paper shuffling

last week, against all sense and reason, I had the urge to gather up some papers painted last year and shuffle them about for a while

looking for connections, how this might work with that

layers

juxtapositions

in the doing of that I noticed marks, nuances of line and colour I hadn't really seen before

beginning with commonality of colours, I found papers and fabrics I had painted with varying media

watercolour, ink, acrylic paint and gesso

and then lit upon some pieces done using expressive calligraphy, the words from a Robert Service poem

written with ink on paper I had painted with watercolour

a spray of water immediately after writing caused the ink to burst forth, creating marks that reminded me of the dark winter trees I grew up with

a heavily edited photo of cloth I had gathered shibori-style and painted with a granulating watercolour paint, also from a year and half ago, also seemed like an interesting backdrop 

there are some here too that are intriguing me but there was no time to take either of these further (hence the "sense and reason' remark) - we're off to Oregon for a while to visit family but as I said at the beginning, the urge to play with these was too compelling to ignore

I haven't brought them with me to work with but I have brought the fire they lit in me along with a few supplies to feed it

after a few years of struggling to find inspiration I have come to learn that I must take it where I find it, follow the threads where they lead me and let the work come as it will

to trust in that and seize it when it does

this one I've grabbed with both hands