It’s hot here in Kansas, really hot, so the garden’s on its own and I’ve been holed up in my lovely cool basement studio gluing away. Every few days I venture out to buy a fresh bottle of rubber cement. but other than going to my (night) Day Job as a emergency services crisis therapist, much of the rest of my waking life in is spent binge watching Burn Notice and NCIS Los Angeles episodes while I glue away.

I would SAY I am also mulling ideas for the art-based Compassion Fatigue workshop I am developing for the staff at my agency, but mostly I just like to glue.

There’s something very satisfying about digging through my stash of images, playing with color, layout and theme. The spreads always end up telling a story, even if I have no idea what that will be when I face a fresh page.

For this round I am working on two books simultaneously. One has lots of vibrant happy color, and the other is mostly white and tends toward simple and zen.   Glue Books 1-4 had a mixture of both types of page, and I decided to separate them out this time around. It makes for smoother transitions between pages. I page through the color book when I am needing a jolt of energy, and the other when I need to relax.  As I work, I am playing with how I might teach this strategy for self care to my colleagues, because I know this immersion in imagery and narrative has been very healing for me.