Be, Contemplate, Imagine
It’s that time of year in Minnesota where winter seems to want to hang on and spring wants to make its appearance at the same time. There’s still plenty of snow on the ground, especially after the snow storm we had two nights ago, but the sun is shining bright and the temperatures hint toward spring on the horizon.
You can hear the birds singing away while the snow melts off the trees and rooftops in the city:
For me, spring always brings a burst of inspiration. Nature herself gets energized too as the snow melts away revealing signs of life all around us! Every winter, ideas are like dormant seeds waiting to be released - and when spring arrives, they emerge in a flurry of passion.
One of these ideas that has been percolating over the winter is the question of how a painting can be something that lives on longer than one life cycle. Many (maybe all?) artists are inspired by nature. But yet, most all of us take little to no consideration of nature into our practice. We may have messages to share about nature. We may even want to tell the world how to treat the one planet Earth we have better. But, most all of us do not think at all about the materials we use in our works or what happens to the work we create when it has lived its intended life. The last thing we want to believe is that our beloved paintings are ending up in the landfills or that the materials we are using are contributing to global warming… but here we are.
However, spring doesn’t have an energy of doom and gloom. It’s energy is of inspiration, motivation and hope. This design project has had me looking to nature for solutions to this problem through the lens of biomimicry using nature to help find the solutions and what I’ve come up with is a Regenerative Painting that uses life-friendly materials, can live multiple lives with no waste and never touching a landfill. Beyond that, during its many lives it has the opportunity to build a thriving community of artisans all putting nature first and making their mark in the world of sustainable art.
With spring also comes a season of house cleaning, and with it often comes redecorating. What if this idea of a Regenerative Painting went beyond a painting? What if the curtains, pillows, rugs, bedding, chairs, sofas, headboards and other home decor items that are most commonly changed out could be applied to a Regenerative Design concept like this as well? How many more tons of trash could we keep out of the landfill and how many more artisans would be making a living doing what they love?
