After a bit of silence on my end, I've got another creation for my Etsy store.
I had the idea for this piece ages -- well, months -- ago, around the time I decided to open an online store and take matters into my own hands. For a brief time (though the brevity of time paled to the intensity of it), I couldn't fall asleep at night because of all the ideas that would flash through my brain. I couldn't start working on the ideas, though, because my head would be clouded with the next idea, and the next, and the next. I wrote them all down; some in a book by my bed, some on my computer, some on scrap sheets that litter the refrigerator. Eventually I had to stop myself from dreaming and start whittling away at the list. That's always the hard part for me. The ideas rush in like a geyser, but sitting down and making them exist on paper is like milking a rock. I guess part of that is because I'm afraid I can't translate what's in my head onto the paper. Sometimes it's because parts of the project still haven't been imagined. Either way, when I told my husband that I had a pretty good idea about what I wanted "Fill my heart with song" to look like, he stared at me in that maddening way he does when I know he's about to say something I a) already know but have been trying to forget, or b) don't know, but should, and said, "Well then why haven't you drawn it yet?" (This instance, I'm ashamed to say, falls under option b). I scuffled off, muttering wordless sounds of bruised pride and humiliation, and set to work.
This is, in fact, what a song-filled heart looks like (it also comes in black & white). Get it here. |
As luck would have it, this project flew out of my fingers with little to no sweat or tears. And for once I was able to shut off the graphic design side of my brain that wants me to trouble shoot how this creature gets in and out of his suit. I'm actually delighted that I have no idea what kind of creature this is, let alone how it gets its suit on and off. Is it a flightless fairy? Who knows -- these things I cannot put words to, and that's what makes them have a life of their own.