Birthday Blues and Browns

How are all of you?  I hope you are staying safe and well and maybe finding some creative time and energy too.

I'm celebrating my lockdown birthday today with a tag which uses my favourite blues & browns combination.  I started out by calling the post Birthday Blues - but then I added the browns because the melancholy implied by that phrase simply wasn't accurate.

Despite everything going on right now, I am finding many ways to be happy in the moment.  And thinking about the longer timeline, I really feel incredibly lucky in my life to have been able to pursue my passions.

The question of what I would like for my birthday really stumped me this year.  I don't feel in urgent need of anything right now.  I'll settle for some blue skies and sunshine and the continued good health of those that matter to me.










Though this quarantine puts me in a state of physical confinement, my imagination is still free to fly without limits, and I'm determined to come out at the other end of this crisis (whenever that may be) ready to leap into action again with all the plans that are currently on hold.  So that's what this tag is celebrating too.










I've also been re-creating connections made in real life in virtual form.  I decided to invite actors I've worked with over the years and across the continents to join in virtual breath, voice and text work sessions with me several times a week.  (Voice and text work in the theatre is my "day job", for those that don't already know.)










Lots of the actors were in shows which closed with little or no notice, or had jobs (a precious commodity in the acting profession) about to start rehearsal which will now never happen.

A couple were even already in costume for that evening's performance when they were told it was cancelled - which leaves you with a huge adrenaline hit and nowhere to release it.











We know there are people dealing with far worse things as this pandemic threatens lives and livelihoods, but the sad probability is that a good many of the smaller theatres and theatre companies - often in precarious financial positions at the best of times - simply won't survive this crisis.














It felt like the least I could do to try to offer some good vibrations to help us stay connected while we wait to see how things pan out.











Virtual voicework is not the same as being in a room together, or a rehearsal process, but it is a way to help keep the muscles of the body, voice and imagination active and "in tune" while the theatres are closed.













I wasn't sure how doing the kind of work I do would feel when you mostly can't hear the other voices, but it's surprisingly moving and uplifting.















And in a celebration of the boundlessness of the internet, the actors are really enjoying playing with each other across oceans and time zones, and getting to work with and talk to people whom they otherwise wouldn't encounter in their normal working lives.  The sense of connection and positivity is really heartwarming.














I haven't talked about the tag much, except that I think all that optimistic energy and determination to keep looking outwards and forwards is part of what fuelled the whole thing.  It has a very positive strength about it, don't you agree?

But just so you know... the snippets of rusted die-cut are leftover from The Golden Hours so hop there if want to see how I did those.  The Paper Doll is perched so as to take advantage of them, both underfoot and to lean on.

The background is a combination of Micro Glaze stencilling, Distress Inks and Oxides, and the metal elements are altered with alcohol inks and Distress Paints.

I'm sure you can pretty much work it out yourselves from that!








I'm going to love you and leave you for now... I'm off to enjoy several virtual birthday celebrations!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Stay safe, stay well, and I'll see you soon.

We turn not older with years, but newer every day.
Emily Dickinson

You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.
Mae West

I'd like to share this over at Tag Tuesday where for this fortnight Anything Goes
At the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge they would like us to Create A Scene