Drake cuddled with me this morning, his nose huffing breaths onto my neck as we slowly woke up. Then, of course, he leapt off the bed and waited, patiently, for me to let him out. I took some photos of my newest piece -- an impromptu assemblage inspired by collected butterfly wings pinned within their boxes, frozen statues of a once lucious life.
Then, I snuggled into one of the recliners and watched episodes of 'Brotherhood' with my Dad on-demand. Armed with my pencil and stack of pre-cut paper, I doodled and wrote my way through a bunch of pages. I don't know what to call this project -- it's an art journal, I guess, full of prompts, drawings, and backgrounds. I haven't been this excited about a project in a loooooong time, and went against my no-working-on-Sundays rule to work on it.
I then sojoured to the bookstore to check out magazines, Keri Smith's How to Be an Explorer of the World, and grab a copy of 2008 The Best American Non-Required Reading. I've been grabbing a copy of that every year for three years and got a few back-copies in bargan sections over the years. It's my absolute favorite, and I look forward to it every year....full of fun, interestingness, non-fiction, and breathtaking fiction, it's an amazing collection of work from all over the place. I remember one year, they had the Iraqi constitution. That was a real eye-opener. I'm currently working my way through The Best Kurt Vonnegut lines. It's a real treat since I'm at that point in my starving artist carieer where I'm almost starving and can't even afford a cheap cup of coffee.
After reading for a bit, it was back up into the studio, where I put on my new (to me) apron. I love how it looks quilted, and the way the colors overlap it like wearing a color chart for additive layers with glaze. The pile on the floor is to the right of my chair (the floor mat you see is for my computer desk across the way), and has all sorts of stuff in it. I tend to start accumulating things in piles next to me as I get working. Wearing the apron with the peasant skirt always gives me glee and makes me think of Laura Ingalls Wilder.
I think one of the reasons I'm loving this project so much is that I get to make backgrounds. I LOVE making backgrounds, or "artist's papers." Here are a few I've made already...I planned on having eight in the journals I'll be binding, but I've been having so much fun, who knows how many I'll make!
There's me sitting at my painting table reflected in the window. It's dark dark dark outside! The pile of papers to the right is leftover scraps from when my nieces spent the day creating with me.
And now, I'm relaxing, writing, and watching 'The Amazing Race.' How was your Sunday?