Gridlocked

What I love about collage is the instant gratification. Not that I mind spending years on a quilt, but sometimes it's fun to start something in the morning and finish it the same day.

This creation was made at Art and Soul in Lisa Kaus's Gridlocked class. Her class was magical from the moment we stepped into her classroom. Music was playing and each student's place was set with a vintage school-lunch tray in a gorgeous shade of aqua, filled with supplies and fun extras. We learned to use graphite sticks and water-soluble crayons to create a background that we could stamp, collage, and attach 3-D elements to. After we we done, we coated it in beeswax for extra dimension. It was joyous to spend a day coloring and gluing and making a mess!

My collage tells a story of travels with my husband. Let's start from the top. There's a piece of a calendar that shows a month of Mondays to represent time off when the rest of the world is facing the start of the workweek.

The egg and the tulip stand for new beginnings and the crowned goose and the surprised boy are for the many unusual things we see and experience. A game card that says "STOP" is a reminder of the times that things have not gone as planned, and yet we always manage to turn it into a new adventure. 75 miles stands for the times when we are so near, yet so far from our destination. The tape measure is for all of the times my sweetheart has done his research ahead of time and surprised me with a detour to a fabric store, a quilt show, or some other "all-about-me" destination. Chef Fish is for the unusual restaurants we try on our adventures. The cartoon stars are for the times our nerves are frayed and we get snappy.
Mended hearts are because travel is good for the soul and pencils are for sending postcards to those we leave behind in our native land. Stars and moons are there because we love to drive at night; leopard skin and a glamorous image are because we like to travel in style and pretend we are famous. Finally, a heart and a wilted sunflower mean that it's good to be home again, our garden missed us!