- Introduction:
Explanation Of Content - Section One:
Elaborated Version Of "The Theory Of Artistic Relativity". - Section Two:
Elaborated Version Of The Theory's First Derivational Category Of Art, "Psychotic Symbolism". - Section Three:
"Let Us Not Forget!" - The "Artistic Tragedy" Of A Great Artist. - Section Four:
Condensed Version Of The Theory And Category As Copyrighted In 1985. - Section Five:
The Symbolism Of "The Moth"
6. Section Five:
The Symbolism of "The Moth"
Artists must always keep their creative powers on at all times, for at any given moment an inspiration may occur. Sometimes inspiration is hard to find, but sometimes it comes right up to you and "stares you right in your face"! Such is the case with the story of "The Moth". It was "inspiration" that literally stared me in the face. It was one of those occurrences in life that you could not just pass off as "normal". In creative artistic fashion, it was a "Vuja De" moment. As they say nowadays, PRICELESS!
Just around midnight on a warm fall night, I was sitting in front of my pergola that I built by hand all by myself (the one built according to "the greatest pergola one could build by hand all by oneself theory") sipping a fine nine dollar bottle of wine, waiting for some "inspiration" to occur. The pergola is massive and heavy looking and is big enough to house a long picnic table underneath it. It reminds me of an ancient temple. It is surrounded by three sides of beautiful perennial flowers and weeping crab apple trees, along with hanging baskets of flowers inside. In front of the pergola on the open side is a brick patio with four Adirondack type chairs and a cast iron "fire pit". Light a fire, sip some wine, gaze at the stars, then ambience takes over and "inspiration" soon comes. Sometimes it flies in unexpectedly!
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a rather large moth flying about by the garage light that poetically lights up most of the area. Suddenly, "The Moth" makes its way towards me and hovers a few inches away in front of my eyes, and stays there for a long period of time! So close, I can see little feelers and eyes! I sip the wine as the minutes go by. Wow, isn’t this something unusual. Eventually, it flies away and I don’t give it much thought. The next night under the same pretense, it comes back and hovers close again! Now this qualifies as a "Vuja De" moment (my way of saying Déjà vu). How strange, yet fascinating. I have a new companion! It flies away again after a long time before my eyes. Once, not much thought. Twice, you start thinking about it. The third day under the same pretense, (you got it!) its back……with a slightly smaller friend! We can start a club! They are flying up by the light. Will my new companion come down? Yes, it comes down and hovers close to my eyes, but it does not stay long. It goes back to its friend by the light. Rule number one, a good "wing" man never leaves their friends alone and unattended.
But three times? Someone said the moth was attracted by the aroma of the wine. Hey, any moth that likes wine is a friend of mine! I felt the need to honor "The Moth" by incorporating a moth in my artwork. The first colored pencil drawing I subsequently executed (titled "The Reign of Petals"), I put "The Moth" in amongst some floating petals to somewhat hide it. The second colored pencil drawing I subsequently executed (titled "The Flaunt of Egotistical Trees"), I incorporated it to somewhat covering my signature (I really don’t like putting my name on my works and affecting the picture’s "balance"). Then, after another inspirational moment under the same pretense at the pergola, I came up with the idea to use the moth "symbol" INSTEAD of my signature! I thought, "How ingenious is that?" (I’m cut off!) Well, probably this has been done before, but not with this much "class"! (I’m feeling it now!) Now, each work will have that certain extra creative artistic statement (or your typical extra creative artistic "insane" idea) we artists like to impose to keep everyone thinking. The third work I subsequently executed was an acrylic painting (titled "The Sinister Shadows of Psychotic Trees") and there was no signature at all, just "The Moth" in its place. So it’s a "keeper"! Unless, under the same pretense, a bat lands on my shoulders and we have to "up-grade"!
