In The Artist's Way, Julia Cameron suggests that everyone should have an Artist Date--a day to just ramble around and follow whatever trails we choose, solo, for a whole day. I can't remember whether she advocated doing this weekly or monthly. One of my favorite compliments was from my friend Bonnie who was then teaching a class based on this book: "Don't you do that every day?" she asked me.
Well, I can't claim to do that every day, but as often as possible I like to carve out time for poking around.
A couple of days ago I bought ten vintage postcards--sepia toned studio prints of French
children, hand-tinted, probably taken during the twenties or thirties.
"What are you going to do with these?" the clerk at the antique store asked me.
Maybe incorporate them in collage? Maybe frame them? Maybe give them to my friends for presents? I don't know--I just couldn't leave the store without them.
I love the tinting, the colors, the composition, and the clothes. They reminded me, too, of going to the Olan Mills Portrait Studio in the fifties, and posing for pictures with changing backdrops and props.
I don't have many pictures of Carlene as a girl. A house fire destroyed most of them. While these children are French, I'm guessing the girls are about the same age as she.
From the postcard rack, I went to Jo Ann Fabrics and found a starter for my scarecrow. Nathan and Elena are spending the night tonight, so we're going to dress this guy. All he has now is a foil hat I found in a thrift shop.
Fall is in the cooler air and light outside is changing. Two doors down, four huge bougainvilleas are growing so close to each other that it looks like one enormous plant--purple, coral, white and pink flowers in profusion.
David Whyte said, "When the eyes are tired, the world is tired, also."
The converse of that is certainly true, too.
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