Cruelest Month?

I actually think April is not so much the cruelest month, as August is. Or, maybe this particular August. It's too hot, the summer holidays are over, and school doesn't start for a month yet (around here, anyway). We have no real vacation planned, and the things there are on the schedule to look forward to don't come til the very end of the month.

I don't much feel like melting glass, and even the knowledge that I have a fairly large outdoor show coming up in six weeks isn't enough to motivate me. I *am* occasionally the Queen of Procrastination, though, so you can bet I'll be all in a tizzy come September, trying to get work made. Hopefully then it will be a lot less than 100 degrees so I can be really productive.

It's interesting to me that the older I get, the more I learn about myself and the way I work. I guess that is the point, right? To learn as we grow, even into adulthood? Good thing I'm at least paying *some* attention.

My Muse seems to be encouraging me to try different things lately. Right now, I am on a run of mixed-media work....painting, altering books, stamping, collage. I don't really know what the heck I am doing, which is fine, but I have some interesting visions in my head and I am trying to make them come alive. So far, so good.

I gessoed over a previous painting last night (just like the old Masters used to do!), and I am deciding how best to go about turning it into my vision for a 3-D mixed media work. Trees and women, and goddess symbols and mythology have been swimming around in my brain for some time, and I am slowly, slowly starting to turn the visions into actual work.

Oh, a picture would be nice, wouldn't it? Here is the start of my recent altered book. It has no title as yet.
The trees and star will all have a cover of paint and glitter (probably) to tone down some of their obvious plasticness.

Here's one of my favorite parts, in the beginning stages....a niche cut into a stack of glued-together pages:
I'll post some more pics after I get a few more pages done. I think this will be an ongoing project, like a journal, instead of an all-at-once thing. I'm finding, with painting, there's a lot of standing around waiting for stuff to dry, so it's really easy to get started on another project while you're waiting. I already did that. My next project-in-process is a set of altered tarot cards. They have been sanded (to rough up the plastic coating), and gessoed and had their backgrounds painted. I already know the plan for these, but I think I'll share when I have something to show.

Anyway, that is what I have been up to lately. I expect that the month of August will be a little light on blog posts -- well, maybe -- so I'll see you all soon!

*I'm so SO looking forward to ArtBliss in September! Gonna meet so many of my favorite online art jewelry buddies!