Out with the old, in with the New.

I threw out someone's art today.   

One of my co-workers used to do cleaning for several senior's.  One of those seniors was down-sizing and gave her two large paintings in frames.   My co-worker thought maybe we could use them at the daycare.  They were "stored" behind the couch for a few years and then I was determined to pull them out and use them in some way.  They were about 24" x 48" approximately.  The one picture was on a canvas that had a wooden frame behind it and we were able to pop it out of the frame.  Another co-worker took it home and covered the canvas with an oil based white paint and in that way we recycled the canvas. We went on to allow the toddlers to do their art on it.  Then we hung the empty frame in our patio.   We could hang children's art from it or leave it empty, Reggio style.  We also hung the second frame the same way.   The second canvas was stretched onto a flimsy wooden frame. We did not recycle the second piece of art because, well, because I threw it out.

I was kind of surprised by the thoughts and emotions that came up for me after that. After I threw it out.  After.  

To have all the thoughts before, might have been good. 

I wondered who the artist was?  How old was the painting?  It seemed like a scene that could have been from around here.  Perhaps someone local.  I thought about the gift of creativity that person had and what kind of investment goes into painting a picture of that size.  How long did it take?  Did it bring them pleasure to paint it and look at their finished work?  Was it hard to get oil paints a long time ago?  Did they cost a lot?

 I thought about how we make a decision and then, change our mind, but it's too late to reverse the outcome.  The garbage truck had come and gone.  The reality is, is that storage is always an issue in our daycare and I just couldn't think of where to hang it, or what else to do with it. 

I was also thinking about the importance of living in the moment.   Of using our time wisely and learning from our experiences but perhaps not hanging on to them in a way that hinders us from moving forward.

Whoever you are, you were a gifted artist.  I hope many people got to appreciate your work.  Sorry I threw it out.

Sorry.