But we all have a home, don't we?

The other day I was talking with one of my bests about art and what we've been making. I said I am really into drawing/ making images of houses. This stems from childhood experiences as well as my travels and just looking around at my city and my neighborhood. Cleveland is jam packed with incredible houses in all states of endearing-to-saddening disrepair. One of my favorites is on East 55th, built about 12" away from a big ass ivy-encrusted church. You have to really look when you drive by to see the separation. It may not even be a house anymore, but it was a home at one time. 

I showed her a shirt I painted with bleach that I made while an animal jaw was soaking. (I found the bones on the beach and wanted them to be clean and sterile, had a couple brushes soaking in another jar...voila...).  The scene on the shirt is very similar to what I've been sending as postcards for a couple months as well as what I draw when I doodle. Houses, quilts, plants, water, sky, sea life, patterns. But she informs me, to be helpful- not in a snarky way at all, that someone else is "doing houses" right now and I'll no doubt be compared if I choose to show. I haven't shown in probably two years and so what if I did?, I wondered aloud. The "house" as thematic vision or otherwise isn't a new visoinary invention! For quite awhile now I avoid art exhibits, particularly opening nights. 

It's okay with me if someone else is creating art based on the subject of house and home. if it's not okay with someone else, well that's okay with me, too.