Melanie Rothschild: The Art of Mistakes

Several years ago I spilled a whole gallon of paint in my workshop and it pretty much changed my life. It seemed too messy to clean the wet paint at the time and I figured I’d let it dry for a few days and then chip it off bit by bit. When I came back to it later in the week I was amazed when the entire spill, now all dry, peeled up in one glorious piece. I actually became obsessed with deliberately pouring paint, letting it dry and peeling it up. I also became obsessed with the whole idea of how mistakes lead to new ideas. This all led to a book I’ve written on the entire topic: The Art of Mistakes: Unexpected Painting Techniques and the Practice of Creative Thinking. (out in October, 2014, F+W Media)

While peeling up an entire gallon of dried paint sounds incredibly gratifying to the touch, Melanie’s experience serves as an inspirational reminder that our path in life is never as straight as we try to make it out to be, and that “setbacks” along the way can be a catalyst for new ideas and adventures. Also, I’ve never thought of dried, peeled up paint as an artistic medium, so I’m very grateful that Melanie is sharing that with the world as well.

Keep an eye out for Melanie’s book, The Art of Mistakes: Unexpected Painting Techniques and the Practice of Creative Thinking (F+W Media), coming out later this year. In the meantime, check out her website and go spill some paint.