Plays Well With Others

As I continue to diligently update this blog daily ["...?"] to keep you all abreast of up-to-the-minute developments ["... um ..."], I figured I'd share this little project from late this December ["...oh, sarcasm."].  I did something that I never thought would be possible - I collaborated on an art project with my wife, and refrained from prompting the apocalypse!  Heather had the idea to make a painting for our good friends Mike and Mark as a Christmas gift.  I was naturally skeptical.  Considering the last time we tried to co-write a song together it resulted in more hours of damage control and apologies than were put into the arrangement, I had my trepidation about our ability to collaborate on an art project (rather, I had my trepidation on MY ability to collaborate on a visual art project with a non-visual artist and not try to micromanage it and end up doing it all myself, thereby making said non-visual artist extremely ticked off!)  Factor in the fact that it was December 23rd when we started this Christmas project, and my projections were bleak.  I even consulted artist Jaqueline Humphries during a studio visit, having mentioned a collaborative video-painting she did with her husband.  She affirmed that it was indeed both extremely successful artistically and extremely trying relationally!

But, believe it or not, we actually did it!!

Below you'll see the product, incorporating paint and collage (my wife's preferred medium) in a mutually designed composition that pulls together many of the things that comprise our relationship with them.  And believe it or not, she did do some painting and I did do some collaging, making it as much a true collaboration as you could ask for!   But most astoundingly, when we worked on it, there was nothing but merriment in the air!  (To make up for it, we argued about nearly everything else outside of this project for the two days or so we spent on it!) 

So let that be a lesson to all you skeptics out there:  it IS possible to team up with your spouse on an artistic collaboration and still be happily married afterwards!  ...It just takes quite a bit of intentionality.