Sometimes the “old” can be new again
Aaahhh, another Spring has sprung itself upon us. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but I admit that every March, the ritual of daylight saving throws me a little.
I remember to change every clock except one, causing an annual panicky moment of “I’m late!” before I realize I’m not. But it’s a minor sacrifice when compared to April’s lovely moments, like waking to chirping birds, the return of the butterflies to blooming gardens, open doorways of art studios.. .
And we get new chances to explore our inspiring world. Spring tends to bring out the wanderlust in folks. This year my creative seek took me to old places, where I got to re-learn a thing or two.
While attending my sister’s wedding in Florida, I had the chance to see the remodeled Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, a city which has evolved quite nicely over the last few years into an arts community.
The museum anchors one end of a gulf-side walking, shopping and dining experience. And “remodeled” is an understatement: I had visited the 1982 building years ago, and it was fairly spartan. The facility is now as fascinating as Dali was himself. The combination of surfaces, shapes and visual wonders is a perfect complement to and house for Dali’s art history. Inside, I saw works that were entirely new to me, and in a chronology that helped me learn anew about this influential, pivotal, one-man tour-de-force whose work had so deeply affected my creative process.
In the (many, many) years since high school and college art history, my synapses had apparently grown rusty. But within just minutes amidst Dali’s signature melting watches floating lazily over yellow desert-scapes, it was as if someone had sprayed the tin man’s joints and awarded the scarecrow a diploma: I was physically and mentally mobile again.
Skirting the edges of large school groups enjoying enthusiastic docent narrations, I walked all around, and then back again to some favorite items, absorbing as much as possible. Salvador Dali’s life in art included early, innate brilliance leading to an openness to Freudian concepts before his stint with the Surrealists, and then a diversion to classical thinking before eventually delving into what he labeled “nuclear mysticism.” Each period added conceptual and visual layering throughout his life.
This realization made me think about my own career, about how some segments are easy to discern, and how others have blended overlaps. Knowing one’s periods and styles is useful in self-promotion, an activity at which Dali was an expert.
Additionally, the museum itself reminded me that how we house and show our creations is an important support for our content and message, and provides clarity and understanding for our target markets.
Seeking creative inspiration can be a daily activity, whether we stay right here in the ‘hood, or get out on field trips. Every artistic career path — and maybe some non-creative ones, too — has roots in an inspired moment or time. Mine was partly shaped by Salvador Dali, and this trip was perfect timing for me to reconfirm and reconnect with an “old” muse, reminding me to acknowledge, showcase and honor my artistic directions.
I hope you get a chance to go out and see something new, and, if you’re lucky, get to re-see something old and find it new again. Happy Spring!
Greg Vineyard is an artist, writer and creative consultant in Asheville, NC. Find his illustrations and clay works at Constance Williams Gallery in Asheville’s River Arts District.