Select Artwork for Larger View and Item List
"Ctrl P" to Print
Art Journaling as a healing process
by Michelle Weaver
Some of you probably aren't aware of this, but we lost both my father in law and my mother in law in a three month period. My mother in law had been terminally ill for a long time, but my father in law's death was a shock. Not that any death is easy, but we were so focused on caring for my mother in law, it never occurred to any of us that she wouldn't be the first to die.
Because of the kind of year we've had, I've been struggling with emotional stuff, mostly surrounding my mother in law. She was an amazing woman, very strong, a true fighter. I've decided to dedicate my art journaling to her, at least the first month of it. All the pages I've done are in honor of strong women, mothers, the women who are fighting for our country, women who deserve to be honored and revered.
Women are so often put down as being weak. Just a look at the race for the presidential nomination shows in glaring ugliness what the world does to women who dare to show they are anything but. Regardless of political affiliation, we saw two strong women being ripped to shreds by different factions, comments being made about their cleavage, pictures taken of them looking haggard, or pictures of body parts. I feel both women handled the scrutiny with grace. I was so proud of our gender in 2008, that we've made so much progress from the days when women were little more than decoration.
The first picture is in honor of mothers. Mothers are truly heroes in our world. Women are the bearers of life, blessed with the ability to grow people inside of them. Mothers bear not only their own sorrows, but they share the burden of their children's pain for their entire lives. Women are strong. I really wish all women recognized the strength we have inherent in ourselves. The world would be a brighter place if women owned their strength and used it to make this place better.
The second picture is in honor of femininity and strength. A lot of women think you can't be strong and be feminine. Femininity, femaleness, is often equated with the opposite of strength, but I know that is what makes us so strong. We're tough, resilient, and we're very hard to keep down. I definitely think of strong women as roses - beautiful to behold, but sharp enough to cut you if you mess with them. Roses look delicate, but their thorns tell a different story. Women are a lot like that. Fragile looking, soft, round, but looks are often deceiving.
The third picture is in honor of beauty. Not the kind of beauty we've been taught about, the kind that makes a person pretty on the outside. That kind of beauty fades. It's the inner beauty that is what lasts throughout a lifetime. We've all heard the cliche "Beauty is only skin deep." I think that's nonsense. Beauty has nothing to do with what a person looks like. The most beautiful women are the ones whose insides shine with it. We all know those women. They are the women who are quick to smile, no matter how bad their day has been. Or the women whose hands are full, but not so full that they can't hold the door for someone. Beauty is much more than what's on the outside, and that's a lesson I wish we could teach to all young women who feel they need to look a certain way to be beautiful. It just isn't true. We need to teach our daughters to be strong and good, and let them know that those traits more important than physical attributes.
I'm not usually so introspective. I'm not typically so serious, either. In face, I'm the woman making jokes, the one who always has a smart, snide, or sarcastic answer for everything. But I think the events of the past few years require me to think more and speak less, and to be much less flippant with the things I do and say. I still hope to be lighthearted and goofy and fun, but I also want to say things that I think are important. I hope you won't mind too much if I have an article here and there filled with these thoughts. I promise to try to keep them to a minimum.
Use your art to heal. I guess that's what I'm trying to do.
Smooth Sailing,
Michelle Weaver
michelleweaver@ssreflections.com
Altered Arts Deck Crewmember
http://princessmatildalovestostamp.blogspot.com
Reflections Publishing Group, LLC
This entire web site © Copyright Reflections Publishing Group, LLC Legal Statement
***Disclaimers - While individual techniques may vary, always follow product manufacturers' directions and cautions for safety and best results.
LINK TO NEXT PAGERead our Current Newsletter • Sign up for our bi-monthly Newsletter •