Construction - An ATC Project

Construction: the Topic of the Month!

In between what felt like a month of failure on the Home School front (though perhaps I should read my own blog and be encouraged!), and a general meltdown along the lines of 'there is simply too much to do I am going to stuff everything - including my children FOREVER and will this house ever be clean? - up' of epic proportions, I made some ATCs. I took photos to prove it to myself! Here is their story....

ATC is on the right hand page - I added it to my journal because I felt like it!

With a husband who is an architect (and whose registration has just been changed to Australia, YAY!) and a father who is a draughtsman and builder, I wanted to avoid the obvious subject choice when one thinks immediately of 'construction'! I have three boys and have seen enough diggers and excavators to no longer get over excited by them, and I am well over Bob the Builder...

Instead my thinking was along the lines: what do I try and construct, and how? Can I enjoy the process, or just the end product?

I thought it would be a good chance to practice construction of design and layout using collage and mixed media because it is something I enjoy doing. I especially liked the quote in the back (obviously!):

A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault.

Creative 'Construction' is something I struggle with, because the end product always falls short of either what I had in mind, or I just end up not liking what I have laboured over. It is certainly never perfect and though I am learning to deal with that I can always find fault. And I discover that that prevents me from doing very much art work at all, which means no improvement (as it is said, The Road to Success is Always Under Construction!), and worse, no fulfilling my need for creative expression and therefore any sense of satisfaction in life at all (warning, possible over dramatization...). So it has to stop. Or rather, to start!

I attempted to make the cards open like a book, stitched on one side. The pages on some cards open, on other cards they do not. I figure that we don’t always end up on the page that we are expecting (heck, sometimes we're not even sure if this is actually our story!), and we often just need to change our perspective because it isn't always a bad thing- and life can sometimes look a bit better. And just between us, haven't you sometimes wished there was a manual, for many things? 

Sometimes we don’t get the ‘full picture’ and it may appear that what we are constructing in our lives looks unfinished. (Indeed, it isn't all over until we shuffle off this mortal coil!) In that respect, I like the way these ATCs don't announce if they are finished construction or not. They are unapologetically what they are. 

It is sometimes very satisfying to say that you have completed the construction of a project. I can say that because it has happened, once or twice! With some projects it can be difficult to tell if you've finished. If you’re really lucky sometimes you can say – yes! That IS finished! I don’t get that very often, but I am learning to let go and enjoy the process of construction.

Another thing about construction, often there is a little demolition involved. A re-work, a change of direction, a re-construction even. Some good ideas are sacrificed. I think that is a poignant thought. Especially as I am trying to do so many good things at the moment. But the truth is there are many, many good things to construct; we can't do them all. We must simply choose the best at the time, and not worry. You knew there would be a catch! ;) 

And so, here is the result of my working to construct an ATC, a process, a life... a construction in progress. I got paint on my hands, and had fun. So I am overlooking imperfections and am content with the process. :)