Pneumonia, collage books, and PJs
Jardin des Plantes, Paris. Photo: Janice MacLeod
Just when I thought cold and flu season was over… BOOM! Down for the count.
Pneumonia. That glorious old pal.
When I was a kid, around seven or eight, I had a bad bout of pneumonia. It was in the summertime, likely from all the swimming in questionable waters. That’s how kids from the 80s rolled. I was bummed when they said I couldn’t go swimming until I was well, but also I was too sick to get riled up about it.
The doctor said I had scar tissue and that I’d always be susceptible to bouts of pneumonia. I felt branded:
WEAK CONSTITUTION
But I got on with my life. Years later in Paris, I was applying for a visa and they took an x-ray of my chest to look for tuberculosis (standard issue in France). I asked about the scar tissue. The doctor looked closer at the x-ray and told me I was cured.
When my recent chest cold got worse before it got worse, I quietly lingered around the “C” word in my mind. They say reappearances of the “C” like to show up in the bones and lungs.
The doctor ordered a chest x-ray and called me two hours later with results.
Unprecedented speed. Concerning.
When that happens, it’s usually bad news.
“Pneumonia,” she said on the phone.
Thank goodness!
I was so happy and relieved to only have the most common cause of hospital admissions other than women giving birth.
I was so happy and relieved to only have the disease that kills approximately 2.5 million people a year.
I was so happy and relieved to have the 6th leading cause of death.
I was so happy and relieved to have what killed Jim Henson.
Yes! I know. Amazing facts.
The nurse on the phone sounded baffled by my glee. She was delivering serious news. I was receiving delightful news. I even had a little extra pep in my step as I skipped off to the pharmacy for the antibiotics. Lucky me!
I was the best patient ever. Taking it lying down like a champ. I came home from the pharmacy and laundered all my pjs. I was staying in bed and needed the gear.
Quirky fact about me #1: I have seven pairs of the exact same pajamas and I wear a fresh set every night. Because they are exactly the same, I look like I never change my pajamas. It takes about a year of weekly washings to get to that yummy softness you crave, but once you get there, heaven!
I couldn’t really talk or move without incessant coughing so I spent my days upright in bed making books. Here’s one:
If you click on the image or link, it takes you to Amazon where you might notice the author name is different. One of my many noms de plume. Very French. I’m doing a lot of low-and-medium content books on Amazon. If you want me to teach a course about it, let me know.
Quirky fun fact about me #2: I have about 200 books on Amazon under different names. SO FAR. Who would have thought?
Turns out there is this whole world or people not waiting for collage images to come to them. They aren’t waiting to find the right magazine to cut out the right image. They head out to Amazon, find a book of images, then start collaging. This is what happens when magazines turn digital. No more raw material to make art.
Remember cutting out haircuts and flowers and lovely kitchens and outfits? Then storing them all away in a special place to gaze at them lovingly later?
Maybe that was just me.
Anyway, there was an inner child inside me (somewhere near that pneumonia scar tissue?) that wanted to collage and have fun while waiting for the antibiotics to kick in, but instead of collaging, I started making books of collage. Time is funny that way. Our skills evolve but the teeth tingling excitement is still there.
A few inside pages of the book.
I think it was my inner kid running the show. She wanted to make the book. Turned out nice. It’s full of fun old famous art, new quirky art, stamps and travel posters and ephemera.
A few more inside pages of the book.
Once I was more upright, I went back to painting my 100 Paris storefronts:
#29 Le Select Café
#30 Vintage Shop of Chloé
#31 Cherry Blossom Café.
All are at the Etsy shop if you’re craving original paintings from moi.
Now that I’m back on top, and back in regular clothes, I have a renewed desire to blog more. I was inspired by something I read in Dispatch from LA.
“My plan is to write much less, much more often.”
Thanks for waiting out the lull.
Janice
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