Something To Write Home About | Mixed Media Project

Months passed before word arrived. The envelope Sadie hoped would contain good news inside trembled in her hands. Hurriedly, she tore it open, thinking her daughter Jesslyn wouldn't have written if bad news. Something positive to write home about.

Still, doubt pervaded her thoughts as she read slowly.

Dear Mom:

The city is breathtaking! My modeling career is moving along so quickly I barely have time to breathe between bookings.

I've already located a studio apartment closer to the high-fashion hub.

The pace of life is overwhelming. Everything moves so quickly. A truly different world than our small town.

Remember when my senior class voted me Most Likely To Succeed? Well, I’m proving worthy of the honor.

Will write again soon when more good news to tell.

Miss and Luv You!

Sadie eased down onto her kitchen chair. A knot rose in the pit of her stomach. Only she knew her daughter. Her cheek caught and sealed a single hot tear. Again, with a trembling hand, she tucked the letter deep into her apron to join the more cheerful, truthful recipe cards.

Jesslyn exhaled. Instead of saliva, she sealed the envelope with a drop of rain water. Her mouth was too dry from hunger. Leaning back against the cold, brick alley wall behind the 24-hour diner, she dry heaved, then slid to the ground. Across the street, the neon sign watched, then flashed weekly motel rates where she would spent her last night.

Her "modeling career" consisted of ankle posing for three, thirty-second ads the past four months. Not enough to pay for even the tiniest monthly apartment rent on the west coast.

She had tried. She had pounded the pavement until her heels crusted, but the city was a garbage disposal that collected and dumped small-town modeling dreams. Yet, looking up at the stars, Jesslyn knew she couldn't fall from the pedestal her town had placed her on. She refused to accept that her high school voted that she'd succeed in college as a mathematician

It was her entourage, anxious to hear of her failure, that had fed her desire for a career in which only unique faces and body structures stood out with any possibility of success. Hers was but one of millions previously rejected.

She slipped the letter into the nearby collection bin, then dropped her last quarter into a payphone. She allowed it to ring the number of times to satisfy her mother's code for I’m Safe.

Glancing into the still twilight's mist, Jesslyn pulled the hoodie over her head, then crossed the street to her final night's motel stay..

For my current mixed media project, I discovered an image of a solemn female face with her hands leaning over above her head. It reminded me of contemplation on a serious issue with no one to confide in. A short story emerged along those lines.

Below are my steps in which I utilized Canva, my design program, to blend the different type images which began with a blank, white canvas. I then added layers of elements to assist in the blending process.

I include here the images used in my design. The newspaper clipping is a free image background from Canva. I also included an image I retrieved from one of my favorite stable diffusion programs, Night Cafe.

^{Seashore landscape ~ Female with hand on head in brown leaves ~ Purple flowers ~ Night Cafe - "A Bronze Flower"}