collaborating with a stranger

Do you remember back HERE, I bought this piece of op-shop art. My friend Emma McCleary said of that post ‘I LOVE all that stuff! Well, until you got to the cray-cray* painting’ which cracked me up. You are never left wondering what Emma really thinks and that is part of why I love her so much. I do like a plain-speaking woman.

(*crazy)

Op-shop art before:

Here is what I did to it.  (The writing along the side says ‘los ojos abiertos’ which is Spanish for ‘the eyes open’.) The colours reminded me of India or perhaps Mexico – so the being is a genderless amalgamation of Frida Kahlo, Buddha and the goddess Kali – who wears skulls around her neck to remind humans of their mortality (‘In the midst of life, we are in death etc.’) The eye in the forehead is the eye of ‘enlightenment’ which to me just means clearly seeing the bigger picture of life, while being able to stay grounded and ‘awake’ in the daily.

I dunno if I made it less cray-cray or more cray-cray – but either way, I’m sure Emma will tell me.

**Update – Emma has pronounced it ‘less cray-cray’ and said she likes the skull necklace! 🙂 **