“…here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud 

of the bud and the sky of the sky 

of a tree called life; which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's 

keeping the stars apart"

e e cummings

My grandson was born October 13, 2008. Although I have

not held him yet, I see the future in his eyes. 

This is page 2 of my new art jounal where I attempt to avoid censorship, not allow myself to listen to the censors, and to not use any words on the page, although I may rethink that.  It is an interesting process — I have no idea where these images come from and I am not examining that too closely!  I used gesso, gouache, colored pencils, charcoal, and collage.

I finally did a page — I’ve been preparing pages and backgrounds for weeks, okay, maybe not weeks, but quite a while, anyway.  Today I finally got inspired and felt free enough to make a page, it was more likely brave enough to get started!  I know there aren’t any angel wings, or cute party hats — but I could add those to another page sometime later…probably not though.  I feel pretty good about this as a first page even though it is about a third of the way through the blank book – it just seemed the right place to begin.  I used gouache, gesso, watercolor, oil pastel, chalk, collage, and pencil.  Its an open book double page spread.

Autumn is slowly edging its way into colder weather  – 84 dgrees today – but not like summer 84.  Today was a humid, hazy day that finally ended in a few sprinkles, heavy with the scent of autumn, that wet rock, dampened earth, and leftover summer heat smell. 

Tonight I’ve been listening to Gillian Welch and creating background pages in my art journal.  I am hesitant to begin this journal, and I don’t know why, so I keep playing with gesso and background preparation.  Usually I do just a page or two at a time, and then I do a few more pages, but this time I’ve been doing page after page of gesso, colors, colors mixed with gesso, black gesso, different paints.  Not sure why I am avoiding the real thing.  There is a painting downstairs halfway begun, and I am avoiding that too.  Maybe October will be better.

I am an Orphan Girl tonight….