The Weather Outside is Frightful...

But maybe not as bad as predicted!  And since we had enough advance warning of the storm, I was able to prepare yesterday by picking up extra supplies like milk and drinking water and cleaning the house (just in case...).  But we still have electricity, heat, and running water (hooray!), so now there's nothing to do but wait for the storm to blow itself away, while reading and catching up on homey tasks and naps!

Speaking of catching up, in the past couple of weeks, I have continued to do pages in the art journal I started last January and have now finished the first chapter!  (Woo hoo!  It only took me a year!)  The page below is a collage of paint, paper, fabric, and stamps in my favorite color.  I didn't realize it while I was doing it, but it ended up looking like a very abstract seascape, which reminded me of one of my favorite songs by John Denver, Singing Skies and Dancing Waters, so I wrote those words on the page with a gel pen.

The next assignment was to begin with the complement of your favorite color, the one opposite on the color wheel, which is sort of an orange-red.  I intended this to be more of a pale peach, but it came out a true orange red, which does contrast nicely with the aqua.  The whole point of using complimentary colors is the contrast, which really shows up on the page below.  It brought to mind the Dr. Seuss quote so I added it in.

 I haven't selected artistic goals for this year;  last year I kind of scaled back on both goals and blog posts, and I have a feeling this year is going to be the same (just too much going on with the family that requires more of my time and energy).  But looking back on last year's goals, I did manage to achieve most of them.  I created the 3 pieces I intended to create, although I did not use any fabric printed with my new Epson printer, which was one of the goals.  But one of the pieces I made this year (the "Tuscan Window") has become one of my all-time favorites (it now hangs in our dining area) and I had another piece ("Mother Nature's Summer Tunic")  juried into the Summer ARTiculated show at Concordia College last July.  I didn't spend 5 minutes a day journaling or sketching - just can't seem to get in the habit.  But I still resolve to be more playful with materials and more process-oriented, to search for my personal artistic voice using both words and images, and to accentuate the positive in all areas of my life.  I have two more pieces to create for my FANE shows this year, and intend to get through the exercises in Pam Carricker's book!