Wax Paper

I've always used wax paper on the surface of my work table up until I purchased a protective mat. I spent the last two days doing some cleaning and rearranging the studio and in my travels came across a pile of waxed paper I'd saved. I've actually been missing working on index cards. Imagine that? Index cards + recycled wax paper = some cool stuff. I've done about 10 index cards so far in various sizes. Might have to turn them in to mail art. I find it interesting looking at these sheets to see the repeated colors I gravitate towards. I know we all have a favorite or several favorites but do you also find yourself using those same colors in a lot of your work? If you leave a comment I can have a draw and someone might have to get a piece of mail art. :) Thanks for visiting.____________jo

Little Surprises

Life, you know, has a way of getting in the way of things we want to do and need to do. This week has been one of those weeks. Getting the shop open and running has been time consuming and a challenge, which came as no surprise to me, although,when I finally finished it I felt exhausted, drained, as if I'd just given birth. I needed time to refuel and rest. At the time time, I was thrilled on the first day I posted that I made my first sale. Good feeling. I wanted to share a couple of things with you. A couple of weeks ago I visited a local thrift store and found this sweet little item for $6.00. I am guessing it is a jewelry box, or in this case, I guess it could be called a jewelry closet. How about a mini jewelry amour? I can envision it, refinished, repainted- each little door panel with something different. And it has a little hole so it can be hung. You know how one person's junk is another person's treasure. Another surprise I discovered this week was this. I found this Texture Fierro in the bargain bins outside Michaels recently, marked down to what I thought was .99 but when I got to the register it was $2.99. It had no idea what it was for but it was the gold paint that drew me to look at it. It's kind of like a fine, yet course paste that will give some . duh, texture. I tried using it here with the joint compound tape I have also recently discovered. I've started working in this gigantic Moleskin (11 3/4 x 16.5) that you see these pictures in. It feels really good to be working in something that large although it does mean that I need to clean, no clear, my work space a bit in order to work in it. And lastly, I've been going a bit crazy with these 12x12 blocks of wood from Home Depot. These are not finished and in most cases will totally change. I'm literally throwing stuff out there, trial and error, trying to be brave, not trying to plan it out, just trusting the process, one moment at a time. It seems I got to a point and then, the trust had run out and I moved on to another one. Impatience? Being too critical? Was my inner critic sitting invisibly behind me whispering in my ear, "These really are not hitting on too much. Try again." I am grateful for a long weekend. I am also grateful I no longer have to be one of those mothers with a long list of school supplies and back to school shopping to do. I can say I've been there and done that. Thanks for stopping by. Please visit again and if you haven't done so already, please stop in and view the shop. ------------------------Jo

The Shop is Open

I am excited to report I opened a shop on Etsy today. I hope you'll take a minute to visit there. Thank you and thanks for stopping by today. http://www.etsy.com/shop/Jogatheringwild?ref=search_shop_redirect

Composition

I start my days early, partly by choice and partly out of necessity. I have been a migraineur for at least 35 yrs. I know from experience that I am not a person who can sleep in on the weekends. I have to stick to a schedule and rise at the same time or nearly the same time every morning to avoid getting these headaches which can then develop in to a migraine. My head is my own meteorologist in that I can tell it's going to rain or there will be a barometric shift before it happens because the pain in my head tells me so. For example, the last two days were very humid and partly cloudy. Bad for me. I had to take half of an imitrex to get through the work day. This morning I woke to rain. So far, I don't need to take anything because I already had dealt with the sudden shift in the weather last last two days. The other reason I get up early is because my dog, Buddy, has diabetes. Sometimes his blood sugar is out of whack and I like to avoid coming downstairs to the kitchen not finding a puddle of pee. The sooner I can get him out the door to do his business and give him his insulin, the better. So, rising in the morning is usually between 4:30 and 5am. Still, another reason I have always risen early is to write. I have always kept a diary since I was a teenager and kept it up in various ways, whether it be in nice, pretty,soft or hard bound books, both lined and unlined, as well as various spiral and composition notebooks. So, Morning Pages were written for years and years. Along the way, with certain people around me, for the protection of my privacy, and since my return to creating everyday, I have found myself incorporating both onto the same page. Writing lines on top of lines make it very difficult for anyone to read one's private thoughts, but also makes for interesting backgrounds for images on top. It also tickles me to see what I drew on a given day because what I drew or painted might very well be a representation of myself and what I was feeling on that morning. I have to be aware of the time in the morning. Actually, I have to be aware of the time all day long during the work week, because of what my job entails, but that's another story for another time. I sometimes change rooms where I write and then draw what I see around me. I started adding watercolor to my pages. I started adding one phrase, thought or word to the top of my page along with the date. I keep it simple. I guess this could be considered basic art journaling. I seem to be fixated on drawing faces. I wanted to make it my goal for this year, to be brave, to persevere. So, in doing this scribble, mad- pouring- out- of- words- on to- pages, even if it's writing, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, I can whine, complain, vent, I am getting "stuff" out of my system. I am confronting my fears, telling my inner critic (or someone else) to shut up, spill my guts, and curse if I want to. I can set my goals, dream my dreams, wish upon my stars and keep them hanging there. That I have found if I do not write in the morning I feel like something's missing,something's not quite right, does not surprise me. It's kind of the same feeling I get when I do not do something creative everyday. I feel not quite me, not quite fulfilled, not quite at peace. And goodness, gracious, we need more peace in this world as well as the need to feel peaceful. On another note, yesterday I got a another cool piece of mail art from Sherry in Illinois. Thank you, Sherry! This has turned out to be a long post. I hadn't intended to be so long winded. Perhaps I am in the words of my very young son, thinking,"But, Mama. I just can't help it. I have something to say." I hope you have a peaceful weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

The Day After the Big One

I have been wanting to tell you for a long time, actually for fifteen days how my belly looks now after I bore two babies at once. How soft and smooshy- cushiony baby stretched it is. Just a brown naval and the mark where I bumped my belly with the teapot. 9/10/1991 ©jcb --------------------------------------------------------------------- Seriously, I did more than bump my belly with a teapot.I burned it one day. I was so big and it kept getting in the way. I worried about that all the way until the babies were born. Ok. Enough about babies. I have had enough of reliving that day. I have been saving tea bags. Drying them and then emptying the tea out. I then thought it would be cool to draw on them and since I am still drawing faces trying to develop my own style, some of them have landed on tea bags. They are very delicate. I have wondered about how they would hold up color on them. So far I have braved some pan pastel on one of them, and a bit of colored pencil and oil pastels on some others. I wonder if I might draw them in ink next instead of pencil. And ........ I got some cool really mail art from Karen at. Karen shares a wealth of neat ideas and "stuff" on her blog, not to mention, I think she's a pretty "neat" person. Thanks, Karen for this awesome card. Thanks for visiting.

The Big One

Twenty one years ago today I weighed 190 lbs, pregnant with my twin son and daughter. I didn't think it was too fair that I had been sleeping sitting up(listening to music on my cassette tape walkman) for three months as my husband snored on his back beside me. That morning I don't know what possessed me to forget and lean over, lean over my big belly and try to pick up a tape that had fallen on the floor. Next thing I knew there was water on the floor. Oooh, And guess what. It wasn't pee. Doctor was called. Get to the hospital. Duh! 190lb self went into a Nissan 300 ZX (doesn't every pregnant woman want to ride in this kind of car?) where at the hospital within two hours I was pronounced "dilated-those babies-are-coming," and whisked off down the hall and around the corner to labor and delivery, where I was greeted by a crowd of masked and gowned medical staff. With husband beside me( he did well and stayed on his feet) I delivered those babies without drugs or anesthesia. Was I crazy? Babies just came too fast. It was good. I was tired of housing two aliens. I wanted them out as much as they wanted to be out. Besides, someone was always kicking somebody and I felt it all. It was only a prereq of what was to come. I know I am not unlike other women who can say it was a day that I shall never forget. It's in our cells now. That feeling. I felt pretty beat up that day. I had been to war and come home and it was to mark the beginning of many days and years that I would feel beat up. It's been a long haul. So, Eliza and Marshall, this minister's daughter, is here today to say I am damn proud of you, of your accomplishments, of who you have become and are still becoming. Happy Birthday!! I love you>