art journaling, new shop, a visit

The government of the United States has become a wrecking ball. Not only here but worldwide. Not content to bring this country to its knees, it is intent on destroying the law based world order that has been in place since WWII preferring instead one based on conquest. 

We were given a list of 150 words in yesterday’s art journal workshop, a hundred and fifty words of love, compassion, hope, positivity. The first exercise was to pick one word, not as a new year’s resolution but rather as guidance for the coming year. Too many words, how do you pick just one. At first I chose mindful but I already have a page in mind devoted to the word mindfulness so I perused the list again and I saw it. Create. This was my word. But first we cut a page out of an old dictionary and glued it to the page in our journal and then chose a color of acrylic paint and painted over it. When the paint was dry we took a marker and wrote our word on the page and then wrote down what that meant to us. So I wrote 

create

because there is so 

much destruction in

the world today

bring more art, love,

joy, compassion

into being

And then she told us to select miscellaneous papers, stickers, tapes, what have you and cover up the words. That made me laugh a little so she explained why. In therapy, art or otherwise, writing things down is a way to expunge them from your psyche, to get them out and reduce their power, and they may be things you don’t want other people to be able to read, your pain, your fear, private thoughts so you write it all down and then cover it up or destroy it. So while my words were not so private, that was the exercise. I used tissue paper, stickers, decorative tape, stamps. I stamped the word again across the top.

For the second page we first did a watercolor wash for a background. Then we were to select a scripture or something from a favorite hymn (folks here are religious) and write that on the page with marker. I’m not religious so I chose the simple ‘be here now’ one of my guiding life instructions. Next we selected three colors of acrylic paint and painted on a small rectangle of 1/8” hard acrylic plastic, flipped it over and transferred the paint to paper. When that paint dried, we were to embellish it however we wanted.

Third page was a collage, something I’ve never really been that interested in. So we used foil on which we colored with water soluble markers, wet the page, and transferred the color from foil to page. Again, after the page dried, add whatever we wanted from the materials she had brought….stickers, colored paper, markers, tissue paper, strings and other fuzzy things, etc. I kept mine simple.

So that was my day Saturday. After, I went by the new little bookstore and picked up the used copy of American Gods by Neil Gaiman she ordered for me and then I went to check out another new little enterprise in the next block. Tru Bath and Body Boutique - home, body, & spiritual wellness. Organic luxury bath and body essentials like lotions, soaps, perfumes, balms, bath and shower bombs, that kind of stuff. But the really interesting stuff was the spiritual and mental wellness section; herbs, resins, camphors, candles, incense, smudges, charcoal burners, all kinds of stuff and guidance for their use. I imagine the majority of religious Wharton would be horrified at this juju if they knew. That’s three new interesting little shops (including the dispensary) in the block off the Square. I hope they survive. Five years ago they wouldn’t have but there’s been a lot of new home building in the last couple of years bringing people from Houston and Katy and Sugar Land and maybe even Richmond who commute so maybe Wharton is getting a little more enlightened. 

On the way home I stopped and got another bucket of pecans cracked, the last I intend to shell, and inquired how long they would be open as I have four almost full boxes of pecans I’ve picked up since I sold what I previously had and they are still falling. The last two days were windy so I expect more are on the ground. I guess I’ll take them in towards the end of this month.

And then this happened Saturday evening.