Windowpane Painting ¶ Pa g e - A - Day i d e a Life is a Verb Discover a symbol of yourself by looking through magazines for illustrations of people in motion--dancing, flying, jumping, dig- ging, falling, sleeping, swimming and so on. Don't overlook illustrations or photographs of animals in action. Animals are powerful symbols of the self. Think about your life in terms of a characteristic movement or pur- suit. What action suggests your life right now? What verb describes your current energy and essence? Borrow an image from a book or magazine illustration that speaks to you. As Pablo Picasso said, "Good artists copy, great artists steal." Rework your bor- rowed image into a simple drawing repre- senting your present state of mind. The key is simplicity. Use this image to make a sym- bolic self-portrait windowpane painting. Many of these journal projects are designed to nudge you, the artist, into framing or reframing what you see. Windowpane painting asks the artist to imagine an uncomplicated image, bordered by the architecture of four windowpane sections. Each windowpane alters the image slightly, tinting it with different textures and hues. The simpler the subject, the stronger the windowpane painting--a perfect combination for sketchbook art. I love to watch how one image comes together like four separately hand-painted tiles.