Tagged - I'm It!

Awhile back a lovely blogger I've gotten to know reached across cyberspace and tagged me. Well, almost tagged me. Janice graciously offered me the chance to bow out of playing. I guess this game is called Blog Tag? The rules are: go to a photo file and pick the 10th photograph then blog about the story behind the image. Then tag 5 other bloggers to play along.

I am inviting the bloggers I am tagging to play along if they want; they are all writers who tell such beautiful stories from their lives and my tagging them is a little nudge to tell me one more good tale. Only if they feel like it. Visit their blogs if you want to read some honest, insightful, thought provoking words along with stunning photographs.

✴ Jo (my first blogger I read way back when we were waiting for Cowgirl's referral and I only knew about knitting and adoption blogs) - http://www.shapeshifting.me/
✴ Penny (who is a friend of Jo's and is also an amazing photographer; I would love to spend an afternoon looking at the world through both of their cameras and souls) - http://the-penny-has-dropped.blogspot.com/
✴ Esther (amazing Esther! She is part of my Unravelling 365 group that has been faithfully snapping away a self portrait a day. I think she is on her second year?!) - http://inside-my-shell.blogspot.com/
✴ Jeanine (this is a blogger I am a tad shy in tagging in that I am a lurker on her blog. I discovered her blog a year ago and from her have connected with so many other wonderful writers and photographers and artist that honestly, I would not be doing what I am doing if not for her inspiration. Her photographs are dazzlingly beautiful and I could read her words for hours. Actually, I think I have.) - http://wonderingsandwanderings.wordpress.com/
✴ McCabe (who I discovered through Jeanine's blog and who has inspired me to reconnect with the child within me that love art but was who was paralyzed by the concept of Artistic Talent. She also writes beautiful prose poetry that has encouraged me to express myself in that very bare, rich and powerful format.) - http://dancingmermaid.com/blog/

It is very fitting that the tenth image in my Flickr pool is something I made for McCabe's first online Mermaid Warrior Art Camp:



An affirmation card. When Cowgirl and I did this project I had never heard of making background papers and we had no real scraps of things for collages. The paper here is that shiny kids craft paper and we only had finger paints to work with. Ah, the smell of finger paints! Transports me back to the grungy art rooms of my childhood. I found a set of inexpensive foam stamps at Hobby Lobby and I still love using those simple shapes in my journals.

When working on this project I explained to Cowgirl that we would be making cards to help remind us of things that make us feel happy. I asked her to imagine she was having a hard day and then think of what someone say to her that would immediately make her feel better. Her first response?




Yes, even then she was My C-Dawg.

And what wise advice ... when you are having a rough day, well then, simply dance.




I laugh to see these cards now. They were so simple but they remind me of the joy and the sense of discovery we felt those first days of making art together. They represent the beginning of a beautiful creative journey for us both. In less than a year we both have completely filled an art journal with our ideas, our dreams, and our discoveries. And they remind me that there is so much to be learned when spend time with each other listening, looking and sharing.

Cowgirl's recent journal pages

Thanks Janice for giving me a reason to pull out these cards and remember their lessons. And thank you for always inspiring. (Do visit Janice's yummy blog at: http://postcardsfromwildwood.wordpress.com/.)

Oh yeah, I need to keep this one handy:



and of course, this: