This is a journal page for Catherine's round robin "journal," which is actually a heart-shaped box with pages cut from heavy watercolor paper. The theme is non-romantic love and it is filled with immaculately beautiful art.
I really didn't feel up to the challenge this morning. You see, we're setting out with our second son to look at schools in New England this week. New England is an awfully long way away and as much as I know it is what is best for this particular child, I'm heartbroken about it. I'm also terrified of both myself and the Judge being on the same plane and leaving the other three behind -- a sort of latent mommy-fear-of-flying that is far more potent than anything the terrorists could impose. In any event, I haven't been at my best this week and it seemed like a theme of things I love wasn't going to be anything beyond pathetic.
Ellie and I worked on her Valentine's this morning, so i decided to take out one of Catherine's pages and play with texture (I gessoed tissue, a Nepalese paper, and some pieces torn from a glassine envelope onto the page). I liked it, so I thought I would experiment with tar gel and had fun spreading some tinted tar gel onto the page with a palette knife like it was a fondant icing.
Ellie's Valentine's were coming along nicely and as I was helping her, I remembered that Michelle Ward's current Street Crusade is to journal about evidence of your every day existence. There is nothing I like better than little everyday things when I'm feeling blue. I took a long, cold walk with Ollie this afternoon, through the alley behind our house, and that was fun. He stomped through the leaves and stopped to look at the ferns. I looked through my collection of vintage lace and fabric pieces, thinking I might find something to finish my "emerging violet" collage. The little everyday things worked their magic. I finished my piece for Catherine and wrote "hot chocolate" on the last tag before I glued it on. I'm off to make some for the kids.
I hope that long after I'm gone, they'll remember my home-made hot chocolate in winter as evidence of the love and fun we all shared.
