fiberhart

February TIF Challenge

Sharon B posted the new challenge, which I think will be a fun one. It's 'what are you old enough to remember?' I was a history major my first go-round in college, so this is right up my alley. This will pull in memories of discussions I've had with my children about what it was like for me growing up, the incredible pace of change I have seen during my lifetime, and conversations with my parents and grandmother about the same thing.

I got out my journal book, and started writing. Things like black and white TV and all the shows I remember watching as a child, the Nixon-Kennedy debates, my first vinyl records (the Beatles, of course). I remember playing jacks with my grandmother, my father's reel to reel tape player, rotary dial phones and party lines. I wrote my term papers on a typewriter with carbon paper, and prayed that I'd calculated the space needed for the footnotes correctly. If not, you got to type the whole thing over! I remember the first manned spaceflight, and the first walk on the moon. And, of course, I remember all the political upheaval and assasinations of the 1960's.

As I looked at the list, it struck me how many of the items related to circles. And that got me thinking of other circles- like, I have lived long enough to see the hideous fashions of the 70's come around again, and heard some of my favorite songs redone by artists who weren't around for the original. In some ways, I've come full circle, from rebelling against the social mores of my parents to understanding the sense that lies behind many of them.

I don't think I will be doing anything with images from all these events and memories. I think circles will play a large role in this, and I hope to find a way to include words in the design. There are some artists whose work I love that often include words in the design, and it works- check out Rayna Gillman or Karen Stiehl Osborn's blogs.

I don't think I will be working with the color scheme Sharon proposed this time. It didn't speak to me, and I think other colors will better express my feelings about the decades I remember from my growing up years. I'm also planning to take my sketchbook and pencils with my when I work the polls on Tuesday, hopefully I'll come up with some promising doodles.

And, as close to a political rant as you are likely to get from me. If your state is part of Super Tuesday, get out and vote! We have the opportunity to select a transformational president this year, I am praying the nation recognizes this and seizes the moment. Vote!!!