I thought going into this shoot that it would be dubious at best to pull off the shot I was after. Patience is a virtue that my Father relinquished long ago. Upon viewing the results it was more than I had dreamed possible.....I cried, simple as that.

This painting "Peligro" is a prime example of when my vision "opened up". I had only been painting for about a year, stuff like portraits and landscapes. At the time, early 2005 I was working in a sign shop as a sign painter and installer. The shop played an instrumental role and influence in how my work was going to come out. I was working on a project that required me to "weed" vinyl to then apply it to a sign board. Weeding is wear you remove all the vinyl that is not necessary for application to the sign. Usually you just wad up the sticky vinyl into a ball and trash it. But the pieces I was removing looked kind of cool, like ducks (these pieces actually were from the vinyl drop shadow remnants), so instead of trashing it I arranged it on the table. I weeded some more, and arranged then some more, until I saw a picture of some ducks that looked like they just crossed a stream or river. In the background it looked as if smokestacks were there. I decided to take a pic with my camera phone to save this completely random occurence. Took the pic home and decided to elaborate on it by doing some drawing. Came up with a cool idea that I had to paint. Also at the time, my grandpa had passed away, and his wife(step grandma) was left alone in their big house. She had to move away, leaving me with their house to use as a studio, while the handymen worked on the place to get it ready to rent out. A nice space also adds as a benefit to creativity. At this house by the trash was a 3x4 painted on canvas with a frame. Hello, couid this get any better? This happened to be the canvas I was going to use for the project. I had to scrape off the huge wasp nest that was built to the back of the canvas before starting. Anyhow this was the first large scale work I had attempted, and was also the first painting where I tapped into a source of creativity that I didnt know I had. This work stems from waste, and its fitting that the piece is about waste. The piece also includes waste, as in the canvas itself, and the dried up acrylic paint scraps peeled from my palette, then glued to the surface. I dont like to flatter myself with talk of "Masterpieces", but this work is perfect example of when an artist reaches a place of understanding of things that are not obvious to others.

Oh Stuart, I am familiar with your new wonderful photograph and its touching backstory.  Powerful stuff.  I'm sure the ACCIDENT was the unexpected ENORMITY of emotion your photo evoked... in the viewer, in the subject AND in the creator!  Who knew?! 

Wow Bill!  You might win the prize so far for having the biggest ACCIDENT!  Stream-of-consciousness, refuse, serendipity and unexpected opportunity all collide into your fabulous, whimsically surreal painting.  A very strong unusual image, too!  Love it!  Cartoon industry or industrial cartoon?  What came first, the duck or the egg?  Ha!

P.S. Congrats again on the Ovation My Art spot!

Hey Scott, I personally think you have EVERY right to call this a MASTERPIECE!  It's fantastic!  I truly admire this kind of abstraction!  I love the little moments of surrealist modeling (reminds me of Dali a bit - it's that good) and the type that runs throughout.  Were there any ACCIDENTS you'd like to share about this piece?

I'll share one more ACCIDENTAL "MASTERPIECE" before dinner.  DALI AS CARDINAL RICHELIEU was a nonsense ball point drawing in my ruled loose leaf(!) sketchbook.  The paper was hardly optimum and there were tons of doodles, stains and phone numbers surrounding this strange portrait.  I wanted to rescue it and present it SOMEHOW.  I mulled it over for a couple weeks... and I kept coming back to tearing or burning the paper and extending the rules with sewing thread.  The floating frame presentation became part of the originally unplanned plan because of the irregular shape.  I also didn't want to use an expensive custom mat.  This ACCIDENT became very popular and was a completely unexpected way to exhibit and sell a lot of my sketchbook artwork.  Who knew this would turn into something?!  You'll notice that this "rescue" sewing thread technique has now become intentional in many of my drawings.

I don't think I have an accidental masterpiece...unfortunately...but I think those posted here are GREAT!!!!!!

I think maybe the closest I've come to getting a rare/accidental moment captured was at a rodeo. I was taking a photo of a horse and rider just as they announced he had come in second place. The dejection was obvious in the riders body language and amazingly...the horse had the same look of dejection as if it knew they had not won 1st prize. Not a masterpiece of photography...but a rare moment captured that I absolutely love.

                                                                                           "Runner Up"

Great discussion MIKE!

Mark

Masterpiece?  Hardly.

But the story may be interesting, or instructive (for me at least.)  When I first posted this photo, several people whose opinions I respect praised it for the way the droplets on the lens added to the picture.  And it does seem to have received more views than most of my photographs.

But the sad truth is, at the time what I was thinking was more like: "Damn!  Water drops on the lens.  This picture's going to be ruined."  And I packed up the camera after this one and went home.

Thanks Ent...and I totally understand that....my problem with it is..if a professor gives you a "C"...you can ask him to explain why. I don't know what I did wrong in the photo...and whoever rated it low didn't give an explanation. So it's not really a benefit to me at all in helping me understand what the problem is. For all I know...they don't like horses...lol.

They don't shoot horses do they?   LOL

Mark

I took a 12 year hiatus from art. This is the first piece I did upon returning to it. I was no where near this level of accomplishment when I left it all behind in or around 1997.

I've also been fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time with my camera.