Forgotten Art Rediscovered

"Hilton Head Ducks" pastel drawing ©Mary Montague Sikes

Seeing three of the remaining ducks (that have escaped the alligators) on the lagoon from our balcony in Hilton Head reminded me of this pastel I created a few years ago of ducks on the same lagoon. The pastel on paper was forgotten, filed away in an art drawer in my studio closet.

"Hilton Head Ducks 2013 photo ©Mary Montague Sikes

Rediscovering a forgotten piece of art is like finding an unexpected treasure in the sand on a beach. Print-makers uncover forgotten treasures in their art archives more often than painters, I suspect. Things hidden in long metal drawers are harder to find than canvases stacked inside wooden dividers. A print-maker friend once told me that depositing her prints in drawer files was like putting money in the bank. She could pull the work out later as her reputation grew and her art gained in value.

Writers might also delight in discoveries of forgotten work in books, diaries, and computer files. Sometimes the old is new again. I read recently that you can make your work more interesting if you set it in the 1980s. I have work written then. Do you?

Rediscovering forgotten work--art, photos, writing--can be fun and inspiring. Take a look in your files and in your closets. See what you find there.