Caves and Colds

It's been a tough week.  I came down with a cold not long after we came back from Oxford, and while for most people that would be a minor inconvenience, during chemo it can be quite scary.  My temperature shot up and my breathing became so laboured that I required oxygen over a few days.  However, I am nothing if not determined that I am not going to be dictated to by this disease or its treatments ~ so I monitored the temperature closely,  sucked on the oxygen when necessary and slowly made art!

Using some found objects I created a door way to a Faery cave.  It was so much fun!  I used stamps which I didn't press firmly on, and over stamped with watery paint to produce indistinct images. I haphazardly cut around the edges of the paper to make the foreground greenery, and then scrunched it all up in my hands before using a glue gun (!) to stick it all together. I left trails of the glue all over the place and then used sandpaper to rub down the background.  I even wound brass wire clumsily around a small shard of quartz crystal and suspended it from the cave roof, allowing it to dangle in the door way.  It was all very haphazard, and yet, oh so liberating.  Everything I normally do, from being very precise with my inks to carefully finishing off wire ends was completely forgotten.  In fact the only thing I didn't forget was the overwash of Twinkling H2O paints to give hints of faery dust and glitter when the sunlight catches the picture at certain angles.  Sparkles, as you are no doubt aware, are very important!

And you know what?  I love this piece. It is textured, layered, has meaning and depth.  And although I worked on it over several days, it also has an immediacy to it which is foreign to me.  This is a new experience and I've really enjoyed working on it.  Even the outcome is transient, as I've decided to give it back to the Universe when I feel the time is right.  I will leave it in the woodlands where I picked up most of the found objects and give thanks to the Goddess for Her timely gifts.

Of course, my energy has been depleted so my time has been focused on one thing.  Maybe next week I'll be able to do some work on my Goddess Year book.