Volo

I follow Jody Bergsma on Facebook. She is a watercolor artist whose work has been in every home I've lived in, well, ever (before I was old enough to remember). Her work was always in my mother's home and it is in my home now (and my sister's). Recently someone posted a quote to her Facebook page and I loved it. I knew I wanted it in my house somewhere and that night I started this project on a whim.

When you come to the edge of all the light you have,
And must take a step into the darkness of the unknown,
Believe that one of two things will happen:

Either there will be something solid for you to stand on,
Or you will be taught how to fly.

That alone I thought would be beautiful but then I remembered the state motto of Oregon, which I have long been in love with (not just because I grew up there), of Alis Volat Propriis, meaning She flies with her own wings. If ever I were to get a tattoo (and I'm still not sure if I have the nerve) that phrase is what I would use. So, to the quote above I added Volo which means I fly (and apparently also I wish).



I had several leftover 2x2s in my garage and some canvas drop cloth from one of my painting projects so I thought maybe I would try my hand at making my own amateur canvas. I just cut up and screwed together the 2x2s and then stapled the canvas on.



Combining several blues and greens I had in the paint box gave me a good background. I painted the entire thing navy blue to start and then randomly squished the other colors all over the canvas, brushing them back and forth and mixing them a bit to blend them in. The kids thought that part was pretty funny (and that mommy is crazy, which they may be right about).



And this is what I ended up with:



I started laying out the words to kind of match the Word document I worked out.



On a whim I added a little bird to the end of the quote and added a few coats of Poly to keep it nice. Now this is hanging in my entryway and is one of the first things you see when entering the house.

What has recently inspired you to start a project on a whim?



I linked this post too:
Be Different Act Normal



And I heart naptime