HERE AM I - SEND ME

 

In the Church of England, ordinations take place at Petertide in the summer months, and I've attended some recent anniversaries of the ordinations of the very first women to be priests.  It brings it all back, the struggle first to be ordained at all and then over many years to be accepted ... and then one Sunday in church recently this was the reading from Isaiah 6.  This is always read at ordinations, and I was chosen to read it in Carlisle Cathedral at my own, so it has always had special resonance for me.

In the days before that Sunday I was working on this page, not knowing where it was going (as is so often the case).  Over a painted background I was putting down collage, in the case of the pieces top left and right they were pieces colour copied from older journals.  Its good to recycle!

I have been trying to get away from my default position of simply putting a frame around a page, so this was what resulted from those efforts.  Then the page got "stuck", both through the intrusion of Real Life and just not knowing what it was meant to say. 

Then after I'd heard that Sunday reading I came home and wrote these words on the page - something responded to so many years ago ... and yet also particularly relevant right now when a new sense of calling prompts us to be moving on when we'd imagined ourselves settled here to the end of our days! 

So it was important to be reminded that, retired or not, in sickness and in health, and at (nearly) 65, God's unexpected beckoning finger can still call you into change and new experiences.  We're ready to go once we have a completion date for the new property, and in the meantime very busy organising the 90th birthday celebrations for my darling mum in law, and helping a very dear friend make the difficult transition from independent living into a care home. 

Lots to keep me busy and make me extra tired, so forgive me if in the coming weeks I am more absent than present here.  By the Autumn we hope to be well settled in our new home and life, and back to blogging more than occasionally!
Rosie

STAYING HOME ...

Having to stay home and rest doesn't necessarily mean I'm not doing anything (as many people seem to imagine).  My interior life is a lot more lively than my social life, and just as well because without it I would definitely be stir crazy.

A painted background using 3 shades of acrylic paint in yellow/orange, getting some texture with baby wipes and scrubbing with an old paint brush.  I love these burnt orange tones - as you might have noticed if you follow my work regularly!

So the Modigliani lady in the orange sweater really just belonged on this page, and then I found some tissue paper with script on it which I absolutely loved, so pasted that down too.  Originally it didn't show very well against the background so I put a thin black line around it.

The torn edges of the tissue made nice shapes on the page so I added collage using the same wavy forms, just having fun finding colours and textures that seemed to belong there.  This was another occasion when I had no idea what I wanted to say at this stage ...  which is wonderfully freeing because you can just "go with the flow".

The words came because I looked at this lady and wondered if she was just staring into space or thinking.  I decided that, like me, her thoughts were far away but purposeful - perhaps reflecting on something or someone, praying for some need, whatever - the point is that she isn't just sitting there any more than I am on a rest day!  That is what I tell myself, so please don't argue!

This is a relatively simple page but it says what I needed to say and the colours bring me joy.  That's kind of the whole point of art journalling isn't it?
Rosie