Book of Hope 2009

So I wanted to make my 4 inch by 4 inch (10 cm by 10 cm) chunky page for alteredmommy’s collaboration, the Book of Hope 2009, but I wanted to figure out how to symbolize hope without being... well, twee. You need some contrast for meaning, some darkness with a hint of light. Last year I went for hope as strength with the phoenix rising from the flames. This year I came up with a break in the clouds.


The thick clouds are sponges a few millimeters (say, a quarter inch) thick which I have painted with acrylic. (The sponge was part of the packaging of the pineapple cake from our visiting student from Taiwan: reduce, reuse, recycle!) The other clouds are layers of translucent Japanese hand-made washi paper, as is the rainbow. The word hope is stamped in silver ink.






Because the clouds have depth, they cast shadows, depending on the direction of the light source (sunlight in this case).

In other news: it is spring out there! Let’s hope that in traditional Toronto fashion, the weather does not revert to winter again. I am ready to scale back from my heavy winter coat. and I took Sukie to High Park, which was veritably infested with thankful Torontonians, soaking up the sunlight and looking at swans, ducks, geese and woodpeckers. It seems my friends are scheming about housing right now. Change is afoot.

I had kind of planned to go to the craft swap at Freedom Clothing... but I think I might try to tackle Project Darwin instead. Though I feel like I should be outside.