Balance!!

Balance is a power packed and challenging word, for me anyway!! I have begun at Art Journal Project on one of my Art Yahoo groups and each month the coordinator assigns a different theme for our journal entry. We just kicked this project off in January and the first challenge was BALANCE!! I had to think for a bit- how was I going to convey this concept onto a sheet of paper? What direction would I take? Would I work on just one aspect or try to cover it all??? Well, I pondered and fretted and thought some more. All of the participants were sharing their pages on the group site and I tried really hard not to go and peek as I did not want to be influenced by what I knew would be wonderfully fabulous art. that resolve did not last long! And I was right there was some amazing art to behold!!! I have always wanted to Journal but have NEVER been able to stick with it- It has always become too hard to look back down through the layers for me.... But with this group and this project I really wanted to use my art to express some of that "tough stuff"! I immersed myself in some other projects and went down into my space and played some good music and scrapped some paint- that seems to be my "go to" technique when I am trying to work through other arting issues. Of course when I paint I must clean up my palette with damp paper towels !! These paper towels, with all of their wild color combos ,have become a major staple for me in my art!! I noticed how colorful my color palette (small paper plate) had become and then I started to think of turning wheels, which led to color wheels, which led to Wheel of F0rtune which led to spinners from board games. An idea was born!!!

I paint scrapped the background apge and transformed my paint palette into a Pie Chart with all of the major components of my life included. I affixed the plate to the page with a large brad so the plate really spins. Then I surrouonded the pie with all of the emotiona dn responses the word word BALANCE evokes. I did it, !! I really feel like I accomplished something major for me and I am looking forward to next months prompt!!

Our fearless Leader announced our February prompt just the other day. Hearts will be the next topic and this one will be much less taxing for my little grey cells to handle! I have always loved the Heart Shape. There is also another, optional prompt for this month. It is FEARS- not sure that I am ready to go THERE yet!!! We will have to wait and see!!