Reimagine the Existing

There is a quote I have always loved: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” It’s usually attributed to Theodore Roosevelt, but it feels more like what my mother would say while turning leftover vegetables into a surprisingly good soup.

This little motto pretty much sums up how I live and create. I have always enjoyed making things from whatever happens to be around — food, clothes, art, gifts. There’s something deeply satisfying about using what I already have. Not because I am trying to be frugal or virtuous, but because it is fun. And because it keeps me from falling into the “buy more stuff” trap that the world loves so much. It's a quiet rebellion against overconsumption — and it feels good.

My studio is full of things that probably look like “nothing special” to anyone else — little treasures collected over the years, the kinds of items that can’t be bought because they have no real market value. But they have creative potential, which is far more exciting.

The artwork for this blog is a perfect example.

Many months ago, I painted some blue winter trees… and then promptly decided I didn’t like them. I put the sketch into my “unfinished, undecided, not-sure-what-to-do-with-you” folder. While I was thinking about this blog, I pulled the piece out of the folder and thought - OK, let’s see if I can do something.

So I added a girl in a swirling night-sky dress, a glowing moon, a bird, and a small blue fox sitting at her feet, looking up at her like she knows something the girl doesn’t. Suddenly, the abandoned sketch had a story, simply because I gave it another chance.

Maybe that’s the real power of this philosophy. It simply asks us to begin with whatever is already in our hands — and trust that something good can come from it.

So perhaps, next time, when you are scratching your head about what to do...

• Make a meal from what’s in the fridge.

• Make a gift from what’s in your cupboard.

• Make art from something you almost threw away.

You might find that “what you have” isn’t just enough — it’s exactly right.