Monday, May 26, 2008

Happy Memorial Day & Take-It Further Challenge Piece For May

It's Memorial Day here in the States. I try to take time each year to give thanks to everyone who has served our country in the military services. I especially give thanks to my three wonderful uncles - pictured above - who served during World War II. Thankfully, they all came home. My grandmother knew many families that received the dreaded phone call telling them that a family member was injured or had died. Throughout her life, my grandmother never did like the phone because of that experience! My uncles are gone now - but I believe that they know how proud I am of them.
Otherwise, I really have been catching up this weekend. I got the Grab Bag piece just about fit to mail. I also got the May Take-It-Further challenge piece finished. You may remember that I posted a photo of a mono print I did the other day. When I went to do the TIF piece I realized that it fit the suggested color scheme and, more to the point, it also fit the 'topic' for the month, which is "how do you describe yourself?". I am, truly, becoming & that's how I describe myself. It's frustrating to realize that with each passing year I am not only getting older but am also becoming the person I always wanted to be. I wish I had arrived at this point years sooner, but I also believe that there is a reason for everything. My "spousal unit" gives me the stability that I have always needed but also, at times, I liked to reject! Taking the big step of cutting back on work has also given me so much more freedom to work on discovering and 'becoming'. I am poorer financially, but so much richer all in all. The circles in this piece are also eminently appropriate for how I describe my life. Circles figure largely in my experience. They begin, and may be broken, but somehow they always manage to come back around in order to be completed. This was another small mono print on cotton. I enhanced the print with Caran D'Ache Neocolor water soluble crayons and ink. I printed the letters using this cool new toy that I got from "Making Memories". The letters are magnetic and fit into a holder that makes stamping words so easy! I had hesitated to spend the money on them when I was at Michaels last week on my off island jaunt with Lauren but now I am so glad that I did ! Now I am ready for June's challenge! Getting a bit caught up feels so good - now on to tackle the next "want to do" project - 'Quilt For An Hour" that I mentioned in yesterday's post.
Here is the piece in my sketch book along with my playing with those new, cool, alphabet stamps!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I love your "becoming piece"....and your explanation of getting there..The circles are perfect for it, I agree! Melinda

Vicki W said...

I love how your TIF peice turned out!

gunnelsvensson said...

I think this monoprint is great. And thanks for sharong the story, I think you are feeling well, I think we need more time, but not so much money!
But it´s thing swe want to have :-) What gret stamps! I saw them at a Sweish webshot, but I didn´t know if they were good, but I thin it is no Å, Ä, Ö ???I think it´s so fun all the stuff from the scrap and rubberstamps shop we also can use in our fiber art :-)

Ruth said...

Love your TIF piece. I also like your explanation and I think we would all fit into this category. It goes under the theory that that life is a journey and not a destination.

Meg in Tennessee said...

I like your TIF for this month, I also had decided to combine my monoprint challenge with this month's TIF. Good Job.

Magpie Sue said...

Ah, I see now that you *are* in the San Juans!

This is a great piece. Love your response to the question. It's appropriate for all of us :- )

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