A Switch Worth Savoring

The theme this month at a local art group’s competition was “California.” I found a painting that was sort of between realism and abstraction and I said to myself, “Oh what the heck, I’ll bring a painting and see what happens.”

Just before I left for the meeting, my husband looked at the painting I picked and he said he liked it better upside down. I hadn’t thought of showing it that way, but by golly, it looked like a mountain or a bridge and a whole lot more intriguing than a lake house on the water as I had originally envisioned it.

Surprisingly, I tied for Third Place with painter, Deboarh Macias, in the competition that was voted on by all attendees.

I went home to tell my husband he wouldn’t believe what happened. We had a good laugh because I was such a skeptic about even bringing a piece to show since this particular group is so oriented to realism while I lean towards abstraction.

The new way of looking at my own painting showed me that it’s never too late to change the orientation of a painting and see it a different way.

And upside down just might win an award.