Regeneration #135489321

So, it's been a much longer break from creating and sharing and journaling than originally anticipated, due mostly to a pretty damn hectic schedule with my summer semester, much more draining than I ever thought. If I've had time for any posting, it's been a quick Twitter update and that's it.



The break probably would have been longer, but dear Jude has inadvertently caused me to come out of hiding. She spoke such lovely words on recycling and renewal, that it made me think of my Diet quilt and how it represents such a renewal, in many senses. It uses such beautiful scraps, giving them new life, and it is also a symbol of renewal all by itself. Even though my diligence in working on it is equal to my diligence in my diet, and that is not very diligent indeed, I can still say it's a tangible force in my search for a new body and a new life. Every time I look at it, the small quilt is a reminder of what I want and how I can achieve it.

I found little moments to continue working on the piece while waiting for my homework to print, and just those few stolen minutes helped me find unexpected inspiration and direction. I have more specific ideas about how this piece will reflect my current journey. I see a vision of sixteen eyes, each one seeing something different and new. I see the possibility of teeth and noses and lips and limbs and torsos and possibly a corset or two. (Because if I'm reflecting how I want to look, why not reflect what I want to wear?)



I'm thinking right now of how a feeling of stagnation followed by a renewal of goals and desires is an ongoing up-and-down motion in my life, and I wonder how many other artists experience this as well. Certainly all people who give themselves over to their own inner muse and seek to create meaningful and worthwhile things must continually go through an ebb and flow of this kind. One cannot always be carried away by the creative spirit, forever taken away from conventional thinking. Regular and important (grownup) stuff would never get done. Though I can partially blame this recent recycling of intent on Jude, I worry that I may sound repetitive with constant rejoicing of a coming flood of creation and the following melancholy when the energy's all spent until the next wave hits. But perhaps the sense of the words refreshing and renewal cannot be felt unless there is something old to renew and refresh in the first place, and new inevitably becomes old, which must then be renewed again.

I think I've just fallen into a philosophical catch-22. Perhaps I should give up making sense of it and go to bed.

I've made up my goodie bags and sent them off. I have pictures in my head and a regenerated sense of what I want. I am the next Doctor Who. I have also just realized that there are only twelve eyes on that doodle. I guess the other four are hidden.

Late in coming

For lack of photos, I've included some recent doodles of ideas, sketched so quickly that I haven't even had a chance to get them into my notebook.

This has been a few weeks of changing and rearranging. Starting from the back and working to the front... Lando has had his first distemper shot and is now in the hands of his new daddy Les. I already miss him terribly, but he's very happy where he is, with an entire house to run around in.

We got a nice new king sized bedroom set, and the bedroom is now all bed. It is a room meant for one thing, and it makes sure you know it. I'm already enjoying propping up my pillows, grabbing some stitching, and relaxing while watching a movie, cuddled in the vast expanse of comfort. And at night, Dane doesn't gouge me in his sleep with his pointy toenails.

Due to the influx of new furniture, this has led to a complete redesign of the spare room, and has gotten Dane to finally admit that, aside from the computer, the room is essentially mine. I have assimilated it. I am grinning evilly.



As I have been cleaning and rearranging, I have been finding many new ideas hidden, footnotes to bits and pieces of things I forgot I had. It's been very hard to not be able to instantly give life to these ideas among the mess of spring cleaning.

However, I am making progress on my Diet quilt to the point that it feels more tangible than when I started. A solid and real thing is emerging from my scraps. At a loss as to what to do when I forgot the main part of the quilt on a road trip, but still with a box of scraps on my lap, I stitched together some small squares, measured and cut right there in the car. Pieced by hand, it became a mini patchwork to add to the main piece. I have since basted it in the very center of the main body. Scraps for this new addition were kindly donated by dear Mary Anne.

We went to the Dallas area over Memorial weekend and saw my sister and nephews. We all went to Scarborough Faire together, which was awesome as most renaissance festivals are, and I got tons more ideas to add to the already overflowing box in my head. Those will have to wait until next year, however, as they're only relevant to RenFaire season.

Final order of business until next post, which should be in the next day (I'm still preparing pictorial evidence), is that Summer semester starts tomorrow, and I begin the frightening task of Anatomy and Physiology. I have some plans for this semester to keep me from missing out on the time I need to craft. Wish me luck, one and all!

Do You Has An Owl Too?

A few little owls have followed me to school and made themselves known in the strangest places... I'm waiting for one to appear during a Sociology lecture.

I've been rather wrapped up with school stuff, which is really the way it's supposed to be. I'd love to spend all day creating things and cutting up fabric and just making a mess, but sadly, that doesn't get the bills paid in four years when Dane expects to be able to go for his Art and/or History degree. And it's hard to think of artsy things or just write in my art journal when I have to make cultures with my own lip bacteria or look at a slide of a gonococcus smear. (And yes, you guessed right. That is the bacteria responsible for gonorrhea. Isn't microbiology fun?)

But then, I feel fairly certain I'll see more little owls showing up to keep me company while I study. This guy flew in during micro lab tonight.