Me And My Cinnamon Shadow

I have always been … creative.

I don’t remember the story very well, because I was very young.  So very young – so feel free to chime in, mom! – that this story has been told to me instead of remembering it personally.

The long and short of it is, when I was but a wee baby, I got ahold of the cinnamon from the spice cupboard and poured it out onto the floor.  My mother was furious.  I was undaunted.  I told her I was using the cinnamon to make “shadows” on the floor.

The thing that strikes me is even then, I was using unique medium – whatever I could get my hands on – to create art for no purpose.  When do we lose the urge to create, for fun?  When do we start believing that art isn’t worth it because it’s messy? 

When I was in college, for my final project for Performance Art class, I spread a tarp on the ground outside and used my bare feet and hands and (sorry, mom – yet again) eggs and potatoes from the fridge and condiment packets stolen from the dining hall to make a Jackson Pollock-style splatter art.  Part dance, part painting, part social commentary, but all of it was for the little kid in me who just wanted to play with her food.

I got an A in that class.
And the cinnamon shadows story lives on.





Comments

3 responses to “Me And My Cinnamon Shadow”

  1. Ooooh, sounds like a great art piece! Love the cinnamon shadows. So imaginative!!!

    Just love
    //kelly

  2. That's awesome 😉 I once dumped a huge pack of cinnamon.. At least it vacuums up easy! The art project you write about sounds awesome, maybe something we can do with the girls this summer 😉

  3. It was a HUGE box of cinnamon, which cost plenty….and you were DANCING in it….Must have been subliminal inspiration for the potatoes piece. AT least the kitchen smelled great for a while!

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