art junk girl

today is where your book begins...

Dear Friends:
I've always been a believer in everyday is a new day. A fresh beginning. It doesn't matter what happened yesterday. Today is the first day of the rest of your life! Last night as I was driving home, I heard this song on the radio and I found it to be a metaphor for my journal writing. It's a song by Natasha Bedingfield entitled, "Unwritten". I love all the words, but particularly the parts about "today is where your book begins" and "the rest is still unwritten". It's never too late for a new beginning. It's never too late to start. Today is the day!
The wonderful lyrics are in the text below. I wanted to share some pics of how I work in my moleskine. It's always a work in progress, just like me. Some days I write in it. Somedays I just paint. Some days I paint over what I write and somedays I write over what I paint. It's all good. It's all fun.

"Unwritten"
I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

[Chrous:]
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Oh, oh, oh

I break tradition, sometimes my tries, are outside the lines
We've been conditioned to not make mistakes, but I can't live that way

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

[Chrous:]
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find

Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions

[Chrous:]
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten
The rest is still unwritten

Learning Curve...

Dear Friends,
I've been a busy bee lately. I'm finally tending to some things I've been wanting to do with my "squares" and other junk. The problem is, I don't know a whole lot about printing, photoshop, etc. so it's been very slow. I'm really trying to take the time to learn some things though. Sometimes it's a matter of sitting down and doing things the wrong way so that you can learn to do them the right way. That may not make any sense to you. On the way to "learning" last week, I wanted to toss my printer over the deck and watch it crash into a million pieces. I don't know if that says something about me, or how cheaply printers are made these days. Oh well. I digress.

So, I decided to proceed in baby steps. I will be "releasing" a postcard series of my squares soon. Here is the first one. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it. Ker-plunk. xo lia

Hello again...

Ok, so it's been a few days since I've updated the blog. Mainly because I've been hyperfocussed on finally, yes finally, getting my etsy shop going. You know the one. The light is on, but no one is home. I finally had to sit my sidetracked self down to "make a plan". In addition, I've been working on a few swap projects, some mail art, and publishing my first "mini" zine. I made this zine last year. I found it when I cleaned/moved my studio. I found a lot of stuff when I cleaned/moved my office. Some things that I didn't even remember making. I'm serious. It's kind of wierd and kind of fun at the same time. I put aside my favorite pieces for printing. I will also be offering up some of my original collages.

And then, there are the inchies.

Yes, I will be printing those as well. They will be available as postcards soon. I wanted to let you all know, because a few of you have asked. I'm working on it.
I went to the copy center yesterday and found out why people print their zines in black and white, okay?Wow, and I thought gas prices were expensive. Of course, I had not a clue on how to use these huge, or as my greek mother says, "hugas" machines. There was a sign bigger than the front door that said, "We are happy to help you here". The arrow pointed to a countertop that clearly not seen a human heart beat in years. So, I digress....

Anyhow, I'm finally ready to ride this learning curve. I am, after all, a very patient person. (cough).

So, where was I? Oh, yeah, I've been hyperfocussed. I hope to show you the fruit of my labors soon. Oh, and thanks to DJ giving me a "nudge" to paint my self-portrait, I did a quick ink drawing on a memo pad...from a profile photo of myself today (while I was printing things). Here it is... (side note: my nose is not this big in real life, ok? well, at least I don't think it is...).

I plan to start painting later this month. I'm glad you are patient like me, DJ.

So, that's what is up with me. I will keep you all posted on my progress as it goes. Talk soon friends. xo lia

And the winner is.....

I used a random number generator at random.org to select the winner of this month's giveway. The entries were selected from the May comments.

The number selected was, per random.org:

Here are your random numbers:

79

Timestamp: 2008-06-01 13:33:12 UTC

The 79th commenter this month was..........JEANNINE!!!!!!!!!

from comment log....
Jeannine
A summer "artjunk" Survey!~I need feedback! (Post)
5/21/08

(I'm thrilled to bits!)~

(thank's to typepads comment log, I didn't have to use my mad math skills too much. lol.)

Thank you to everyone who comments here, I appreciate your support and friendship! xoxo Lia