A New Year...New Projects

About mid-December, I became so disheartened with politics that I quit blogging. Now that corporations are people and vast amounts of corporate money can be slathered on politicians and wannabe politicians of choice, what possible impact can one small voice in the wilderness of the GOP-dominated South have? Not much, I thought--and think. When I began this blog, I was really thinking of my children, of being for them a role model of writing, thinking, and engagement with the world around us, especially since we had just up-ended our comfortable life by moving to another state and a huge urban area. Now the kids are off on their own (mostly; we continue to support them. I hope to God they can support themselves in the near future), and their own pursuits engage their time and energy: university studies and research, part-time jobs (volunteer and paid), activities with friends. Also, well-known bloggers who are also reporters are writing about issues with far more skill and knowledge than I have. Let them carry on, and I'll read and ponder, keeping my thoughts to myself.

But here's another reason for me to blog: keeping my thoughts to  myself too often results in those thoughts spinning around in a kaleidoscope of ideas that never coalesce coherently. Writing helps me to think. And writing publicly (even though the real public of one's blog may be one or two people) encourages me to choose my words more skillfully and think through my ideas a little more carefully. That discipline is worthwhile to me.  Also, online blogging provides me with tools I wouldn't have in personal journalling. I can insert a photo in seconds or a link to something I've read--or get a quick bit of information with a Google search. So I've decided to maintain this blog for a while longer, but I may not write regularly and I may, despite my best intentions, just pass on what I've read, what I think is worth reading, with little original comment.

However, here at home, I have started a journalling project which I hope to carry throughout the year for my own enjoyment. I am creating an altered-book art journal, which will combine craft, art, and writing. I saved my husband's huge Organic Chemistry textbook and am altering it into a personal journal in which I will practice my art skills (minimal at this point) and writing. The photo at the beginning of this entry is of the altered cover of that book. I am now beginning on the opening pages. Here are photos of the book before and as I began altering it into a journal:

And here is a photo of the inside-cover spread which I am working on now:

 

As  you can see, it's a collage of images from other sources: a print of a painting that friends of mine bought in China years ago while teaching there; a cut-out from a copy of a larger geometric ink drawing of one of my husband's great-aunts, words cut from magazines and journals, photos of flowers cut from gardening catalogs, a couple of line drawings from a dictionary--nothing original to me except the juxtaposition of these various cut-outs on this inside cover and some daubing on of alcohol inks and matte gel medium. The drawing of the shovel and hoe on the front cover IS my original art, very elementary. But over time and with practice, perhaps my art will improve. Certainly, I am learning already how to use media that I've never used before in my art and craft projects.  

And I continue with my ongoing projects of gardening and making things: 

Some things remain the same from year to year, some of which constancy is heartening, and some of which is disheartening--like the continuing spiraling downward of our political discourse and democratic process. Making things and growing things will help keep me positive in the long election year ahead of us.