IllFriday ~ Sorrow ~

Follow the Rose Opal Path ...

After a couple of weeks of lurking on the fantastic and inspirational www.illustrationfriday.com I have only gone and done an illustration ... yes, I know, I'm as amazed as you are! I've noticed that quite a few of the people who have posted for this week's topic of 'Sorrow' have commented that they were a little put off by the topic and would have preferred something more joyful ... all I know is that although my picture was inspired by the word sorrow I couldn't feel more joyful for having created something, I've even got a daft grin on my face as I'm typing this. I also found that looking at other 'illfriday' pictures, however dark, didn't make me feel sorrowful - just inspired and moved. Maybe I'm not going deep enough into my art yet but I think that the darker the subject matter or the more resistance I feel toward tackling a subject, the more I'll get out of creating something. Anyway this is turning into an art therapy manifesto so let me get back to celebrating the death of my creative procrastination ... ***breaking news ~ how strange that just as I'm writing about celebrating, the post arrives with a 'thanks, but no thanks' letter from York University to tell me I haven't got the job I was interviewed for last week ... yeah I'm feeling sorrow now ... even though I am applying for a much better job and didn't think the job was right for me long term ... still it's hard to be turned down for a job - dammit*** ... so where was I - oh yeah, I used watercolour pencils, a quilting pencil, a gold stamp-pad (which I applied using a fine brush) and some eyeshadow from a pallette with 42 colours that came free with a makeup bag (I used it on the eyes, cheeks and lips) - it's great because it's kind of chalky but in loads of different colours and with sponge applicators included in the case which makes it very easy to apply. The writing on the path says "... and one jewel encrusted night you will stand between the sapphire sea and the ruby beach, crying tears of sorrow as you realise that you alone are holding the door closed." In the back of my mind I keep hearing part of a quote about sorrow which I'll try to find and will add here. For now I'll submerge myself in the new batch of illfriday pics and will be suggesting 'rejection' as a future theme ;-)