The Playful Child Within

I know that I have been a little behind in my FJC, but I've wanted to do some thinking on the prompts.  One of these great conumdrums for me was asking me... when I grow up what did I want to be. At first, I started with a very colorful page and was going to display all the things I dreamed about as a child of what it would be like to be a grown up.

However, once I got started I found myself stuck.  I didn't know where else to go, so I left the page alone for the day and decided I would return later.  The following day, I was in Borders and happened across a book called Agate; it was a delightful story, but the watercolor pictures where absolutely exquiste.  So when I got home I decided to miminic a lion that I had seen in the book.  Mine turned out significantly different but I loved it none the less.

When I had finished I realized that I had just completed the prompt for the day before that had so eluded me. When I grow up, I want to still possess my inner playful child.  It was perfect in its simplicity. 

Inspiring Inspiration

Thursday morning I was able to read the FJC prompt because my office was closed because of the gigantic blizzard that had just hit Chicago.  The prompt was inspiration, focusing on how to discover inspiration, how one goes about being inspired, etc.  And to be perfectly honest I was very stumped as for what to do with this prompt.

I guess in away I was having difficultly getting inspired in regards to the notion of inspiration.  In fact, I was befuddled by it all day.  I could easily write about inspiration and how it happens for me, but I wanted to complete the prompt like I had the other through a visual means.  Part of my problem was that my inspiration is completely random.  I don't seek it out or look for it.  I just plod along in my daily life and wham it hits me at unsuspecting moments.

I have to say I'm glad that I'm perceptive enough to see it, although I can be rather dense at times, so I'm sure I miss things.  But on the whole I have to say I catch on pretty well.  And I truly believe the "happy accidents" of inspiration, at least for me, are the best.  

The question then becomes how do I display visually the nonsensical way in which my inspiration is thrust upon me?  Finally, I thought perhaps I could just pick some of the items that spark my interest through my average day such as color, books, people, etc.  So finally at 10:30 last night I sat down quite unsure of what I was going to do and began to demonstrate my mode and means of inspiration.

Once I got going things seemed to just start to flow, and I believe that is how I do get inspired most, by piddling around with my art journaling materials and just letting the paint splatter and the tissue paper stick with guided haphazardness.

Beyond a Surface Connection

Today's February Journaling Challenge was to think about the people we would like to meet either dead or alive.  Naturally at first I thought about all the famous and power people I would love to meet from the past and present, but then for some reason I thought of my great-grandmother on my father's side.

A picture of her hangs in my parent's hallway.  She's about my age in the picture and we look strikingly similar, including the same nose, eyes, and facial structure.  I never met her because she died three days after my grandfather was born, and I've always wondered what she was like.  Would there be anything we had in common beyond our looks.

It was this thinking that inspired this page.  Initially I was going to cut a figure out of a magazine, paint it black, and then center it at the bottom of the page.  Then I would place a number of items that people may discuss on their first meeting around the figure.

So I found a picture that I liked, cut it out, and then placed it on a white piece of paper to paint it black.  When I finished I removed the cut out and found that a really cool negative image was left in its place.  Because of this surprising discovery, I decided to place the black picture on one side and do a negative imagine on the other side.  I would then pile the items in the middle between the two figures. 

It would represent us having a conversation, so to speak.  I then added a few questions and wanted to portray the uncertainty if there would be any connection between those that share the same genes.

It was a great prompt to get me thinking about who I would really like to meet given the chance and what would result of that meeting.