Whimsy -- "a fanciful or fantastic device, object, or creation especially in writing or art" (Merriam-Webster). I've been thinking a lot lately about whimsy. Do you remember "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (either the short story by James Thurber (1939) or the 2013 movie starring Ben Stiller will do) or Don Quixote?. Those two examples of whimsy were what I was thinking when I began to conceive my project I lovingly call "Balderdash". How do I turn something serious, in my case a stolen manuscript that unintentionally goes left of actual history, into something whimsical while at the same time maintaining the integrity of the original author and his intent for the manuscript? When I created this picture, "Balderdash" came first to mind, but not as a falsehood or nonsense. It takes what is true, and applies a new interpretation; it doesn't deny the truth, it only re-imagines it in another time and space. This sounds simpler than it really is (or has been for me). I would never have described myself as whimsical, but if I'm able to create a picture such as this, then there must be some whimsy locked up inside me. I just need to track it down, and pull it out, kicking and screaming if need be. And if I can see whimsy, then I can believe I can do whimsy, and if I can do whimsy there's hope that I can be whimsical.
Cozumel, Mexico, May 2019
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