art therapy

I was working myself into a snit but before the tears could fall, I started to cut and paste.  Well, surf and print and cut—no pasting yet.  That’s how I’m gradually building illustrations for my book.  I’m not sure what to do about the text; I could use watercolors to paint the white paper, or I could try printing text on transparencies…not sure I’m up for writing out the text in gold ink, but that’s also a possibility.  For now I’m looking for symbols that represent my story—camels crossing a desert, a tall ship sailing the high seas, etc.  I loved this desert scene until I realized that the text reads: “From places high and low, across deserts and over seas, let the faithful follow that glorious star…”  So a blazing yellow sun won’t do.  Grabbed my handy scissors and tried to picture how the camel riders would look against a piece of midnight blue velvet…or some fancy textured wallpaper…or dreamy swirls like Van Gogh’s Starry Night…sometimes art can do what egg nog and self-pity cannot.  Moments ago I got an email that assured me all is *not* lost…art lets you be inside yourself without being totally self-centered.  Know what I mean?