The Documented Life Project:  Week Two

Welcome to Week Two!  This week’s challenge was to take a “selfie” and if you cared to, incorporate your One Little Word for the Year into the page.

The assignment proved a bit challenging for me as I am traveling, staying in a hotel, and have only a minimal amount of art supplies and a polaroid camera.  Have you every tried to take a selfie with a polaroid?  There were countless pictures with my head cut off or a blinding flash showing up in the picture – it was getting ridiculous but I eventually took one that worked for me and helped to demonstrate my word of the year . . . REFLECTION.

Instead of watercolor paper for my hinged page (or tip-in), I used a piece of heavy weight graph paper I found in a book in the office supply store.  It has a nice yellow coloring which I loved.  I painted a background then adhered my polaroid selfie with a glue stick.  It was too plain for me, so I doodle all over the page.  For the inside hinge, I ripped off several different pieces of washi tape to add interest.

On the back side (or front side, depending on how you look at it), I used the lines to write my word, REFLECTION, and the definition of the word that pertained to me.  As many people have said, sometimes your word chooses YOU instead of the other way around.  For me, this was definitely the case.  I decided this year to take time to slow down and savor life’s moments.  To enjoy them, to be present, to take photographs in my mind so that I don’t miss a thing.  Often we are too busy getting ready for the big moments that when the time comes, we miss them!  I vow not to do that this year and The Documented Life Project is a great way to spend time keeping track of those trivial yet important things.

Another significant meaning of this word for me is the reflection I see in the mirror.  I promised myself that this year I would look in the mirror and smile back at what I see.  I wouldn’t pick apart that girl standing there and I would only find the beautiful things in that image and not judge my physical appearance.  The only real way to do that is to look within.  To reflect on what is inside.

To represent this, I cut a piece of Tim Holz Mirror Paper and adhered it to the opposing page where my selfie was.  I used bits of washing tape all around the mirror to frame it and wrote quotes from Lewis Carroll’s, “Through The Looking Glass.” all around the page.  I thought they were appropriate to who I once was and who I am now.

The really cool part of this idea is that when I bring the two pages together, I can actually see my reflection in the mirror – this will be a reminder to me of what I am really supposed to be looking at when I glance in a mirror!  I hope you gain some inspiration from my page and I can’t wait to see what others create!  For more inspiration, please visit the other four members of Art to the 5th to see their interpretation of this challenge!

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