The magic of finding treasure

'The job of the artist is to find treasure in the trash,' says mentor Jamie Catto - or words to that effect.

This really struck a chord with me. I am always interested in the discarded, the lost and the overlooked.

As such, I am often unconsciously scanning the ground for little nuggets of inspiration. Foil hearts, missing earrings, foreign coins, pretty feathers, crushed flowers – these sorts of things turn up often. I'll have a little ponder about the stories behind these objects, and sometimes, this will lead to new ideas for creative projects. 

Recently, a small card blew across my path. In the sunlight, I saw a tiny painting of a luminous figure. So I stooped and picked it up. I turned the card over and was intrigued to find that this was the business card of an artist who is based in Los Angeles. Later that night, I looked her up on the internet, and I felt an affinity with the work – as if it came from a similar world to the creatures that inhabit my own imagination.

So I fired off an email, to see if this artist happened to be visiting my town.

A day or so later, I received a reply:

Hello Pearl,
What a lovely email to receive! I am not certain how my card ended up in your town, but am tickled that it did. I myself have not made it out to the UK just yet, but I like that a piece of my art has.
It's lovely to "meet" you. I looked at your website - what charming, delightful and strange work (strange in the best kind of way...). Glad our paths crossed, after looking through your website, I feel as if we are kindred spirits. I've signed up for your email list, and would like to stay in touch. One can never have too many artist or magic friends!

All the best,
Liz

This is the first time a found object has led me to 'meeting' a new person, and I think this is rather wonderful! 

Pearl