Going Outside Of The Box And Through The Keyhole

My husband is a very intelligent, linear thinking man. He is an excellent problem solver. However he is prefers to stay safely within site of the box and his comfort zone. He does not possess a natural curiosity about anything that doesn't pertain to his life, and he is not given to fanciful notions. While that's perfectly ok, I am pretty much the polar opposite when it comes to those last points. My thinking is linear, lateral, and sometimes jumps between the two. I don't even know where the box is, and I tossed out my comfort zone years ago in favor of adventures. The result of that is that how my mind works is an absolute mystery to him. He cannot fathom how I can understand M Theory, quantum evolution, and the interlocality of protons in all their complexity and never remember how long to boil spaghetti or where I left my glasses. He doesn't understand why I am always nervous about flying because I don't entirely believe it's possible despite 100% evidence that is, but yet I still secretly believe Santa Claus and the Loch Ness Monster exist out there somewhere.

One afternoon I was out shopping and found a plaque of a large black keyhole. I was utterly enthralled with it, and brought it home. I asked him to hang it up in the foyer for me. He stared at it for a minute, puzzled. You could see his mind working hard to figure out why on earth I would want such a thing hanging in our foyer. But he never said a word and hung it up. He has ignored it's existence ever since, much like many of the curious objects he cannot fathom, that I have placed in our home.

When I was little we lived in an apartment in an old house. It had those lovely old fashioned glass doorknobs with the keyhole escutcheons that needed to be opened with a skeleton key. I loved to peek through them. Now before you go thinking I was a little voyeur, the fact is that I always thought maybe if I peeked through at just the right time I might catch a glimpse of a magical land rarely seen. Of course the keys were mysterious and wondrous objects in and of themselves because if you possessed the key you could surely gain entrance to this land right?

So whenever I go up the stairs I glimpse at the keyhole since we don't have those types of escutcheons anymore. You never know, some day I might look at just the right time. *winks*

I think a lot of people have a fascination for the same things I do, old keys, keyholes and doorknobs, vintage luggage with exotic stickers, bottles, boxes and tins, lockets, and old toys...especially bears of course. These things all hold the promise of a little magic, a little mystery, a little romance and a lot of adventure. They allow us, as artists to think outside the box so that we may create our own magical lands!