UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY ...

 

This is me being experimental .... I may have mentioned before that I've been studying Australian Aboriginal Art, where everything is done with dots.  I came across one work that had been done with lighter colours on a dark background, and that gave me the idea to paint the page burgundy and work on top with pale shades.

You can see below my first efforts - the plant motif is a classic one used throughout Aboriginal art, I think it probably represents a native species since these shapes are ubiquitous in the art form. Anyway, making outlines just using dots (with my Posca paint pens) was a very interesting and kind of meditative way of working.

Then I began to add leaf shapes, this time out of my own head, although I guess every continent must have a plant with a generic leaf like this?  What I loved about working with the dots was that you could give the impression of images behind and in front very easily, so although I'd put the white plants on first I could later add the leaves "behind".

I added a few more leaves, a face and the statement about unfamiliar territory.  Now that he's home from hospital there is no road map for how to proceed, we just stumble along day to day trying to work out what to do.  Its uncomfortable a lot of the time - adults aren't used to feeling so out of their depth and unsure what to do next - quite apart from the fact that the cared for (me) has had to become the caregiver.  Very hard for someone with extremely limited energy, but we have managed somehow.

This is the finished page with my usual doodles and embellishments, but it does at least feel like I pushed myself to work in a new way and extended my boundaries in the process.  The black lettering didn't stand out very well, so I outlined it in white - I'm not convinced that it was an improvement but there you go.  I wonder now if I should have just done white lettering?  Whatever, it is what it is.

Perhaps I should have put in two faces hiding in the undergrowth, because here the two of us are, feeling each step of the unfamiliar way .... but its OK because we also feel ourselves held and protected in the hand of God.  I could not have come through the challenges of the past 10 days in particular without that knowledge.  And today he made his first outing, just 21 days after massive surgery, so we are getting there, one small step at a time!!

DEEP ROOTS ....

I began this page just before we moved, and finished it in the last few days by adding all the bits and dots you know I'm so fond of!

This is how it began - swirls of orange and yellow done with Neocolour II crayons - sometimes I have to challenge myself to work with different shapes as I tend to go for straight lines ....

Being somewhat brain dead from stress at the time I didn't have any clear idea where it was going, except that I wanted it to be bold and simple because I didn't think I could manage anything else.

And then, as so often happens, something came out that I needed to affirm - namely my own strength and deep roots in a good place, all of which would get me through what lay ahead.  It was a bit wild and windy at the time too, which added to the way I was thinking as I watched the big old trees in our former garden bend with the wind.

And above is where the page had got to when we moved.  Below is how I finished it off when, after only about 5 days, I found a space I could sit down and work in.

I guess the symbolism needs no explanation?  I'm still being very influenced by Aboriginal art and its use of dots and simple marks, and think that shows here?  Look on Pinterest if you want to discover more, its an art form I'm growing to love, and anyway I always did like dots!

We are down to just 9 boxes but are stymied in terms of progress because we really need somebody to come and put shelves up .... the walls here are TOUGH and appear to need an industrial strength drill to make so much as a dent in them!  Best of all we have SURVIVED, we are retired, and we'll find everything eventually.