When our class was assigned to sketch and discuss a James Rosenquist painting, I went along with the program and searched the museum for ‘my special picture.’ I took the elevator to the top and winded my way all the way to the lobby; the picture I finally choose, "Bird of Paradise Approaches the Hot Water Planet" (1989) , was right next to the elevator at the top, making my long journey pointless. Never the less, I picked out that painting above others, and sketched it. The poised crane, quivering as it shakes off crystal drops of water. The mysterious red sea and orange sun; the full plush flower and shards of faces. I noted these features down in my notebook, and cleared them from my mind.

I kept the ideas of Rosenquist, but added my own style. Consider the following: Rosenquist made what he thought was a bird of paradise, while I used a ceramic statue of one, a bird of paradise flower, and the face of a woman dressed up as a bird of paradise. Rosenquist took the face of supermodels and broke them into shards, but I used the bird costume lady, a Star Wars villain, and a character from an online game. All of these images are laid out on my own version of the Rosenquist background. I had my own computer generated whirlpool, and a scientifically accurate galaxy (as opposed to Rosenquist’s yellow disk). As for animating, the ceramic bird twirls in perpetual flight, always approaching but never reaching the planet. Orchids lazily dance across the water, seemingly undisturbed by the whirlpool. And Shiva the Indian god dances in a circle on the paradise flower, doing his funky creation/destruction dance.

I can only imagine what Rosenquist would do if he could animate his art.