Become a beast

The story behind this piece

Become a Beast. Learn to Tame It is one of the more unusual works in the Perfectly Imperfect collection because it didn't start as a mirror and it wasn't built with spray paint. Underneath it is a canvas that was originally somebody else's artwork. I found it at a garage sale, brought it home, and lived with it on my wall for a couple years. It was overlooked, a little warped, and clearly headed toward being forgotten for good.

Then the right frame showed up and it changed the whole feel. Around the same time, I heard a phrase that stopped me in my tracks: become a beast and learn to tame it. The idea hit because it isn't about becoming dangerous for the sake of ego. It is about becoming capable, strong, and prepared, then choosing control. Choosing discipline. Choosing character.

That message lined up with something personal. My daughter and I were into vintage, and I had found a stack of old Boy Scout books from the 80s and 90s. I was a Boy Scout myself and even now, the idea of being prepared still follows me. Those manuals were written to train boys into men who could handle themselves and be useful to others. Mentors and leaders taught from them. We read them. We learned from them.

So the background of this piece is built from those pages. Cut, layered, glued down, sealed over, and turned into texture. It becomes a foundation of old lessons under a new message.

Perfectly Imperfect is about finding value where people stop looking. This piece takes something forgotten, something already made, something slightly damaged, and gives it a second life with a message that matters. Strength with control. Power with purpose. A beast that is trained, not loose.