Believe 2014

BELIEVE: (verb)  1. accept (something) as true; feel sure of the truth of. 2. hold (something) as an opinion; think or suppose.    SYNONYMS:  think, be of the opinion that, have an idea that, imagine, suspect, suppose, assume, presume, take it, conjecture, surmise, conclude, deduce, understand, gather, fancy, guess, dare say

It's a word used everyday in real life, the art world, journals, greeting cards, tv diatribes, talk shows, etc.  I haven't even chosen it for a rubber stamp because so many other people have. It's a word you don't even really think about because it is so pervasive.  That is until what you believe is tested.  What you thought was true, is not.  What you believe on faith only, wavers.  It's easy to say you believe in something or believe something to be true until that moment.  And the aftermath of that moment.  That is when what you really believe becomes apparent.  Life is full of these moments.  Some we chose to engage, and some we chose to let slip by, clinging to what we KNOW is true.  My moments to engage came over eight weeks this fall.  I am still in the aftermath.  I am still making sense of it.  I am still seeking the truth that I so want to believe.  It's an intense process that becomes all encompassing.  It's a process that is lonely.  It's a process that you must go through to accept the new normal. This process will continue on into the opening moments, maybe weeks of 2014. 

I celebrate my personal journey with this piece of art.  The focal piece was a Citrasolv piece that I originally manipulated early in the fall.  I played with it a little in November, adding some more solution and then using some foil and alcohol inks to enhance the color.  Today, I used Jessica Sporn's 9 x 12 stencil for  StencilGirl to create the focal ledge using Titan Buff, Mars Black, and Bronze Golden Acrylics.  The charm is actually a left over from a Charming Charlie's necklace that I used for something else.  PPA holds the metallic fibers together. 

Happy New Year to all.  I am looking forward to 2014.  I hope you are, too.  


UPDATED WINTER TEACHING DATES:

Ephemera Paducah, Paducah, KY :  March 7 & 8   2 all day classes
Stamper's Ink, Kansas City, MO :     April 11 & 12  3 classes