WOYWW #434

As tomorrow will be a big day for me, and with family dropping by later on today, I'm afraid I won't be able to comment much at all today.

But I was able to add 2 new entries to the junque journal I made last month. The first entry may be seen in my previous post by following this link HERE. For more WOYWW fun, you may visit our WOYWW Queen of the Deskers, Julia Dunnit, HERE.

I am scheduled to have a biopsy tomorrow on the side of my face. This will allow a few tissue samples to be tested. They are trying to save the sight in my left eye that became impaired right before Labor Day weekend. If you pray, I would ask that you would please add the whole situation to your prayers. Nobody knows quite what's causing the optic nerve to become inflamed, thus leading to serious visual impairment. The grey veil is still with me this morning.

Meanwhile, there is still art, isn't there? 

The grey veil truly frightened me at first, but now I am a bit used to it. I did cry a good deal that first week. Terror and tears. A terrible week. Steroid treatment seems to keep the veiled look less heavy, sort of like a semi sheer drape with a thin wash of acrylic paint overtop, so that's better than before. The blood draw 2 weeks ago was intense. I'd never had so many vials drawn in one sitting before. My phlebotomist/"vampire" was a nice guy with a trim beard and a smile who made me feel more at ease. He had a kind sense of humor as well. That always helps, doesn't it?

As challenges continue, I won't give up on art entirely.

Art Therapy for one, given by one, from self to self.....

A First Attempt at Making Art One-Eyed

Despite my eyesight issue, I find that I cannot abandon any ideas for creative play. My aim is terrible today. Making little dots go where I wished them to be turned out to be a trying time, yet I refuse to stop altogether. In fact, during this dreadful time of wondering what's causing the problem with the sight in my left orbit, I know that I will have to make art in order to help my mind relax, even if it most certainly is bound to be sloppy and messy.

It's kind of handy the way in which I gave myself permission at the turn of the year to be as messy as I want to be for 2017. I say kind of. Once messiness was imposed upon me by this new and serious health problem, however, I began to worry that I might never be allowed to make art in a refined way again. This new worry comes after having been told that nobody's yet certain as to how come the left optic nerve is problematic. In fact, I'd always had pretty darned good eyesight up till now, a thing I long to have restored. I will never, ever be able to take eyesight for granted again. Even typing is more difficult than before - and I am all thumbs at the keyboard usually anyway.

So here is my first entry that is the title page for the new Junque Journal. From now on, it will have to be a no holds barred, wild and messy little book. The blue tape is from the length that a nurse cut for me at the place where they had to give me IV steroid therapy for 3 days in a row (she sent it home with me along with a spare glove so that I could still safely shower even with the IV still in my wrist). At first, that stuff would not glue down so easily. Seems it only likes to stick to skin and itself. I had to apply Gel Matte Medium thickly. I am pleased with the effect, tho', so that's nice to reflect back on. I plan on utilizing every bit of ephemera/junk I find during all of the various clinic and hospital trips I'll be taking. I already have a small stash to get started on.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. The alphabet letters are mainly from a small mixed bag set of typeface letters. Some are made of wood, while the rest are metal and quite heavy. They were a 2nd hand store find from a fun day out shopping long ago. These I stamped using a Colorbox Dragonfly Black Pigment ink pad. I added a thin layer of matte gel with ultramarine blue watercolor for a glaze to pull the blue bits together on the monotype clean-up pull page I chose from my junk stash for the book. The card is from a mixed incomplete deck of playing cards I keep around for collage purposes.

Anyway, that's it for the first try. Expect more in future as I feel my way through this new limited ability, self-made art therapy course I'm set on giving myself. As the famed British Prime Minister, Churchill once said, Never, never, never give up.
Words to live by.

On Hiatus for Health Reasons

I won't be able to do much of anything for a while. How long, I cannot say. Last night: ER for an MRI. Next Monday, an appointment to see a specialist. The entire thing revolves around my eyesight that became strangely impaired late last month.
I hope to eventually be allowed once more to create and to blog about it. I won't be able to do my favorite WOYWW weekly blog hops for a while.
I am having the best of care. Perhaps something really good will come out of all of this.
Meanwhile, please know that I'm thinking of you all very fondly.
Sincerely,
Rose