Wow. What a weekend!
My laptop didn't want to load the drivers for my printer, something I needed to work as I'm doing final layout edits for the Page by Page 'zine, so I decided to go ahead and re-install Mac OSX (yes, I am a hard-core Mac girl!). Well, let's just say it didn't go smoothly, the back-ups or the installation, and I was out of a computer from Friday until this morning.
Okay, fine. I can just work on art, right?
Nope. My shoulder injury from the car accident a few weeks ago has gotten bad enough that painting for more than five minutes is very painful, so I got wild colors and a few layers of gesso down in an hour period before grumbling in frustration and trading my brush for a pen to doodle with.
But all is well, now! With little to do yesterday, I cleaned my room and re-did my art area. It's now all organized and no longer strewn about my floor in a haphazard, oh-my-god-i'm-going-to-die way. I figured, as I'm out of gel medium, that I'd use beeswax, and didn't think having one square foot of my desk free to work with hot wax was a good idea.
While cleaning, I found a beautiful wood frame just begging to have some pretty art in it, so I took an hour last night and made a simple collage on a 4x6 index card.
This smaller format was easier to work on as it didn't take many strokes to cover the entire card. I
managed to not only paint one background, but two -- I disliked where the piece was going about halfway through and so coated the entire thing in a light turquoise. Thanks to Nancy, I have discovered and purchased punchella, something I'd never heard of before but am loving for the fun pattern you can make. Ooo...I should combine it with bubble wrap and go polka-dot crazy!
Ahem. Anyway. I also got some joss paper, something I've wanted forever but never could justify the cost. I knew I wanted to use both of my pretty new supplies in the collage, as well as some dollar ribbon I grabbed at Michael's earlier in the day. There's actually two layers of ribbon on there, as I started with one and then saw it didn't really fit.
This girl sits on my desk and guards my dreams. The joss paper, traditionally used at Buddhist funerals, symbolizes that she's not a living entity -- that I can't rely on those around me to cheer me on at all times and guard my dreams. She's part of me, that part that says screw it all and go for it. As a child, she's free from the judgmental voices in my head. She reminds me of what I'm working towards and gives me the confidence to do so.
I do hope you all have a great day. I, unfortunately, have gotten the flu in the summer, and am snuggled in a nice comfy chair watching crappy daytime TV. It's a good combination for doodling in my journal. ;)
If you haven't pre-ordered Page by Page, go do so! I'll be closing the pre-orders on Friday. After that, you'll have to pay the full $6 for a copy. And oh yeah....I found out I can do more of it in color. :)
<3 kira