This post started as an email to my friend June of Junibear's Jottings, http://junibearsjottings.blogspot.com/. For some reason, I find I cannot leave comments on people's blogs from my home computer. I think it might have something to do with the draconian security settings my ever-vigilant son-in-law put on. So, I end up emailing people directly instead of posting a comment on their blog. But I like to leave comments that other visitors can read too, so my way around the problem, this time, is to post the email I intended to send to June. Here it is:
Hi June,
Thanks as always for your encouraging comments on Collagitation! This is the sixth month of collage-a-day, which I should rename "collage-almost-every-day" I'm so far behind--probably around 10 days by now : ( It really matters only to me, but I hate to set a goal and not follow through!!!
As usual, I am unable to leave a comment on others' sites, I still don't know why. Curiously, when you or someone leaves a comment RE an entry on Theme Thursday or Three Muses challenges, I am able to follow the link and leave a comment. But not if I go directly from my computer, which tells me something (although not anything helpful to me.)
June, your post about being wheel chair bound is very moving, not maudlin at all. I do so admire your courage and cheerfulness in the face of such a life-changing event. I hope you are not in pain. My Mom is still ambulatory, but she often has severe pain from gout and arthritis. She has a whole slew of health problems. As my daughter says, we are lucky to still have her with us.
I had to smile at your comment about where I get my ideas for my art, because that particular piece, which I call Nocturnalia, came about mostly by chance. I keep cuttings in shallow boxes where they live until I need them for a piece. Yesterday when I started to work, I picked up a box and noticed the way a bunch of elements had arbitrarily arranged themselves in the shallow box. (That's why the pillared arch is upside down!) Here's the digital photo I took after I started playing with the image,while everything was still in the box, so I'd remember the arrangement when I really got to work on it. It changed quite a bit but still recognizably the same piece.
Sometimes inspiration is just a matter or having enough stuff laying around the worktable! This is not the first piece that came about that way. Which is one of the reasons I love manual as opposed to digital collage. The main reason being, of course, because I don't know enough about digital art to make the images I want to. But I'm working on it!
My mother and I are both feeling much better today, thank you for your kind wishes, and I hope you are feeling good too, Junibear, because you are a treasure of a friend and we are all so lucky to know you!
Hugs from Diane