Journey

"Journey", August ATC exchange at creativemompodcast

What a topic. So many possible interpretations. Journey from childhood to adulthood, from there to here, journey toward being a mom. I played around with this in my head for quite a while, and then this morning I found myself awake at 5am, mentally arranging little bits of paper. After trying to get back to sleep for half an hour, I finally gave up, cleared off the table, and went to work.

The underlying layer is vintage graph paper, rescued from the trash bin at my husband's work. It seems that no one uses graph paper anymore. I don't use it professionally, but still I love it, always have. The evenly spaced grids, the slight see-through-it-ness of it.

Above is a piece of a map from the MBTA subway system in Boston, the T. I went to college in the Boston area, and the T was a huge part of my life. Mostly unconscious, but always there. Where to live to be close to a T stop, preferably on the red line so I could get to school without having to change lines. When was the last train? How to get to the airport? How to get anywhere? Which stations should you avoid late at night? I went to undergrad and grad school at the same place, and for all but a year of that time I was car-less, and so entirely dependent on the T.

At the top is a little piece of a mountain, for my current home. Torn from a flyer for the county fair that we went to this weekend.

And on top of it all is a portion of a T pass, from 1991. I have a stack of these, I don't know why I saved them, but I did and finally I found a use for one of them.

This is my second attempt at an ATC, my first is here. This is definitely a stretch for me, both because the space is so small, and also because I'm not used to creating this type of art. I think this is a wee bit more involved than my previous one, but still it seems kind of plain. Oh well, it's all a journey, right?

This time I made an extra for me to keep. Same basic idea, slightly different arrangement.

Comments

[Anamaria]

I think plain is perfect for these, Amanda (it's not even the word I would use). I especially like the way you used the graph paper as a background, and the T ticket. I too love graph paper--and still use it, for cross-stitch designs sometimes but mostly for projects with Leo (invented codes! "blueprints" and garden plans! he loves the stuff). Good for you for doing something new, too.

[heidi]

oh i love it amanda! what a journey indeed!

[Jessica]

I love the graph paper, too. It comes in handy for drawing out my crafting ideas. That's a good idea that you made an extra one to keep than just having a picture of it as a memento, then you can have it around as inspiration for future projects.

~~jessica