a little piece of my heart

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i spent the day drawing and making valentines.  i've missed making them the passed few years.  life, and the resulting emotions, got in the way.  i'd always remember at the last minute and then opt to go out drinking instead.  i was enjoying a different sort of reverie too much to way to stay home and make valentines.  i was, in several ways, anti-love for a couple years.  i just needed a break, i guess.  i needed to learn how to take care of myself unburdened by the expectation to take care of others.  i needed to be on my own.  i needed to focus on feeling my instincts again, my own pleasures again, my own needs again.  but i got so much joy out of making valentines.  i thought of it as a fun way to say thank you to friends and art lovers for being so supportive of me and my practice.  it gave me an excuse (as a painter thinking she needed an excuse) to delve back in to printmaking.  i remember the day one of my painting professors walked in to the clean room in the print lab and there i was signing and numbering an edition.  he saw me and said, "what are you doing in here, angela?  my painters paint" .  i smiled and shrugged.  he smiled and winked.  i've never been the kind of artist who does just one thing.  i don't expect i ever will be, nor do i want to be.  i love working in all these different modes.  i love that the biggest part of my visual practice is writing.  my diary is my world in that regard.  it is responsible for almost everything i do and make.  it is the biggest, bravest, best tool i have in creating the life and art i want for myself.  part of that life is making valentines.  i think it's wonderful to have a day where one is allowed to say I LOVE YOU over and over again.  i think it's great to have a day where one is free to show their appreciation for having wonderful people in their life.  it's not simply a day for chocolate and roses.  that's only one way of seeing valentine's day.  a pretty limited, prescribed way.  i prefer to personalize the occasion and harness it to let the people in my life know i value their care and friendship.  it also gives me an excuse to give away art, one of my favorite things. :)  so if you want to get in on the fun and exchange valentines with me, send me your address!  angelasimione at gmail dot com