January Art Journal Pages

January

and it is all about me, 

writing about who I am today..

my gratitude..

aging has been a topic,

as I have let my hair grow white..

and I will tell you

a secret gentle reader..

I love being old..

when I was 5 years old,

I remember getting up and dressing myself..

brushing my teeth with my finger,

because I could not reach up into the cabinet..

sitting on the sink and smoothing my unruly hair with water..

and as I looked into the mirror..

I had this deep sense of 

KNOWING

that old age would be the happiest of years..

the KNOWING SAID.. 

just keep going

it may be hard now, but it will get better..

and so I went out into the back yard/forest to play wildly in the woods..

until noon..

when my mother awoke..

there are some benefits to having an alcoholic for a parent..

one of them is that

you have lots of liberty...

there is a freedom in age...

if you allow it..

there is a wisdom that arises

from so much experience..

When you look at others, be not covetous of what they have, 

because you do not know what they had to negotiate to get to where they are..

we all have our crosses..

some of us just refuse to paint them...

or give in to them..

There are changes with age..

but we did not lament them at 20.. 

why shouldn't we see wrinkles and white hair as gorgeous

texture and color?

Who makes up these rules about age?

what we should wear?

how short or long our hair must be?

What is dignified or not..

inside of me is a 5 year old, with unruly hair..

still puttering out in the yard..

nothing at all has 

changed..

and the 

KNOWING

is still there.

Ingredients: Black gesso, colored pencil, metallic gelatos, paint pens.

So off to the studio I go..

the mad artist is working on

a new Mono Printing video for you on fabric

so stop by on Friday..

we will get messy together!

C4N!

January Journal Pages

New Year,

New journal...

but old traditions,

each January I create a self portrait

for my journal pages..

I have been thinking a lot about

age.. and aging..

and I am working on some paintings..

 portraits, 

I have one particular model right now, but I may include others..

She has beautiful long hair..

women of a certain age...

with long hair...

many Native American tribes thought that hair held memory..

and to cut hair 

was to break with traditions, the past 

and to literally cut away your memories...

I was thinking about this, when I created these pages... 

ingredients: gesso, acrylic paints, paint pens, art graf pencil, pencil, pen and ink, paper ephemera, stencils, china marker...

as for my new journal...

I chose a 

Strathmore Mixed Media

art journal...

the size is smaller than the old record books, but the paper is so
tough, I don't think I need to prime the page..

 I do love it..

and I thank you as always for stopping in
to read about my travels, my thoughts, and see what I am creating..

grazie!

ciao, ciao!