siren’s song

siren’s song, 5×7 blank journal
mixed media and encaustic cover
-sold-

Remember this image of trees that I used to create Endlessness? This is the same grove of trees on the beach at Golden Gardens Park that overlooks the Puget Sound. I just feel that these trees have such a sense of longing in their stance. Is that possible? The wide expanse beyond them calls to me. That’s why I added the words “siren’s song” on the bottom.

This panel has been bound into a blank journal.

I’ve been busy packing and going through stuff. Tossing things into garage sale pile or into garbage pile. When we moved to Seattle we barely had anything. How did we accumulate so much stuff?? And our possessions seemed to triple since Noah joined us. Babies really can take over a house!

I found this quote in a binder of assignments that I had held onto from when I took graphic design classes at the Art Institute of Seattle. I went there for 3 quarters when we first moved to Seattle. But then amanobooks started to grow and I became very dissatisfied with my coursework there. I loved graphic design actually and was doing really well. If I had decided to pursue graphic design I would have transferred to the UW for their master’s program. But instead I became an art school drop-out. I have to say though that being in those classes, even for that short time, had a big impact on me. It was the first time I was ever in “creative classes” as I had gotten a B.S. at Northwestern University in IL. And it felt right. In my gut, I knew that I needed to create and get myself on some sort of creative path. Receiving feedback from my instructors helped me start to believe that maybe I was a creative person. I never thought I was. It’s interesting to look back and see how things definitely happen for a reason. Detours can be stepping stones.

I ended up filling a big trash bag with all my notes from those classes, but saved this quote:

Cut to the chase. Probe the problem. Ask questions. Ask more questions. Let questions arise in you. Be diligent. Be merciless. Be serious. Research the problem always with a questioning mind. Embrace the process, for it is the struggle that will feed you, nourish you and make the activity of being a visual communicator worthwhile. :::Richard Wilde:::

Speaking of quotes, I added a quote category over to the right. I am a collector of quotes, especially of the creative process. I’m going to put my favorite quotes there and rotate them every week. If I remember, that is!

Wish me luck with the garage sale this weekend, I’ve never done one before. I wonder if my Daylab will sell? Part of me is hoping that it won’t, so that I can keep it. Only a specific type of person will recognize it and who knows if that person will show up. But I haven’t used it in years, so I thought it better go in the garage sale pile.