Home Sweet Home: Narrative Time Line

I've been working on my Vein of Gold "Narrative Time Line" this week and looking back on the places I've lived. I used my art journal to help me recall some of the important events that I associate with each of those homes. I showed my 17 year old the page while I was working on it, and she said, "What about college?" Ah, yes...I definitely lived there! I could easily write an entire chapter of my college years (and the 3 places I lived while I was there). But for now, I'll jot down some of my other memories of "home."



Boy, do those memories come back when you welcome them...One of my favorite childhood memories was the "tetherball" in the back yard. Funny, I haven't seen one of those for years. Looking back, I do remember getting quite a few bruises! But they all healed, and the joy of watching that ball on a string go round and round the pole was well worth the bruises!



Thanks Wikipedia for the fun image! A very pleasant memory excavated from my childhood mines! Well, I'm sure I'll be digging up plenty of other memories as I continue my Vein of Gold journey!!

Till Next Time....

The Vein of Gold

I just started Julia Cameron's book "The Vein of Gold - A Journey to Your Creative Heart." I'm reading it with about 25 other people from Coach Creative Space. We're going through the book at our own pace, sharing our insights with each other and posting our progress. They are my traveling companions for the Vein of Gold journey!

To be honest...I started reading Vein of Gold about 7 or 8 years ago, but I got stuck around page 60. That's in the chapter where you write your "Narrative Time Line." There are several pages that you can "fill in the blanks" with all sorts of useful tidbits from your past to help you get started...



Looking back, there must have been something deep in my soul that I wasn't quite ready to face at the time...because I see that I actually tore out pages 57 - 60! On second thought, maybe I wrote something very personal that I wasn't ready to share with whoever picked up my book and looked inside! Or maybe it was a combination of both these things...

(Okay all you people who own Vein of Gold...go on and see what's on pages 57 - 60 of YOUR copy!)

I've grown and changed quite a bit since the first "reading" of this book. One thing that I've learned over the years, is that it's not necessary for me to put "everything out in the open" for the whole world to see (or my whole family, for that matter). This is one of the reasons I love art journaling. I can use colors, symbols, words, and images to tell a story that may be very personal, but when I look at the pages, I still know the whole story. Sometimes, that's the only part that's necessary (my art journal viewers will just have to deal with the un-knowing!! Ha!)

So, one of the areas of my life that I'll be exploring is "The Places I've Lived." I'm starting with a simple layout...White Gesso, mixed with some Flesh Tint Gouache, and some simple house shapes that I cut from some stamp paper. I will see where it leads me...



And today might be the perfect day to do some "Serious Art Journaling." Serious fun, that is! The temperature right now is a balmy 15 below zero (probably quite a bit colder if you factor in the wind chill). We cancelled classes at our preschool today, and I have the day off! I don't think I want to take my car out anywhere today, so an inside art day seems like a perfect choice!

Here are some other photos I took this morning (while "Dad" and "Daughter" were still asleep...and still are sleeping as a matter of fact!) (Which is fine with me...I enjoy the peace and quiet of the house....sleep on, you two!)

First, my new "toys" that I brought home from my Artist Date yesterday...


And another art journal page that I'm beginning...




It looks like a fun day of creating ahead of me...and a day of reflecting on my past a bit, too (not always fun, but an important tool for inner growth!). Have fun creating in your life today, whatever it may be!

...I had a thought the other day that everyone one of us is an artist, because we all create every one of our days! So, create away!!

And PS to my friend, Nikki...thank you for teaching me how to use my camera and how to resize pictures to put on this blog! What would I do without you?? It's good to have young friends to teach me about all of the modern technology in the world! LOL!