Art as comfort

**********

My son is now in Iraq, and doesn't know when he will be coming home. My DIL and grandchildren seem to be adjusting well. I, on the other hand, am a nervous wreck. I have not had any inclination to create anything for at least two weeks. I did receive a packet of inchies from my MixedMediaArt yahoo group swap. I love them--they are tiny little artworks but all are very different. I received two of my own back, and the eighteen new ones below.

The PaperImageryDesigns yahoo group has a new technique for this week, and that got me going again. We did pulled paint background pages (I used cardstock for mine.) I did the four pages below, then we were to cut one page up into ATC backs and make one card to mingle. I made "Bloom" out of one piece.

Then a new swap was announced that will use a new image every month. For September the image is Nia from Paper Imagery Designs. I made these five cards below, plus an extra for the hostess. I used the other ATC backs that I cut out of one of the above background sheets.


I had such fun making backgrounds that I tried another technique using acrylic paint and plastic wrap. The paint is smushed around on the cardstock with the plastic wrap, then the wrap is left on with the wrinkles intact while the paint dries. When the plastic is peeled off, the wrinkles remain to add texture to the sheets. I did that with the first five sheets shown below.




The last sheet is one of three that were a real trial-and-error sort of technique. I spread gel medium over a sheet of cardstock, then spread some kind of unlabeled dried herb flakes over it. (You know, the kind that come with your spice rack and you don't have any idea how old they are? The label had come off this packet, and it was so old that I couldn't identify it by smell. Yuk!) Then when it is dry you are supposed to cover it with green paint so it looks like artificial turf or something. I haven't gotten to that stage, and I may not. The herbs are crumbling off with every touch, and although I can't identify the smell, it is strong! I think these sheets will bite the dust.

I've started some other ATCs that I will show when they are finished.

The past four weeks have been brutal emotionally and physically. I have had a headache nearly every day, and am short-tempered and out of sorts. DH and I even had an argument, something that has rarely occurred in our thirty years of marriage. Between the worry over my son, DH's cancer, and my MIL's Alzheimer's, the everyday financial problems and household clutter and lack of privacy tend to blow up to unbearable proportions. I need to spend more time by myself, but with DH being out of work so often I have barely had a moment to call my own. I can hardly wait until October when we will travel to a family reunion. It will be wonderful to get away for awhile and be able to breathe again. Claustrophobia is setting in here.

I find working on ATCs relaxing, as long as there are no interruptions. I can think while I'm waiting for the paint to dry, and express my frustrations in my artwork. I find myself daydreaming of a private studio for my arts and crafts, and another for my sewing and quilting. A big enough kitchen to actually cook in and a freezer and pantry big enough to keep the food in. More than one bathroom. Empty space between us and the nearest neighbor. And of course, the money to be able to live that way. No one to have to care for but ourselves. What everyone expects retirement to be like. But it doesn't look like it will ever happen. That is a big reason why the stress is getting to me--I can't see the end of the tunnel.

**********