Art Inspiration: Memories

 

Hello My Fellow Art Lovers-  "Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it." - L.M. Montgomery  The Wreath Maker: A Memory from San Miguel de Allende Themes weave in and out of my life.  One recent theme has been memory.    The Smell of Roses in Cottage Home I have been touching base with a number of old friends lately... friends like Melissa and Luke who I hadn't seen in over 20 years.  It has been funny what we each remembered and forgot. Places where our memories of each other overlapped or gapped.   Kitty in the Garden Why is it that some memories fade and others become precious stones that we hold on to?  The Dawn of a New Brain by Lori Lee Andrews My friend, the artist Lori Lee Andrews, just created a series of artwork about the human brain.  Her mother has dementia.  She has been thinking about memory and how our miraculous brains are structured.  The Reflection I created this painting during the Covid quarantine time.  Do you see the reflection of me in the vase?  Seeing this painting brings me right back to that feeling of being in alone, in the safe little cocoon of my house.   I've realized that many of the objects I own are little slices of memories.   Ladies by the Fountain in San Miguel When I look at items like this painting or my grandparent's nativity scene, memories are refreshed within me.    My grandparent's nativity scene Objects often become talismans that preserve our memories.    These photographs reminded me that my sister and I went with my grandfather to cut down our Christmas tree in 1986. My father had died a few weeks before. I had forgotten that detail. When we create artwork, take photographs, or bring out the holiday decorations we enshrine the images with our memories. We distill the big picture of our lives down into tiny drops.  A lot can be held within one image. What do you want to remember and how can you preserve it?  As we enter the new year, how do your memories affect your future decisions? May your next season be merry and bright and may you create many new happy memories.    Happy Holidays!