Wreck this Journal, Week 5

Wreck these sneakers!

I'm not sure if it is because I am still hesitant to take the big wrecking steps of dragging, swinging, and tossing the book, or because the girls and I are now in full summer swing, which means more time riding bikes, swimming, and gardening, and less time with books and blogging, but for some reason, I was clinging less tightly to my journal this week. So I'm just getting around to posting week 5 in week 6.

I wasn't able to participate in the favorite pages swap because I can't leave comments on that new(ish) comment format Jamie is using on the Next Chapter homepage, and I was too lazy to send her an email. These are my current two favorite pages...

(1)
I find staring at these circles calming!

(2)
I love the art of science and the science of art.

I was surprised that the page that had the most impact on me this week was the fruit sticker page.

fruit sticker page, week 5

When I first started putting the stickers there, I was just glad for a place to stick those darn things that usually end up stuck to anything nearby when I'm cutting up fruit! This week, though, I realized that my habits had been changed. As soon as I peeled a sticker off a piece of fruit, before even washing the fruit, I went in search of my journal to add the sticker to the page. I interpreted this as giving myself permission to drop whatever I'm doing to make art! Tiny steps can add up to daily practice. This realization is being validated by the 100 in 100 project, inspired by Rowena. For me, it has become a daily self portrait. So it makes perfect sense to me that self portraits are making their way into the journal.

self portrait, more of a tear than a scratch

a nice print made verso

Picking up the book without using your hands is pretty easy in the wrecking world!
After picking up the book with my feet,
I covered the page with a piece of paper and drew a self portrait.

I brought the book in the shower with me early on.
So I covered this page with paper, too, and drew a cartoon self portrait of a summer storm bike ride.

Along with the art of wrecking, I made more room for drawing in the journal by gluing blank paper over a few more pages.

I covered up Keri's publishers and acknowledgments pages.

A blank page awaiting the 5 steps for an artist's life!

I decided to draw cartoons to illustrate Keri's materials list.

The girls and I bought blue candy to do the tongue painting page. It was fun, but we realized we'd need a lot more candy to make a picture. I augmented mine with crayon and marker!

Tongue painting revelation: there isn't as much pigment in candy as you think!

I finally did the laundry, so this page that waited patiently in my jeans' pocket, got a chance to go through the wash and be stuck back in the book.

Two of the paper girls fell off, so I glued them on the opposite page.

In anticipation of serious wrecking, I bought a few more rolls of colorfully colored duct tape. So perhaps I'll be able to take the book for a walk this week.

More wrecking to come...