This year, I went all-out on one Christmas present. It was a gift for my mother. I took an old hardcover book and decorated every single page. Most of the pages I just drew on with markers, like the page below. Some I made collages on, or painted with watercolors. What inspired me to this madness?
I was reading in my old journals about how my mom had told me that when I was a baby of one, I used to ferret out pens whenever her back was turned, and draw pictures everywhere. The walls. My sheets. In books. I was completely compulsive. She said that I was a very good baby artist.
Later, I lost my confidence with art. And when I took up writing seriously, I just felt as if I couldn’t do both. But in the past few years, art has been a solace and an obsession. Also, my poor mom put up with a lot, having a one-year-old madbaby with a pen. I thought she should at least have something amusing to compensate her for the hours of describbling every surface I must have covered with ink!
So, Merry Christmas, Mom!
Merry Christmas Madness #8, from Altered Book for Mom, by Alexandra Hanson-Harding
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