January 3rd, 2013 - Hang my artwork in a museum.

I doodle.  When I'm talking on the phone or at the tail end of a very long, very boring meeting, my pen hits the paper and I start doodling. Sometimes I doodle swirly curls, and sometimes I make spirals that go on and on into the page.  Sometimes I draw things that vaguely look like spaceships, and sometimes I draw rambling, Inception style mazes.

But mostly, I draw chickens.

 


One chicken, to be precise.  Sure, the plumage might change from bird to bird, and what it says might depend on that day's fowl.  But the shape and design of my chickens always look the same.  I've been drawing them for years.  In fact, upon finding old homework assignments, I found these chickens on word problems dating back to 7th grade (the fact that I have old homework assignments from this time period probably deserves a call to Hoarders).

Now, I would never consider myself a professional artist, but I feel I have a strong appreciation of art.  And more often than not, after leaving an exhibit I come away thinking, "Wow, I could do that!"

Case in point: This is an art exhibit.  The lights turn on and off.  That's it.  Really.





So I thought that I would try my hand and see if my work stacked up with the pros.  I went to the Weatherspoon Art Museum on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and put my drawing up in the exhibit. (Note: This was not an open exhibit.  I was pulling a reverse Thomas Crown, in that I was illegally putting art into a gallery...is that really a crime? I wonder why more people don't do this...)



I left it there while we walked through the exhibit, which was a good 45 minutes or so, and no one seemed to mind or even notice.  I felt bad as we were walking out, however, so I moved a location that was more fitting of my talents.
 



And there it shall remain, until the tape falls off or someone decides that my art isn't even fit for an art museum's bathroom (honestly though, some of the stuff we saw wouldn't be fit for one either).

Today's adventure was to do something I'd never done, and that was to hang a piece of my artwork in a museum.  However, I got a lot more out of this than a simple act of doodle vandalism. I'd never been to the Weatherspoon, and I've lived in this area for six years now.  It's a little gallery on the campus of a large state school,  but it was really well maintained and was a wonderful experience.  It makes me wonder what kind of hidden little treasures can be found in all the little gallery's I've wanted to go into but skipped out on for one reason or another. I was even surprised to find a nice collection of Picasso drawings and paintings, as well as a drawing by Matisse and a painting by Warhol.

These names have become so well known that even the non-art lover knows them, and we can often take them for granted. We can't afford to do that with any part of our lives.  It's too short and there's too much to see out there.  Surprising sights are waiting to spring out all around us, if we are willing enough to do a little exploring.

So make a doodle and leave it somewhere, and then take a look around.  There might be something even more interesting to see.