I had some centering issues with the 'zine cover, so they'll be sent out Monday; I'm spending the weekend painting, stamping, and collaging the envelopes, as well as addressing them. ;) Hopefully, it won't be as sweltering tomorrow!
I'm slowly returning to the land of the two-armed. It doesn't hurt as much to type, paint, or write, so I've been taking small spaces of time to work on things...small little projects that can be completed in short amounts of time so I feel accomplished. My journal has a few new entries, and a few more pages in-progress, and my book for Michelle's just about finished.
My journal entries have become more personal lately, in that the imagery isn't just there to be pretty, but has meaning. I love how I've progressed as an artist to this point, where I can see an image and apply it to how I'm feeling. My mother asked me to explain my pages, and I actually could. That amazed and thrilled me. It's taken awhile, but I've finally found my voice -- and made it strong.
Lately, I've been itching to make altered art pendants. I'd buy Sally Jeans' "Pretty Little Things" if I weren't so poor right now (being off work for two weeks does that to you, or rather, your bank account!), so I'm kinda going it on my own. There were some in a cute shop I visited a few weeks ago that ended up being $25 each, to which I said, "I could make my own."
Well...I don't have much experience with jewelry. My mother beads, making fantastic belts and headbands with Navajo beads collected in her youth, but me? Not so much. Remember...I'm relatively new to this art thing.
I THINK I got the right materials. And when I got home, I made these two beautiful mirror pendants. Yes, they're tiny mirrors with vintage roses in them. They're delicate, as they're prototypes, but they're so fun and pretty....I have MANY more images to throw in there. And wire and glitter and all sorts of things. I knew I'd gotten it right when I went to take a picture from above with flash and got a huge lens flare.
*grins* I'm planning for my first class in my new mini-binder, going through all the techniques and such I use in order to journal and trying to work them out into teachable chunks.
Next up, the empty cigar boxes in the garage. I can't wait to get my hands on them and transform them into pretty purses or storage boxes. Being as I can't do much, I've spent waaay too much time online looking at photos...I found fantastic ones of interiors and now want to re-do my entire room with lace and afghans and wallpaper scraps. There are already pieces of art all over the place....now I need to do something pretty with the empty space! Or paint!
And last weekend, my sister-in-law commissioned a HUGE painting for her bedroom! She saw this piece of mine sitting in the foyer and loved it; she said she'd love to have something like it in her bedroom, then said she'd like it about 22"x32". I'm going to have to get some new paint; perhaps I can find the colors I need at Home Depot, in the oops! paint. They sell those for $1 a quart -- that'd be more than enough! I can just imagine standing outside, bare feet brushing a drop cloth as I swish paint across a canvas in the sunlight.
Hey -- a girl can dream, right? And if recent events have proven anything, it's that they can come true.