Although I was very busy the last months of 2010, I managed to answer
his ‘questions list’ for the book and submit a piece. Last week, I received
an e-mail that one-or-more (?) of my answers from the list will end up
in the book, but my art piece didn’t make it.

I’m kinda relieved about that too… I almost emailed him last month to ask him
NOT to choose my piece. When I look back at it now, I don’t find it very good.
It’s OK, but not GOOD. Somehow, my soul isn’t in it.
I’m glad Seth noticed that himself (although he’s too kind to say that!)
Besides being a great artist, I think he’s a good viewer/critic!

But the page isn’t bad either, so today I want to show it here on my blog.
I’d like to hear what you think of it.

Innermost

Used materials:
Paper (170 gram), Gesso (to prepare the paper), Acrylic paints, Sewing machine/red thread, Black markers (‘Stabilo” small and fine)

And this is the text, that’s written on the page:

The famous Dutch writer Harry Mulisch once stated that all people have
an ‘absolute age’. According to him, that is the age you’ve always been
and always shall be no matter how old you are. My inner age is nineteen.

The way I look at the world, deal with emotions and feel about myself
never really changed since then. I have a habit to put everything literally
into words. I am sort of an outsider, viewing my own life from a distance
and writing my own, private book about it. That doesn’t necessarily mean
I write it down on paper – sometimes the story stays in my head.
My head is full of words. I became aware of this when I was nineteen
and I discovered that only a few people have this literary inner life.
(Those people mostly become writers, by the way).

Why do I put everything into words, what’s the purpose of it all?
I thought a lot about it and came to this conclusion: it enables me
to analyze and understand myself in an almost scientific way.
It allows me to ‘re-read’ my own life. I look at my actions and emotions
from different angles and by doing that, I can learn from myself.
By turning my words into art journals, I also leave a legacy for the ones
that come after me. The Marit chronicles: written by a woman who stayed
nineteen all her life.

And here’s a detail photo of the stitching

It really is a coincidence that last weeks page in my Chronicles shows
a face and is made in exactly the same colours as the former page.
I do like my ‘week 14 page’ a lot better than the above page though.

The Chronicles of Marit – week 14

What do you think?
Which page do you prefer?

I have a few days work left to finish this week, but by Friday I will have more
breathing space. I’m looking forward to it already! I also can’t wait to visit my
friend Lena and see her face when she sees what kind of surprise I have for her
50th birthday. It’s got to stay a secret for now (after all – she reads this, aren’t
you dear? 😉 ) but I can tell you already – Lena is going to love what I have in
store for her and it’s hard to keep my mouth shut!
I will tell you all about it after her birthday, I promise!

OH, and a NOTE:
Next week, the registration for ‘Summer Camp’ opens!
If you subscribe to the newsletter on the website here, you’ll get notified.
Choose either English or Dutch by changing the language button on the site.

Enjoy your week my lovelies!
See you on Friday!