Where Have I Been? Down The Rabbit Hole !

Just when I thought that the coast was clear and that I might get away from Winter without a bout of the usual bronchitis or whatever - zingo - last Wednesday I fell like a gnarled old tree. I began to feel rather faint at work. Got up and took a bit of a walk-about, sat back down & felt it again. Decided that I better skedaddle. I left work, went home & went to bed. It's a different cold bug this time and I am cautiously optimistic that I will not have bronchitis from it - which would be a first in my life actually with a cold. I have, however, been feeling rather under the weather.

Speaking of the weather - we have have had some seriously odd weather gris-gris going on here in the Pacific NorthWest. Yesterday we had hail (the photo above is a picture of the skylight covered with it), snow, sleet, rain and sun. All within a day. Sometimes twice in a day! March is most assuredly coming in like a lion. That must, surely, mean that Spring is close at hand! I am on Hummer watch - they generally return to the fold cold and hungry by Saint Patty's Day.

Aside from sleeping and some reading I have been doing little else. Yesterday, however, I finally finished a couple of journal pages. One that I like and one that I don't. Bet you will be able to tell which is which here ! After a nap (I woke up at an ungodly early hours this morning) I am hoping to paint some more. I also have a commission piece that I need to get going on as well. That should, by rights, be my priority, but I don't like working on things that are going to new homes when I am feeling somewhat off kilter .. that just does not work for me! Of course, there are those who consider me to be seriously off kilter in general!

The 'Prompt' for this page was Mandala. I can't think of anything that I like doing more than mandalas but this one came out a bit more personal than most of them. I think I stretched the strict terminology for mandala a bit too.

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines a mandala as:

1: a Hindu or Buddhist graphic symbol of the universe ; specifically : a circle enclosing a square with a deity on each side that is used chiefly as an aid to meditation
2: a graphic and often symbolic pattern usually in the form of a circle divided into four separate sections or bearing a multiple projection of an image

As such, I suppose that this does fit the bill more or less since it was a meditation as I drew it and is, if nothing else, graphic in design!

This next page is the 'black sheep' in my book. I considered tearing it out but decided I should not do that. There were, actually two prompts that I thought applied to this page. 'Family' and 'Release & Receive'. My idea of a family is one that is rooted in strength, patience and love. Trees also symbolize releasing your negative feelings or thoughts into the ground where they can be cleansed - allowing you to, once again, receive. I wish I had made the page nicer. I was experimenting with Golden Fiber Paste over Gesso and was not really sure how to manage the medium....so I think, in this case, the medium managed me instead! I'll give it another, more light-hearted, try when I am feeling chipper again!

It's odd how making visual journal pages is helping me in in other areas. I am busting out to get a quilt on canvas for something that I have been working out & on for some time. I wanted to use primed linen - until I caught sight of the prices. Ye Gads! Primed linen is right up there with gold in price! I will probably settle for a 3 yard roll of primed duck cloth.... anyway I am really excited about some quilt ideas that I am getting from making these pages. It all works together. A happy confluence of mediums & hope. Hope everyone has a day that includes just a little touch of magic!