smagik

I recently came across an old portfolio from my high school art class. Inside I received confirmation that I have been the same person I am now, forever. I know we are who we are, but really? Without realizing it, I’ve been writing, creating, and imagining the same stories for my whole life.

If I remember correctly this particular project for my beloved art teacher [Mr.] Myers’ art class only parameter was that had to be based on a fortune from a fortune cookie. From there I think we had free rein.

“You will visit some far away land that has long been in your waking thoughts“

I remember sitting amidst piles of donated magazines and cutting out images that appealed to me with no idea what the story would be. And then it began to emerge. A young woman leaves home and heads for Europe. She meets a French lover named Jaques and is eventually arrested for stealing art. After an acquittal she makes her way to Jamaica, builds a raft, buys some fruit, and the adventure continues. What I remember most is being completely engrossed as I sat surrounded by images and the narrative, albeit goofy, slowly emerged.

And now I look at it and think wow, it was almost like a weird manifestation board, not so much for my life path ( no Jaques, no robberies) but for my aesthetic and interests. The image of the open highway stretching to the desert horizon is one I have created multiple time. Before I ever heard of or wrote flash fiction, here is a short story under 1000 words. I know I came across a journal from college a while ago and wrote about that, but each time I am reminded of how little I’ve changed, I am blown away.

I have almost completed building my website http://www.smagikstudio.com where I decided to just incorporate all things I love into one place. This style of collage/story telling/photography has been made easier with a computer, there’s less glue, and I find it gives me the same creative jolt. Where do I want to go today and what do I want to create? In the About Me page on my site, I wrote about the most important piece of advice I was given after asking the question, regarding my career and the film industry strikes of the past year, “Should I start over or should I pivot?” Pivot. There is no starting over. We are who we are with all of our experiences and ways of seeing the world. Hopefully we keep evolving but, like a spiral, we never re visit the same spot exactly. We are asked the same questions simply to see how we reply this time around. And the answers are in the fortune cookies.