Thank You Henri Matisse

"When you have achieved what you want in a certain area, when you have exploited the possibilities that lie in one direction, you must, when the time comes, change course, search for something new."

Henri Matisse

I have just started my new job, departed the other and am very happy. I can now concentrate and delve more into the business of art. Coming up with new ideas, experimenting with new mediums, becoming less critical of my work- past, present and future, and marketing are my areas of focus and attention right now.

I am fortunate that I live in a culturally rich city when it comes to the arts. I am guilty of taking it for granted at times. I don't partake of everything I would like to but the venues I do to attend, I leave feel nourished and enriched on many levels. When I need inspiration and/or counsel, I can find it locally. And I did recently. The writing was on the wall.

The Art Institute of Chicago is currently showing an exhibit of Henri Matisse's work from 1913 to 1917 entitled Radical Invention. I went to see it and after viewing, a creative weight was lifted. Not only was I inspired by his work but liberated by his process! Matisse was quite progressive. He recycled. Several paintings that appear in the YouTube video were included in this exhibit. I would like to share a few paraphrased writings on the wall with you:

• Matisse would reuse compositions in an effort to pare down forms to their most pure and meaningful state. He found great creative potential in reusing subjects.
  
• Reworking an already familiar subject could free him to focus on other issues pursuing the essence of form, a still simpler means of making or moving a piece in a whole new direction.
  
• The challenge in reworking a familiar subject was the preservation of the original feeling or expression as Matisse called it. It took on a greater improvisational and inspirational role.
  

"One should be able to rework a masterpiece at least once to be very sure that one has not fallen victim to one's nerves or to fate." Henri Matisse

Thanks to Henri Matisse, I can and will revisit and reinvent my earlier designs and work, explore new possibilities with them rather than totally discard, abandon or classify as old. Very liberating.