Artist, I am not....

...well, not in the sense that first comes to mind for the majority of people.  I can't really draw anything recognizable other than stick figures.  I don't paint, I don't sculpt, or any of the other things most people think of when they think of art.

And what do I do?  I string beads. "That's not art,"  most people would say.  I say you're wrong, but I digress.  I am going somewhere with this, I promise

I mentioned a few weeks ago something that I'm a part of called The Sisterhood of the Traveling Sketchbooks.  I will explain it poorly, but I will explain it nonetheless.  There are 13 of us.  You can check out my Sisters if you click on the tab that says "My Creative Sistahs."  We each have purchased sketchbooks that will be passed around once a month until all 13 books have passed through the hands of all 13 sisters.

While a book is in our our hands, we will draw/paint/sketch/whatever something that represents that month to us.  For instance, my birthday is next month, and I may be turning 34, but I'm still a huge kid about my birthday.  I can already tell you that when I get my second book, my entry will be all about some birthday cake and balloons. :D  But again, I digress.

I cannot draw or paint starting from a blank slate, so this project is a HUGE challenge for me.  I have taken it upon myself to learn something new.  I suppose you'd call what I've created a combination of collage and decoupage, maybe?

For our first pages in our own books, we are to choose a color, any color for any reason, and illustrate what that color means to us.  The color I chose is a burgundy/wine color.  And I've had flowers on my mind a lot lately, what with the peach and apple trees blooming, and the periwinkle we have growing in the back yard.

So here it is:

Perfect by no means, but I'm darn proud of it, seeing as it's my first attempt.  What I've done is "recreate"  my wedding bouquet of hydrangeas and roses with paper and glue, and a little paint around the edges courtesy of my beloved watercolor pencils.