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

[Amy]

Off topic....that new picture of you on the side is SO adorable I could scream.
On topic:....FABULOUS book. Aren't Moms the best? You seem to be the very mom that you describe your mother as being. I LOVED that today at the shop you so calmly said that Miranda was "in" with the clowns. You know....we all need to be "IN" with some clowns in our lifetime.....it's part of the FULL CIRCLE.
Cheers to more productive creative working days WITHOUT having the flu!!!!!

[isay]

This is a beautiful tribute to your mom. I like this post a lot! Ohhh I am missing my mother-she died years ago.

[Glen the Husband]

MMMmmmmmmm.... pork chops.......

[s.patel]

love the tribute to your mom! great inspiration book!

[Wendy Updegraff]

I love the book, made especially wonderful because of all of the influence Moms give us, whether we know it or not.

[lisa]

I can only hope to be half the Mom that your's is! sometimes it is surprising to hear my children make a reference to something I did or said. When my son was in HS, he wrote about his hero and surprisingly, it was me!. Your art is just amazing and thanks for the great read! Lisa

[Laume]

It seems one hears far more about mothers who don't seem to live up to their daughter's expectations, it's so nice to hear about a great mother/daughter relationship. I feel the same way about my mom - she's quirky, certainly not perfect, but inspiring in so many ways and I always knew she loved me beyond anything. I really lucked out.

[andrea]

well I really like where that post took you! how cool.

[RedMolly]

What a great and inspiring tribute... and a wonderful way to open an Inspiration Book. Maybe I need something like that... heaven knows I'm totally uninspired lately.