Coloring

Color possesses me. I don't have to pursue it. It will possess me always, I know it. That is the meaning of this happy hour: Color and I are one. I am a painter.
-- Paul Klee

Thursday, November 30, 2000
One year ago: Being John Malkovich
Two years ago: Research
Three years ago: Slackage

Tomorrow is the Seattle Santa rampage, so I spent some time this evening getting ready for it. I found my hat (a red fleece mobcap I made for Santa Rampage in 1997) and my santa totem stick, both together in a paper bag. I'm glad I was clever enough last year to put these things together in one place! But Santa on a stick needs a bit of work -- his beard is coming off, so I need to dig out the glue gun tomorrow. My red jacket was tougher to find, because I was wearing it last winter as an at-home garment to keep myself warm. It's a red fleece shirt-jacket, large and comfy, though the lace is a bit scratchy.

I've sent the info on the rampage to the vanguard-disc list, the non-web-related list, and the Jet City journals list. I doubt anyone will show up from these sources, but you never know!

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My other project this evening was to try to start on a December design for this journal. After hunting around on my big CD-rom archive of clip art, I found a tiff that was like a tiled mosaic pattern, black and white. I decided to color in the little spaces, though my graphics program doesn't make that the easiest thing in the world. Image Composer is good for a lot of different things, but this sort of coloring in pixel by pixel isn't its forte. I found it absorbing, though.

While doing this coloring, I was reminded of when I used to work as a restroom attendant, back in Virginia during the eighties. When I wasn't reading, one thing I did to pass the time was to color pages from a book of mandalas. The colored pencils, slightly waxy, filled in the spaces of the abstract designs. It was a soothing passtime, and I liked the results! I even framed one and gave it to the guy I was dating at the time. I'd like to find that book again -- it isn't one of the ones I see on the web now, with a "magic" or new age slant.

But doing this one graphic is as far as I got on the design! Luckily, I plan a simple page format.