The “make something” prompt for day 296 of 365: “Go someplace where you would normally never do something creative and work there today.”

After nearly 300 days of making things, the idea that a particular location would somehow be off limits or at least an unexpected place for creating … well, it seems absurd. I’ve reached the point where there is no wrong time, no wrong place, no wrong way to create.

Even so, some places are easier than others.

This evening I met a friend for dinner. After taking care of the day’s business and running kids where they needed to be, we both had time to sit at a nearby restaurant, nibble on a couple appetizers, and share a bottle of wine. She’s aware of my daily creative efforts and was willing to contribute, even though the restaurant’s high-top table was, perhaps, an unlikely space for collaborative artistry.

But more than willing, she was eager. In fact, as I reached for my purse to pay my half of the check, she started digging through her purse and tossing items on the table. Beaded lanyard, sewing kit, Lactaid tablets, exercise band, several candies, a dreidel …

I countered with expired medication, tattered bandage, red pen, nearly empty compact, a Santa Claus nail file …

We laughed at how even our purses reveal our religious diversity, then marveled at just how non-essential are so many of the items we carry around. As I reached for a business card to add to the heap, I remembered that some of my cards bear a Picasso quote:

“Art is the elimination of the unnecessary.”

Yeah? Not this time, Pablo. We opted to arrange our unnecessaries into a sort of tables scape. The resulting art tells a story of two friends sharing the ordinary contents of their lives. And if that’s not necessary, I don’t know what is.