(My Place in the World by Rebecca Sentgeorge)
Is the definition of crazy doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results? Not for artist Rebecca Sentgeorge. She has found that there are certain things that resonate with her and repeatedly draw her in. One thing that keeps appearing in her work is a particular rooster cookie jar originally belonging to her grandmother. When Sentgeorge was a child, that cookie jar was always filled with cookies. Maybe she sees it as a symbol of love, or a sweet reminiscence of childhood — or perhaps that cookie jar just calls to her due to her love of cookies. Whatever it is, over the years Sentgeorge has returned to that cookie jar multiple times. It has appeared in a few monoprints, a watercolor or two and in a mixed media piece. It just keeps cropping up every few years. Sentgeorge says, “My grandmother’s cookie jar resonates with me. Others might see a still life with a vintage cookie jar, but to me it has life and connection.”
Several topics have drawn her in and been repeated over and over again, sometimes spanning years between creations. Once, she did ten different artworks based on marbles belonging to her favorite aunt. Sentgeorge said that she was fascinated by the way the shadows from the marbles glowed with colors, reminding her of the light coming through a cathedral stained glass window. People might have joked that she’d lost her marbles, but she knew better. Some things are worth repeating.
The examples could go on and on. Most recently, she has been drawn to the quail that populate her backyard. A pair of quail has appeared in her art several times, as tromp l’oeil mural above her door, on a painting with fallen leaves, in a monoprint and in a mixed media piece titled, Birds of a Feather, recently on display at RiverSea Gallery in Astoria.
So, is Rebecca Sentgeorge crazy to keep doing the same thing over and over again? You be the judge. She says “Not.” Each piece ends with a different result and that is not the definition of crazy; that’s the definition of creativity.
Rebecca Sentgeorge is a member of the Watercolor Society of Oregon and the High Desert Art League.
rsentgeorge.carbonmade.com • highdesertartleague.com/rebecca-sentgeorge