Staying open to surprises.

Hello hello,

Have you ever made a huge mistake, only to have the mistake lead to an even more wonderful surprise than you expected in the first place?

I imagine you have, and in many different circumstances, too. Well, I made a huge "mistake" on a painting this week, or series of "mistakes" I should say: first, I used a water-soluble ink instead of my indelible India ink; second, I forgot to lay down a layer of medium on top of the ink before adding another layer of watercolor paint. Whoops. What resulted was a bit of messy, streaky ink mixed with my pigments. Instead of tossing the whole piece into my file of scrap paper, I decided to keep working with it. And am I ever glad that I did! After letting the ink-paint smear dry out, I went back to the piece. Now, I like it more than I did before I messed it up! I love life's ways of reminding us of the power and inspiration that open minds and hearts can offer.
Here is the piece!



Now, I love this mistake so much I don't even want to part with it.