Book of Days
My sister and I have been doing our best to keep up with Book of Days, but it's challenging because we're 525 miles apart and doing it together over Facetime. She works full time nights, so we are limited as to when we can work together on our spreads. We are, however, managing to keep up fairly well, and it's SO much fun being able to do this with her.
Week One was our word for the year, which I posted previously.
Week Two included a simile with reference to winter. I like the way the spread turned out, but as much as I like the colours, they certainly don't bring winter to mind. I am happy with my progress, though, which is good because I'm usually never happy with anything I do. However, I'm coming to terms with the fact that I can't expect to get good at anything without constant practice. Since I don't get constant practice I have to settle for gradual progress. So - I'm ok with that now. Here it is.
Week Three was Titled "What Lies Beneath," which I really enjoyed because it involved a tree. A lot of introspection came with this one, as is the intent with all of Effy's lessons. I thought about all the times I didn't think I could cope with something happening in my life, but yet I've always seemed to find the strength to get through whatever comes my way.
That was probably my favourite so far. It bugs me a bit that in the photos it's hard to see all the different layers to the spreads, but I can see them in my journal, so that will have to do.
Week Four was called Be In It....it and asked why we don't treat ourselves as well as we treat others. I did my spread with the definition of radical self care. It didn't turn out the way I wanted it to, and it involved the first "selfie" I've ever used in my art journal, but I liked the concept, as it made me think about taking care of myself, which I rarely do. I finally have time for myself, but am still not doing anything to heal and renew from the past few years of so much stress and heartache. Time is helping, but I need to do a lot more inner work, and a hell of a lot more "outer" work. These years have taken an awful toll on my body and it'll take a lot to heal it and get it into a healthier state. In the meantime, this is the spread - not my favourite by any stretch, but it'll have to do for now.
Week Five was "What Feeds Your Soul," which I did last Friday. The background is entirely a paper towel I'd used to blot up paint from the page. It looked better than the page, so I put it down with gel medium and went from there. Even with a coat of gel on the top, it wasn't easy to work on, but considering that, it turned out ok. I keep reminding myself that a year and a half ago I couldn't draw a decent stick figure. That keeps me from being too hard on myself and expecting perfection when there's no such thing, and when I'm still a beginner.
A couple of weeks ago I finished a spread that was a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. I'd have never dreamed I would do something like that, but I read an article containing some of her diary entries and was blown away by her awareness. She wrote well and was very introspective in a lot of ways, which was surprising to me. I felt sad after I read the article....sad that she died, for whatever reason, and didn't get to meet her potential and find what she needed to feed her soul.
Well, now that I'm just about caught up on Book of Days, hopefully I can post more regular, perhaps shorter, missives on what's happening here on the Rumblestrip.
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