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Saturday, September 19, 2015

"Mermaid"

I loved The Little Mermaid when I was small.  I had a book of the original Hans Christian Andersen story with beautiful b/w illustrations.  I sighed over the handsome prince, and sighed over the beautiful illustrations too.  I've always valued good art.

Dad used to say that to be "cultured" and "well-educated", I had to read all the classics.  So I did.  Go ahead, ask me about Dickens or Tolstoy or whoever.  Really, somebody should ask me something about this stuff, because I'm pretty sure nobody has ever cared whether or not I'm educated or cultured.

All that reading filled my head with romanticism and idealism -- and I doubt that makes my life better.  Would you date a Musketeer?  Athos is an alcoholic who killed his wife (twice), Aramis a hypocritical slut, Porthos is stupid, and D'Artagnan... well, I guess he's okay if you didn't mind him rashly trying to get killed at any moment.  It's a great story, one of my favorites, but it doesn't provide a very good model for real life.

When I read and reread The Little Mermaid, I was swept away by the romanticism.  I couldn't see that she gave too much of herself away for a fantasy.  Forget Disney, I was reading the original story which is a lot harsher and written by Hans who never got lucky romantically in his entire life.

I've been guilty of giving too much of myself in the same ways.  Okay, an evil witch didn't cut out my tongue and tell me to stab my lover, but how often have I given more than I received?  A: too often.  And it isn't just lovers, it's all sorts of other people too.

My internal romantic has gotten me in all sorts of trouble and bad decisions.  No matter how practical or tough I can be about all sorts of things, a part of me is Ariel and nukes my own happiness.  I'm working on it.  I've been thinking about these kinds of situations a lot while I sit on the floor and paint with my smallest brush.

At the same time, I think fantasy is the root of all creation.  We need daydreams and nightdreams.  They are the source of everything we make or bring into our lives, but we can't dream anyone else into what we want them to be outside of our own fantasies.  I'm searching for balance.

"Mermaid" reminded me of this cookie jar -- except I guess it was Tinkerbell.  Oh well, close enough.  I try to block out Disney work from my mind.  To say they are picky and demanding is like saying world annihilation is inconvenient.

This cookie jar never happened even though it did get to the prototype stage.  I just thought I'd show you something other than the floor (though I have some nice butterflies and mushrooms.)  This project involved gobs of technical drawings from every angle and then many revisions on each of them before they canned the whole thing because Chinese people don't understand Tinkerbell.  Disney also wavered between using the old Tink vs. the new one, which meant I had to do the whole thing over several times that way too.

I told my brother I needed a mermaid and he obliged on a napkin while we waited for dinner.  I objected to "toe flippers" and little arms, but he just giggled.  That's worth something :)

11 comments:

  1. I agree fantasy certainly gives us some of our creativity...but are you saying fairies and mermaids aren't real ;0) Your Tinkerbell is fab, what a shame Disney didn't see her through x

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  2. I agree fantasy certainly gives us some of our creativity...but are you saying fairies and mermaids aren't real ;0) Your Tinkerbell is fab, what a shame Disney didn't see her through x

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    1. I'm completely willing to accept fairies and mermaids in my world. You've got to watch out for the fairies though. They have a dark side :)

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  3. Nothing worse than offering bits and pieces of one's heart and soul and receiving disappointment or rejection in return. (But don't get me started on a product development rant!) ;o) There should be more little mermaid drawings like this...Offering us pure joy, no edits, no strings attached!

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    1. Oh go ahead and rant. I'll sit back and applaud and cheer you on :) Artists need more appreciation, though to tell the truth, this project started to feel like a linguistic engineering nightmare. I think I'll pass on future Disney work. Somebody else probably has a better temperment for it.

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  4. "We need daydreams and nightdreams. They are the source of everything we make or bring into our lives" - you betcha! Tinkerbell is an interesting character in an interesting story - children who never grow up. Especially after I learned a little about J.M. Barrie. I like your cookie jar.

    And that's about it for my own cultured side. My dad said I should learn to play chess in order to meet nice men. Weirdest advice he ever gave me...

    I always enjoy your brother's work! Remember "tense"? Ha!

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    1. You made my brother's day. I told him he has an internet fan since you remembered his "tense" :D

      I know how to play chess too. How come that didn't bring nice men into my life?!

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  5. Never never regret your reading!! Ack, what a terrible thought. Feed your mind with whatever you can - reading, art (no problem there I imagine). Sorry about the Disney project - I loved his old stuff but the new things? bleh. Looking forward to seeing the butterflies...

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  6. I don't really regret reading, and still do a lot of it. Escaping into books and sharing authors' fantasies make our worlds bigger and more interesting. I like the old Disney stuff better too.

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  7. God blessa youse -Fr. Sarducci, ol SNL
    (when it was savvy and cool)

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  8. God blessa youse -Fr. Sarducci, ol SNL
    (when it was savvy and cool)

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