My Ongoing Creative Conundrum

Ok, daydreaming is now a good thing. CHECK 👍 Thank you, Abraham-Hicks! I’ve been a guilty master of this practice all my life and I won’t feel guilty about it anymore! Well, that’s my intention. Onto the next overthought…

The moment I started accepting this freedom, I started rethinking what I want to do creatively… as usual on dozens of projects at once… but that’s a conundrum for a future consideration… For now, I choose to focus on my dream gallery/studio/art-school (/cafe/hangout for friends & loved ones/etc…) So let me regale you with the tale of this decades old dream!

In my twenties (the 1990’s and on), when I thought I was far more clever than I actually was, I came up with a funny idea for my artwork empire: MARIO’S FINGERS. I had emails and the early days of internet madness to thank for this… kinda. I’m a little ashamed to say that this inside joke was filled with innuendo and political inappropriateness. I imagined certain people “LIKE”-ing Mario’s Fingers. Wow, that is so tacky & lonely & desperate! Thank goodness my visualizations of the actual gallery sign always come up differently. I saw it written in Spanish (Gallery Los Dedos) or Italian (Gallery I Mani). That felt more classy. It symbolized things made with my hands. Life moved on and I couldn’t seem to find the grit to open the gallery.

In the 2000’s, I started labeling everything under “Arts M.Perron”. Simple and incorporating how I sign my work, but just not full of passion. That is because I am a great practitioner of The Imposter Syndrome! I kept this name over many websites and platforms, but never felt passionate about it. I was building my excuses to not succeed, more than the passion to create. The habit was getting ingrained.

Jump to about 2010, all my choices started crashing around me and I felt started feeling unhealthily sorry for myself. Thank goodness, I hit a bottom point about that time and started embracing a what do I have to loose mindset. Well, kinda. It took a while to embrace Law of Attraction principles, meditation practices, Positivity Mindsets, and Zen Being… it ultimately took a walk around my neighbourhood and an initial disgust at how much stuff people throw away to get my mind to shift again.

I’ve mentioned this before, I think. I have always dreamed of having a store filled with decorative items and art and reclaimed materials have a special attraction for me. On this walk, I saw beautiful old chairs, coffee tables, shelves, steamer trunks, picture frames. They were free and I had nothing to lose by trying to repair them and/or transform them into something beautiful again. That’s were “FOUND – The Repurposed Design Company” idea came from. I felt compelled to do it. I made many new pieces, some given to friends, some sold, many decorating my own home now. Frankly, I love working on reclaimed materials more than anything, except maybe clay. The vision of a workshop with a gallery front became stronger with a bunch of HGTV, BBC, and Netflix shows on recycling, up cycling, and design. I WANT IT!

“FOUND” felt like it had some challenges and I allowed the local language laws to be my excuse for not pursuing it, until I had to deal with the reality of having too much of my work in my house. I saw some ideas of how to reposition some of my work on Pinterest and created a series of blog posts about “Transitions”. I planted small maple trees in my ceramic tea bowls. The word “transitions” didn’t feel right and became “Transformations”. Hey, it even works in English & French, so I have one less excuse not to use the name. Unfortunately, I’m not jazzed by the name. I just don’t know why.

The recent pandemic has been fruitful in the thinking and learning department. I decided to let “Found” go and opened the room to have an online (Shopify, Website, ETSY, Squarespace, ???) shop for “Transformations”. Why, I don’t know, but I started with a byline: “Transforming reclaimed materials into beautiful statements about your unique style”. What a load of… well, it doesn’t feel right. It explains a little about what I do, but not enough about why I do it. Needless to say, I’ve deleted more logo and banner ideas than those I kept. In fact, I’ve kept none! I think I need to toss “Transformations” for now. It isn’t pushing me hard enough.

The word that rolls around my head the most these days is “AESTHETICS”. Can I use this for a company name somehow? Would this express the lifestyle, a vision, a why, a value, a need? I think so.

AESTHETICS – Galerie D’Art & Décors — Where you can enjoy the simpler, the finer, and the greater joys of life.

The front would be the gallery for reclaimed materials decor and artworks in all sorts of media. The gallery would display and sell the students’ and teachers’ works, as well as my own, of course. The back would have workshops/studios dedicated to painting, ceramics, and furniture refinishing. These studios would be large enough to accommodate small group classes. I am imagining a counter space with barstools for visitors to sit, enjoy some fine coffees, teas, my wife’s backing, and maybe even some whiskey & wine for those special gatherings. I get a great joy daydreaming about this and I even know what habits are currently preventing me from making it happen. I’m working on those.

Everything is starting to become clearer… it is all about design. Ok, maybe not so clear, but this is what I feel right now. Blame the Netflix series “Abstract: The Art of Design“… specifically season two. It is doing an excellent job explaining a design mindset. It fits into what I’m learning at school about the benefits of cross-curricular teaching/learning models, discovery learning, and STEAM curricula. Maybe, because I’m a more of a conceptual learner than I thought I was, but I’m moved by what I’m watching.

• First step… I want help.
• Other steps…
• I want feedback on concept for “AESTHETICS”.
• I want funding (Angel investor or investors).
• I want a mentor.
• I want creative contributors who I can have in my team.