I am participating in a self portrait collaborative (lucky me!). We all made "books" (or boxes, or bags or more ideas that I haven't seen yet) and sent it to the next participant in the collaborative. Each month we receive a new one to work in and then send it on. Talk about loving the mail, I am always so excited to rip into the package and see what clever creation the artist made. This month I have Claudine's book. As soon as I saw it, I was happy. It is a very sweet, fresh, happy book that she created for her entry. I love her artwork. claudinehellmuth.blogspot.com Her theme is "portraits of childhood" ...love that too.
My pages here are so different than the other self portrait collaborative entries that I have done. I have done pages that are more similar to her "poppet" series, by putting my head on other bodies, or drawn in bodies, paper dolls, but today this is what showed up. It seems like more of a memory page. As I write that I realize I probably was heavily influenced by the title of her book. My mother died when I was in my teens. It surprises me (pleasantly so) how often she shows up in my artwork. I feel like the first photo captures my youthful innocence and wonder and the second her love for me while I (as most children do) have already moved on to something else. The little photo on the second page is of me in a itsy bitsy blue polka dot bikini on a family vacation in Florida. I thought this was particularly fitting since that's where Claudine lives.
Here is the fun I had in her book today:
