Seattle Skyline, April 2011 by Tommia Wright

too many choices. That’s one of the observations of the transformation of a puzzle, from ‘mess-in-the-box’ to ‘picture-on-the-table.’ First measure of success would be establishing the border, to frame the remaining wandering pieces, contain a proper fit for the image to emerge. Some pieces are obvious fits, others take forever for their place to be found.

Then again, puzzle solving isn’t unlike creating a story. So many pieces to find a proper fit, so many choices to be made. Today, made the wonderful discovery of a workshop at artEAST thanks to my friend ‘chatty Kathy.’ The instructor, brought a bag of tricks to stir the imagination to get the pen flowing across the paper. Some of those prompts included:

• an assortment of watches of different makes, models, sizes
• a collection of maps from various parts of the country, different gas stations, different decades.
• a series of common phrases mentioned in rapid succession within five minutes.
• everyone receiving a copy of the same photo.

These prompts resulted in a variety of story segments as different as the authors behind the words. There was the option of creating separate scenes for each prompt or stringing them together for a longer piece. The encouragement and creativity was fun. To try and attend another workshop by the energetic instructor ranks high on my ‘to do’ list. Discovering another pocket of creative energy not far from home – it never hurts to venture into the neighboring town.

What will happen to the scribbling from today is hard to say. Some revision is definitely required. New characters made their presence known, a few timepieces tick-tocked a new life, providing a means of traveling in time. The maps dared that a new direction be taken. Listening to conversations in progress might add odd ideas for later. And now that a collection of photos have been found (mind spinning on creating a new stash of sorts) – a picture’s worth a thousand words.

(Sigh). Too many pieces, too many choices, never too much fun to be had.