papergirl-berlin.de
I really, REALLY want to participate. We'll see if I have enough guts. In any case, I'm feeling crazy-inspired. Which is excellent.
Not only is it the "Easter Monday" holiday here (which means everything is closed), it's also rainy and drab. So I've thus far spent the entire day in my pj's, listening to music, watching DVDs, doing laundry, drinking coffee/tea/wine, and sketching (sorta):
It's nothing perfect or spectacular, but the sentiment and feel of it ring true to me right now. (As does much of the song from whence it came.) I'm excited at the prospect of what it could become. I'm also increasingly drawn to the idea of using handicraft materials in my work - building on the idea of my embroidered library checkout card from a few years ago - and I think this may be a piece that lends itself well to that, on a variety of meaningful (to me) levels.
Another in-the-works idea (not necessarily for papergirl, but just because) came from a conversation I had with Laura on our recent trip to Prague. She mentioned something about "words you can frame" - words that encompass so much in their own language that it's pretty much impossible to translate them in any acceptable way. Laura happens to really like the English word "obnoxious," for which she says there is no German (or Italian or French or Slovak) equivalent (yep, she speaks some of all those). A few other words we came up with:
namaste
ubuntu
gemütlich
hygge
...and I now have what I think is a very cool project idea, starting with the last word on that list. (It's Danish, and there's a nice description here.) I have a whole 'nother week off (end-of-term hols, you know), so I'm hoping to get to one of the most glorious stores on earth within the next few days. Then hopefully I can make tangible some of the whatnot in my head.
