Those of you who know me well are probably falling out of your chairs laughing. It’s alright. When you’re done, come back and finish reading about my latest little strange activity. Maybe all creative people aren’t strange, though I’m pretty sure most people would think that I am.
I’ve also felt like the square peg that didn’t fit in but at some point in my life that ceased to bother me. It surprised me to see the mention of the square peg/round hole concept in the article I’ve linked to at the end of this post.
Strange even by my standards
Okay. So here’s what got me started on this tangent. While I was putting dishes in the dishwasher yesterday evening, the sunlight hit that golden stage. I looked outside.
Then I noticed a long strand of spider web hanging from the top of the porch ceiling all the way to the floor. You can even see it in this picture I took when I saw it:
The light glinting on that strand seemed like a beacon calling me to DO something with it. Well what? Spider webs aren’t exactly easy to put in a bag and store for later, are they? But I went outside anyway. The impulse was too hard to ignore and I thought I had an idea for how to keep it for later use. What kind of use? I have no idea, but something might come up sooner or later. I have, in fact, had to CREATE a likeness of a spider web before in an instrument like a harp that I’d made for a Forest Folk.
As it turns out, I did find a way to collect it. The strand wasn’t sticky, so that helped a lot. It’s unlikely I could have collected a sticky strand.
I wound the strand onto a plastic pipette. Then I put it in a paper envelope and tucked it away in the special place for all the weird things I like to keep.
There’s a separate box for ‘bones and dead things’. Perhaps I am a bit strange.
Read More
While searching online for a good resource about creative people and weirdness, I found this interesting article from Scientific American:
The Unleashed Mind: Why Creative People Are Eccentric
Highly creative people often seem weirder than the rest of us. Now researchers know why.
By Shelley Carson | This article was published with the title “The Unleashed Mind” in SA Mind Vol. 22 No. 2 (May 2011), p. 22
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Author/Artist Info
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In the summer of 2018 I began making watercolor paints from the rocks, clay, and other resources of our land here in the Ozarks. In 2023 I began experimenting with the same pigments in oils. I call them Wild Ozark Paleo Paints, because they’re made in a way very close to the same way paints were made when man (or woman) first put a hand-print on the wall of a cave. I use very small amounts of outsourced pigment for blue, white, and sometimes yellow to offer a greater range of hues built upon the earthy local pigments. My specialty is painting nature, specifically the nature that surrounds me here in the remote hills of northwest Arkansas.
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Madison Woods
@wildozark (Instagram, Twitter, Threads and FB)
madison@wildozark.com
Want to join me for workshops or see my art?
Coming soon! I have a new Studio in the Works 🙂
The building is here and I’m finishing out the interior. I hope to begin offering classes/workshops by the end of September 2026 and host Open Studio days regularly right here at Wild Ozark, where the possibilities for nature experiences (including nature art) run rampant.
The best way to stay informed is to sign up for my newsletter and check off the box ‘Studio News’ (or whatever is closest to that description). I’m updating there as I meet the goalposts and will announce anything planned as soon as I get firm dates.
