In The
Blood
36”w x 36”h
Collage: acrylic, paper, photos, ink,
on wood panel
Inspiration can come from many places: A dream, a passion, a fear, a joy. A scene, a person, a personal event, a world event. A color, a pattern, an object, a phrase.
For this artwork, it came from a song. When I heard “In The Blood” by John Mayer, I thought ‘hmmm, there might be something here’.
Although I don’t share his worry that I’ve inherited a disfunctional approach to love, my creative ears did perk up at the synchronicity of our concepts:
How much of my mother has my mother left in me? How much of my father am I destined to become. Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
My mother’s parents came to the United States from Denmark, and can trace genetic links to the Viking era. Given the propensity for the Vikings to sail out and conquer new lands (aka raping and pillaging), I imagine there are many people with such genetic links.
What causes some people to become explorers, to leave the comfort (or discomfort) of everything they know and embrace uncertainty and danger to seek something new? Why did my Grandparents leave the gorgeous seaside farmland of Illerisøre Denmark to take their chances in America?
I read an interesting article about ADHD, an inheritable trait linked to creativity, and its role in history. Scientists have found that the farther a group’s ancestors migrated, the higher the prevalence of the gene variant in that population. It’s no surprise to me that I was diagnosed with this “disorder”. I struggle with it every day, but I am also graced by its benefits.
On a sea of blood the Viking ships brought me a genetic dopamine variant. Across an ocean on a steamship, my grandparents brought me my curiosity...and a restless creative mind.
For this artwork, it came from a song. When I heard “In The Blood” by John Mayer, I thought ‘hmmm, there might be something here’.
Although I don’t share his worry that I’ve inherited a disfunctional approach to love, my creative ears did perk up at the synchronicity of our concepts:
How much of my mother has my mother left in me? How much of my father am I destined to become. Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
My mother’s parents came to the United States from Denmark, and can trace genetic links to the Viking era. Given the propensity for the Vikings to sail out and conquer new lands (aka raping and pillaging), I imagine there are many people with such genetic links.
What causes some people to become explorers, to leave the comfort (or discomfort) of everything they know and embrace uncertainty and danger to seek something new? Why did my Grandparents leave the gorgeous seaside farmland of Illerisøre Denmark to take their chances in America?
I read an interesting article about ADHD, an inheritable trait linked to creativity, and its role in history. Scientists have found that the farther a group’s ancestors migrated, the higher the prevalence of the gene variant in that population. It’s no surprise to me that I was diagnosed with this “disorder”. I struggle with it every day, but I am also graced by its benefits.
On a sea of blood the Viking ships brought me a genetic dopamine variant. Across an ocean on a steamship, my grandparents brought me my curiosity...and a restless creative mind.
︎ how much of my mother has my mother left in me....
My mother grew up on a potato farm in Idaho. At a time when most women couldn’t expand their horizons beyond being a wife and mother, her curiosity led her to become a stewardess in the newly blossoming airline industry of the 1940s. She loved traveling to new places and learning new things. She also loved to create. Sitting by her side, crafting and painting and decorating, are some of my fondest memories.
︎ the longship
Norse sagas have described the Viking longship in detail: the square red & white sails (the colors of blood and bone) made from woven wool, and prow heads carved in the likenesses of fearsome beasts.
︎ in the blood
~John Mayer
How much of my mother has my mother left in me?
How much of my love will be insane to some degree?
And what about this feeling that I'm never good enough?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
How much of my father am I destined to become?
Will I dim the lights inside me just to satisfy someone?
Will I let this woman kill me, or do away with jealous love?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
I can feel love the I want, I can feel the love I need
But it's never gonna come the way I am
Could I change it if I wanted, can I rise above the flood?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
How much like my brothers, do my brothers wanna be?
Does a broken home become another broken family?
Or will we be there for each other, like nobody ever could?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
I can feel love the I want, I can feel the love I need
But it's never gonna come the way I am
Could I change it if I wanted, could I rise above the flood?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
Source: LyricFind
Songwriter: John Mayer
In The Blood lyrics © Reach Music Publishing
~John Mayer
How much of my mother has my mother left in me?
How much of my love will be insane to some degree?
And what about this feeling that I'm never good enough?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
How much of my father am I destined to become?
Will I dim the lights inside me just to satisfy someone?
Will I let this woman kill me, or do away with jealous love?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
I can feel love the I want, I can feel the love I need
But it's never gonna come the way I am
Could I change it if I wanted, can I rise above the flood?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
How much like my brothers, do my brothers wanna be?
Does a broken home become another broken family?
Or will we be there for each other, like nobody ever could?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
I can feel love the I want, I can feel the love I need
But it's never gonna come the way I am
Could I change it if I wanted, could I rise above the flood?
Will it wash out in the water, or is it always in the blood?
Source: LyricFind
Songwriter: John Mayer
In The Blood lyrics © Reach Music Publishing