decide to “Step out of the box” it might be a bit uncomfortable at first but the payoff will be huge. When we allow ourselves to be vulnerable we become better thinkers and can be more creative, find new solutions, learn new things, etc. I hadn’t ever painted anything similar to sweet Penelope Pig. Her creation had a rough start, but then all the fun ideas starting flowing in; she needs a mask, the mask should have feathers, it needs sparkle and jewels, etc. etc. etc. Fun, fun, fun!!! Find an opportunity to step out of your box and you won’t be disappointed.