Go With the Accidents

I keep a folder on my desktop for outtakes, photos I have taken by accident because my thumb bumped the "button" on my iPhone while I was trying to juggle half a dozen things. I keep them because, in some cases, they are more interesting than the intentional shots I have taken of my artwork. The image here is in that folder.

I keep these bloopers, not just because they are interesting, but because they remind me to go with the accidents. Trite? Maybe. Platitude? Perhaps. But I don't see the fault in trite sayings or in platitudes. They can carry weight even when they seem light and trivial.

So, go with the accidents. When I'm painting, and I have a direction in mind, but the paint and the tools work together to take me in another direction, I would be wise to mind them. They often know what they're doing.

Here are a few other "accidents."