I Want....

I have two posts today!  Click here for Wisdom and Grace, my guest post for Stencil Girl Talk.

Today's "word up" at One Little Word is Want.

 

This word brought up the longing to know the unknown.  I have previously written about Joe Collins, the founder of From Houses to Homes (the wonderful organization we volunteer with in Guatemala).  Joe died recently of colon cancer.  Joe was truly a "holy man." in my eyes.  His purpose in life was to make a better world for the children in the highlands of Guatemala, and his every action was weighed against that mission.

I thought about all of the questions that death brings up -- the longing, the wanting, to know why -- as I altered this book.

I started by cutting a niche and decoupaging book pages around it.

I added music pages, and stamps that represent traveling, to represent his journey. 

Around the niche, I spread Wendy Vecchi's black embossing paste through my frames stencil from Stencil Girl.

In the niche, I put a clay heart that I made, which I wrapped in gauze, the way princes and kings were wrapped in linen in ancient times for their journeys after death.  I wrapped the heart in string, to represent the way Joe had tied his heart to the children of Guatemala.

I created a "found poem" with words from the book pages I had removed from the book:

through the twilight

into the distance

an uncontrollable desire

to see

the other side.

Inside the book, I used one of Pam Carriker's stamps to create an angel to watch over Joe's journey.   I also printed out and pasted one of my favorite poems: Rendezvous by Robert Hillyer.  I read it when I was a teenager, and it has stayed with me ever since.

I surrounded the angel with another frame from the frames stencil, and surrounded the poem with hands from my new Hands stencil. 

Another hand - reaching, wanting, longing -- is on the back cover.

"Or, since our spirits take off and resume

Their flesh as travelers their cloaks, O tell me where,

In what age and what country you will come,

That I may meet you there."

What does the word "WANT" bring up for you?  I hope you'll create something around it and join us at One Little Word!

Linking to the blog hops at Paint Party Friday and Art Journal Every Day, and to the challenges at Simon Says Stamp (make the cut), and City Crafter (count your blessings).  What an honor and blessing to have had Joe touch my life and my family.  He has left us a beautiful way to give back to a grateful and deserving community.

Joe and Samy have a "stare down" - February 2012

And don't forget to pop over to Stencil Girl Talk to see my tutorial and video!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.