This is the cover for my latest journal. The quote is "To dream of the person you would like to be is to waste the person you are," which seemed particularly appropriate for me. That, and my earlier favorite about "her brain travelled crooked streams and aimless goat paths. . . " I'm trying to do a bunch of pages that I can then write on when I want to, going to pages with different moods, depending on the mood that I'm in. It's kind of fun right now, but let's see how long I can stick to it. . . it's certainly more interesting and uplifting than my usual pages of meanderings and whines. Here, I'm limiting myself to a whine per page. And to NOT whining on happier pages. And to making sure that I have a mix of both. "Action is the antidote to despair," is another quote, so I'm taking action to move myself in a more positive direction.  

I'm not as thrilled with the scanned version of this, but I do like how it turned out overall. I've been using GAC in with the acrylics and I like the glazed look that I get in the paints. The composition is better, too, than some of the other things I've been playing around with and haven't scanned. I'm trying to use brighter colors, rather than being so somber. . .  

Some cropping and playing around with "Don't Be So Serious, Little Girl." This, of course, focusing on "Little Girl." I like the faint pink. I used my paint program to digitally copy the word "little" moved it over closer to "girl" and cropped it.  

I LOVE this quote from Toni Morrison. I read it to Darvin and he said, "That sounds like your brain." It is, of course, although Toni makes it sound sort of sweet and harmless. My mental meanderings seem to carry a faint odor of mental illness about them, especially when I'm on those proverbial goat paths.
 

Darvin's always telling me that I take things too seriously, that I don't know how to relax and have fun. He's right, of course. I learned early on that life is serious business. The little girl on the left has the defiant look I wore so often as a child (some might say that I still wear it). The little girl on the right (same girl as in "Play While You Can," has that tentative, "people-pleaser" smile that I know so well. When you're little, that smile melts hearts. When you're 41, it just makes people think they can take advantage of you. I'm trying to relax more and not be so serious, so this will be my reminder . . .  

So it's been a week--a WEEK--since I did anything. I cleared off the table for Thanksgiving and it looked so nice that I had to leave it for a while. I am DYING for a studio so that I don't have to choose between "place to eat" and "place to feed my soul." Anyway . . . today was a long day of proposal writing and I was desperate for a release. I was looking through my favorite book--"Artist's Journals and Sketchbooks" and was so inspired by Teesha Moore's stuff that I had to go to her site to see more. This is NOTHING like her stuff (except for the inspiration of playfulness and the cut out of the little girl's face with the hat on it). I love her use of color, though, and her way of creating art around collaged images. "Play While You Can" sums up how I'm feeling right now. And the way things are going tonight, I may be up VERY late to continue playing . . .