Finished - finally!

Do you remember this - the Lenten Logbook I started back on 1st March? I shared the first 10 prompts, and said I'd return with the next 10...

Well, I got sick on 20th March (nasty throat virus that would not leave), so the logbook languished on my desk for a full month...

Here's a few of my favourite pages from 10th to 20th March:



Prompt 13: Create 
Lots of scribbles on this rather important verb - with two exclamation marks!!


Prompt 14: Flow
This quote from Virginia Woolf is in every journal in which I scribble, I think. It epitomizes my favourite tree (the Willow), and the way I like to live my life - rooted deep in my values and what's important to me, yet willing to bend and flex when needed.



Prompt 16: Path
Oh, the magic of cycling along country lanes... boy, do I miss it :/ And a beloved ancient spirit, Elen of the Ways.



Prompt 20: Focus
From this day on, my focus was on getting better - it was a story I couldn't tell as my throat was raging, I could only live through it...



So the remaining pages were completed a few weeks after the dates they signify, but it seemed important to me to finish this project and fill this beautiful journal.

Prompt 24: Impulse
I think the contrast between these two pages speaks for itself... the left-hand one is from the previous prompt Twist, but it sums up how I felt when I was ill; and the light, bright one on the right... well, I just wanted to dance when I finally felt better :)

Now, when we tipped into April, I continued using Jen Morris' prompts from last year, so here's her list followed by a few favourite pages:




Prompt 1: Mantra
Oh, I do love a good mantra... they help me focus my thoughts, and still my chattering mind...



Prompt 5: Down
A lovely Toast catalogue image on the left, and the cutest wee barn owl card I bought in Sandringham :)



Prompt 11: Stretch
I really don't know why, as I usually don't like cutesy images, but I've always loved the Gorjuss craft range :) And I love this Country Living image, which I clipped to fit around the stamped bee and grasses - striding out, with the road stretching behind and before...



Prompt 15: Indulge
This was a tricky prompt for me, as this year April 15th was Easter Saturday, and while I've shared my favourite pretty pages, I never lost sight of the fact this is a Lenten record of thoughts and feelings - many of which are deeply personal pages on my faith*. So the thought of 'indulging' while remembering the death and burial of Jesus was somewhat incongruous...

But art-making is often the marriage of seeming disparate elements... And so I segued this prompt into my thoughts on that first Easter, and what I imagine the disciples were thinking and feeling - especially the women... They had all dared to dream that the man they had chosen to follow was the promised Messiah, only to see him brutally murdered, so now what? Would they suffer the same fate?



The image on the left is how I imagine Mary Magdalene felt that first Easter Sunday when she came to the garden to tend the broken body of her Beloved - lost, emotionally naked and raw. Then she found the empty tomb - 'they' had even stolen his body, as if taking his life wasn't enough, it was all TOO much!

But then, the man 'she took to be the gardener', spoke her name...




... and so began another story - the old one was done.



* those who have known me for many years, know my relationship with the Church has had its ups and downs (to say the least), but my connection to Spirit/God/the Divine has been a constant, and the universal aspects of Jesus' life/death/resurrection are Truth I can understand - they speak my language, I know it deep in my bones

6 comments:

  1. Beautiful Clare, so lovely to see our little owl friend again too! xx

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    1. Thank you :) Yes, I had to find a special place for him...
      xx

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  2. oh, such gorgeous pages, Claire! you make me miss my art journal days. :) xoxo

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  3. What a beautiful book. I love your collages. And that Virginia Woolf quote is one I am going to remember. x

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  4. Lovely! And yes, willows are much stronger than they look.

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  5. A lovely work of Art.... And... It means so much to you. -happy sigh-

    I have never heard of Elen of the Ways. Must look for more about his ancient spirit...

    So sorry you were so sick. Sounds like strep throat. Do hope you doctored for it....... Some of present day illnesses, need present day medicines.

    Gentle hugs,
    Luna Crone

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