Most Alive Monday: She Is Inside All This

It is true that I am a balance seeker and a fairly adaptable person. Though being a mom is my priority, I still need a little time for me-ish-ness. I physically need to make things with my hands...not want, NEED...like breathing, and I can't stress that enough. I'm finally realizing that I can blend family life, and creative life into one way of being. When I felt the creative nudge of Art House Co-op's Sketchbook project, I couldn't resist because I love books - and because art journals are so personal and tactile. (I made my first book at age 7 and yes, I still have it. In it I wrote about my parent's divorce, my friends, and my school principal's retirement. These were areas of concern to me as a child.)

I trusted that, as a family, we could somehow manage to make space for me to do this thing that fills me. I worked on my sketchbook after dinner, on the weekends and in the earliest hours until it was completed. This is not the way I am accustomed to working. Pre-motherhood, I would simply work until a piece was completed, stopping (or crashing) only to sleep. Since I am no longer able to work that way (nor sure that I want to), I found the muse to be somehow different, more haunting. It would wake me from sleep with ideas. Sometimes, I wasn't even sleeping, but more like half sleeping - half conscious. One idea came to me while at a pizza joint with Satch and I had to draw it on a napkin with crayon. When the internal chatter became silent, I knew that it was finished. I was surprised to discover that while I couldn't work in one big surge, I was more emotionally vested in this piece. I think perhaps because I spent more time with it, I think because it flowed from me in gentle waves rather than one manic, creative purging. And I've learned that either way, s'all good, or maybe I like this new way of being even better.

When at last it came time to document my work, waiting for just the right light, Satch was patient and helpful. Although there was this one incident of snow throwing that was not so helpful. And there was one early morning of extraordinary hue that drove me outside in my pajamas, much to Satchel's delight, to photograph one particular page. Satch learned to use my tripod and he felt like the "shiz" using my camera. I greatly enjoy the sweet way he pursed his lips while concentrating.



For more information about the medium and symbols in the book, feel free to visit my website. You can also find high resolution images (and be able to read the text) on my flickr page. I'll be back Wednesday with a swell new Mom to Mom interview.

It is a thrill to be a part of this collective with so many talented artists. The sketchbooks are currently on gallery tour:

January 29 - 30, 2010
Art House Gallery
309 Peters St
Atlanta, GA

February 19 - 21, 2010
303Grand
303 Grand St.
Brooklyn, NY

April 8 - 11, 2010
Art and Shelter Gallery
2737 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA

April 16 - 18, 2010
Soulard Art Market
2028 S. 12th St
Saint Louis, MO

May 7 - 9, 2010
Home Gallery
1407 E. 54th Place
Chicago, IL


*About Most Alive Monday: I've decided to make at least one "most alive choice" each day and post my favorite each Monday. This, of course, is to motivate me to consciously "live juicy"! I hope you'll join me and share your "most alive moment" in the comments section so we may inspire each other.