Brushin' Off

Love what you do.
Believe in your instincts.
And you'd better be able to pick yourself up
and brush yourself off every day.

I love this quote...perhaps it needs to be memorialized in rubber.

This morning I felt the inklings of a spark. When I first returned from our travels, I didn't get a chance to really feel the inevitable let-down. We were plunged right back into the care and whirlwind of the final days of a dear friend battling colon cancer. Now that she has gone to be with our LORD and the memorials are over, I was left feeling a little wrung out and rather empty.

I should be stronger than to let myself sink into a funk...at least, I think so. But, I had to face facts; I was sinking, sure enough. We have been home 3-1/2 weeks and I was starting to wonder if I was going to feel the spark of creativity ever again.

I had started this carve when we first returned. It is taken from a self-portrait photo my daughter took for her online profile. It's so artistic...I always wanted to give it a go in rubber, so I transferred and got to it, only to be bogged down. Forcing carving is just not the way to do it (and perhaps a portrait in orange stuff wasn't the thing to start with). Looking back, I can see I was struggling - I even missed a major line in the penciling that made a huge difference in the carve. I put the carve aside to collect dust and didn't sit back down at my desk...until this morning.

Carved in orange PZKut, the stamp measures 2" x 2.5". Now, do I have enough spark to make it into anything that resembles an artistic LTC?

I'm cautiously hopeful.