studio friday.

This week's Studio Friday topic once again, is extremely timely. It is ART TRIBUTE and it was suggested by Lauren.

An art tribute to someone that you love, and that encouraged\inspired\supported you as an artist...

Okay so last week, I wasn't feeling great and really needed to spend some time laying around. Well, I don't do "laying around" so hot. I always like/need to be doing something and preferably, doing something artsy.

I've been wanting to put together an official Inspiration Book for a long time and about a month ago, I found a very cool scrapbook at Goodwill that I wanted to use.

I've been collecting pictures and saving magazines for a long time. I even recently went through and threw a lot of stuff away (arrrgggh!) because it never occured to me that this was my Inspiration Book in the making. I just thought I was being a nerdy, obsessive compulsive pack rat. Ha! I was cool and didn't even know it!

Since my body was insisting on resting and I was insisting I didn't want to, we compromised and I worked on my Book in between, well, er, um, let's not go there. :-)

So in looking through my newly born Inspiration Book, I realized that smack dab on page one is a picture of my Mom. In retrospect, I just think that's so cool. Could this be a subconscious declaration that my Mom is a huge source of inspiration to me? Yeah, I think so.

That's my Mom in a lovely red print dress that I now know to be something she made. Isn't she glorious!? I just love this picture of her and I just love this woman. Strong. Sharp. Witty. Sassy. Funny. Articulate. Beautiful. Lovely. Elogant. So many qualities that she most likely isn't aware she possesses. Oh and she's smart like you wouldn't believe. She also has a beautiful singing voice and some of the finest penmanship I've ever seen (maybe that's why I love writing and calligraphy so much!) She's also a fine cook and makes the best fudge you'll ever taste!

My Mom is completely self-made. It wasn't until I was a teenager that she finished school, got her driver's license and acquired a trade. Once she discovered she was capable and deserving of respect, she gave husband #2 a well-deserved boot out the door, and she made herself a life. She pretty much rocked it.

I didn't necessarily intend for this to be a huge tribute to my Mom because, well, that would take a lot more than a couple of paragraphs. Suffice it to say that she is the coolest. She is always there, cheering me on, supporting me and encouraging me at every turn of my life. She's my mother and she's my friend. Thanks Momma. I love you..(sniff, sniff). :-)

Just for fun, here are two other pages in my Inspiration Book, or "IB," as I'm now calling it, that are fit to be shared. I still envision adding fabric, ribbon, lace and what nots as I come across them.

I'm just so happy to have finally organized these bits of my life enough to start putting together a book for myself. Let's just hope it doesn't take another bout of stomach flu to get me to work on it again!

Thanks for the visit! Happy Friday!

Comments

[Emilia]

I love this post! I am so touched that you take your mom as the ART TRIBUTE ! She is such a lovely but strong woman! No wonder you said so much good things about her.
This IB will be great after you adding more pages about your artist life!

PS it seems that I missed so many good posts for the past week...I scrolled down and saw Andrea's picture in the another post. Can't wait to see what's going on between you girls!

[renee]

Our Mom really IS a glorious lady, which your descriptions aptly and beautifully demonstrate.
Thank you for this today!

[simone]

Our Mommy......I LOVE her!! She always has been, and always will be...my inspiration, my source of comfort, my co-hort in word knowledge, my sounding board, my hero and my best friend. I would love to be even half the woman our Mom is. And yes, there's the fudge thing too...not to mention the best pork chops I have ever tasted in my entire life. My dear sisters, we have won the Mommy lottery!!

I concur with Renee, thank you so much for this post, and for how beautifully you gave our MommyWommy some very well-deserved kudos!!

[gina]

I love both of these pages,especially the giant card? PLEASE Don't throw anything away! Put it in an envelope and when it is full address it to me! I have spent over $300 dollars this year raking people ( with contributions from my buddy Greta@ me-ocracy! Thanks for using Mommy, too!

[Lilli]

This is so lovely. You're lucky to have such an inspiring role model. No wonder you turned out so good :)

[Anke]

That sure is a great tribute to your mom. Really touching.....it's important to have a family who supports you. It makes you stronger and happier.
PS: I did something like you too, an inspiration book on color combinations from magazines, it's so much fun, I didn't expected to be like that. So enjoy working on yours!

[Jana]

Awww, you are going to make your Momma cry! What a sweet, sweet post---lovely book too---I need to do something like that instead of filing everything away where I never see it.

[Felicia]

Your mom sounds totally and completely awesome. And you can tell her I said so :)

[Cassondra W.]

Well, well, I think I have just the "what nots" you could use! Book looks beautiful!

[tricia]

Michelle, this is just gorgeous. Your book is beautiful, and what a lovely tribute to your mom. What a lucky girl, what a lucky mama.
PS: for the record, your stomach-flu proved to be far more productive than mine! : )