Did I Make That?

Yay! Ice Cream, 2005
Acrylic & Collage on Canvas
24" x 24"

I totally forgot I made this painting, and I don't even have a reason.

I barely remember making it.  I think mostly I was being silly.  It's just a happy little dude who loves ice cream.  Nothing more complex than that. 

But I don't know why I forgot all about it.  

Lately I've been getting a lot of stuff ready for my new website that launches on Friday.  I've been reviewing images, looking through inventories of old work, and just sort of reminiscing in a rather clerical way.  During that process, I have been blown away by the number of pieces that I totally forgot that I ever made. I feel sort of callous to admit that.  Shouldn't my creations have kept a slightly more special place in my heart than all that?  I guess not. 

I think a lot of it has to do with the notion that creativity is a forward momentum.  I don't keep much of my work around.  Sell it.  Get it out of my studio and out into the world.  So once it's gone and out there, it's sort of over for me.  My major concern has to be the next one, not the last one.

I must admith though, it really has been cool to consider the sheer volume of work that I've created.  In the past 15 years, I've made close to 500 paintings and drawings.  

Not to shabby for a guy who sometimes forgets he's an artist for long periods of time.