Well, I'm doing it again. I haven't posted for 2+ weeks, because, deep down, I'm afraid of being boring or not as good as other bloggers. So to avoid failing, I just don't even try. But! I've been following the Artistic Alchemy workshop over at Kira's blog, and Lesson 1 was all about creating your space for art journaling. Making a sacred ritual that prepares your mind and body for art. Sort of a Pavlovian dog stimulus to get those creative juices drooling to put paint to paper.
My ritual entailed waiting till everyone went to bed so that I was alone in the house (except for my 21-year-old, who was glued to the computer at the other end of the house, playing his geeky cyber-games); sitting down at my desk in my studio; lighting my rose-scented, Mexican Virgin Mary candle (which might ward off any evil Lou Dobbs spirits...); putting my MP3 on (while singing loudly and no doubt, off-key, but who cares--- all my kids know that I delight in singing inharmoniously while listening to my MP3); and then I waited. Just sat there and waited. It didn't take long, just a minute or so, before I picked up a paintbrush and started painting. And painting. And collaging. Profusely. I was all, THIS is what it takes to make me start creating?! Just showing up? Dang! Why haven"t I done this sooner?
So I did a lot of creating last night, and I'll show that later, maybe, if I get up the guts to expose myself. (No! they weren't naked journal entries, silly! I meant expose myself emotionally...) Meanwhile, I'll show you my favorite letter that I sent to the kids while at Camp this summer. But first, an explanatory picture from the premiere lolcat website:
We are all addicted to lolcats, so this letter was written entirely in the lolcat language. It is a response to the fact that my children had not written me a letter from Camp, despite the fact that I wrote them EVERY DAY and had endured HOURS OF PAINFUL CHILDBIRTH WITHOUT AN EPIDURAL JUST TO BRING THEM INTO THIS WORLD.