I’ve been a fan of Gail’s wonderful Mind Wide Open blog since it began, and haven’t missed a single monthly challenge. Sure, some of the images have been a little more challenging than others, but I always managed to come up with at least one workable idea in the seven days we’re allotted.
Then came this one – the hardest yet. I suspect my brain was less than fully engaged when I first saw this image, because for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what it was.
My first thought was, okay, so Gail has finally gone off the deep end and given us a fuzzy duck with a striped neck. (Why is he looking at me like that? What does he want from me?!)
Eventually I did realize what this is supposed to be (I’d make a great Rorschach test subject, apparently), but it didn’t help matters any. Inspiration was slow in coming, and as the deadline loomed, I began to panic a little. What few ideas I mustered were complete duds. I like working with, as Gail herself put it, “pretty” images, like vintage women and children and flowers and birds.
So, in the end, I kinda cheated. On the last day of the challenge, I came across this hinged wooden box at the thrift store and inspiration struck. I did use the image, so technically I followed the rules of the challenge. Rendering it unrecognizable, however, is probably stretching the rules…maybe just a teeny, tiny bit? But, by golly, I refuse to miss a challenge, no matter what it takes!
(Sorry, Mr. Stripey-Necked Duck.)



































