Monday, May 23, 2011

The Beginning

This is the first page from my very first diary.  I vaguely remember receiving it as a gift.  It must have been my birthday, but I don't remember for sure. I think I was in the first or second grade, so maybe 6 or 7 years old. I remember holding it and being in love with the color. Pink was my favorite color for a long time back then.  Mainly hot pink and neon pink (ah, to be young in the 90s). I gravitate more towards purples now, but I will proudly sport neon pink on my finger nails when I'm feeling sassy. It was wonderful to go back in time and read each page, wondering what I had to say at such a young age. Believe me, its not much in the beginning.


Here is a transcription: " I like toys. My name is Ava. I play with my toys. The toys that I play with is a lion named Leo. Leo is the best toy I have because he prectes (protects) me at night."

It's funny how as time progresses, life gets more complicated. I start to notice boys, and form relationships with girls.  There begins thoughts of jealousy, loneliness, adoration....

As time went on, it looks as though I would go back to old entries and add to them. Maybe I felt that my innocent entries in the past were too boring. Or maybe I wanted to add thoughts that I felt I had missed. 
"At school I like some of the boys in my class the boys names are Chris, Ryan, Ricky (Richy/Richie), Paul, and most of all Justin. He's the cutest. I think Chris is starting to like me. your friend, ava"

Notice I spelled cutest as quetiset or qutist. I highly embrace dictionaries and spell checks in my old age. 

This had to be the entry where it all started. The beginning of boys. I remember in the 5th grade when Chris, the same Chris in the entry above, told me he liked me......plus two other girls. The three "As": Ava, Alona, and Ayla. This didn't matter though because I was number one. As long as I was first on the list, I could forget that he was a little pimp. So funny what I was willing to settle for back then, but this was my first experience with having a crush. I'm happy to write that I am with the love of my life, Jeaux Janovsky, and it's only taken me five years of my dating career to find him....again (we were friends in college). He's an awesome artist and I recommend strolling through his own blog. We will be celebrating our one year anniversary at The Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. It is so wonderfully tacky, I cannot wait to document. I'll be snapping photos with my newly purchased Fuji Instax Camera ( I was able to snag it for half price online!) and will post them all for your viewing candy!

Until then...

your friend, 

ava











Stream of Consciousness

Inspired by Henry Darger's paintings of flowers. I had the pleasure of watching "In The Realms Of The Unreal" with my boyfriend, Jeaux. I highly recommend this touching documentary. It has really inspired me to illustrate more. His work was so pure and I think that had something to do with his lack of human interaction. I wish my own work could have that kind of innocence.

Painted in our "love" journal using paint pens, colored pencil, markers, highlighters, & sharpies. 


your friend,
ava