Miss Blue Shoe

“Don’t step on my blue suede shoes.” -Elvis Presley

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I’ve been on quite the “illustration journey” these past couple of days… and today especially.

If it wasn’t enough that I was feeling a little low last night, my son – who lives in Texas – called, and he was down too. As a mom who never stops caring and worrying, that made me lower than low.

Plus… our cat has been low too! She came as a stray, about 7 or 8 years ago, and for at least 6 of those years we hardly ever heard a peep out of her. She started meowing more recently, and for several days now her meows sound like cries… like she’s pleading for something and I have NO idea what.

I might think she’s just finding her voice, but she’s been disappearing during the day as well, and she is normally lounging on just about every chair that we own out in the backyard. I don’t know.

With the three of us (two humans and one cat) being anything other than “our normal cheerful selves,” I’ve been thinking that there’s some bad juju out there.

So this morning I decided to lean into my mild melancholia and not only talk about it, but illustrate it. Well… Miss Blue Shoe here is NOT the result of that. HaHa! She’s what came after.

I think what I learned today is exactly what I’m always telling my sons. “Moods are never stable, they… like everything else… are only temporary.”

My mood changed so swiftly that I was no longer in the mood to share the melancholia illustration… or talk about my thoughts on the bad juju for that matter! Maybe it’s because my son (and cat) seemed better today.

I know external factors should not really dictate your own mental state… (thinking of the serenity prayer), but when you’re a mom… or even a cat mom… that just sounds like a load of bull. Of course we’re affected!

Anyway, I decided to ixnay the solemn image. I started this girl last week or so, and thought I’d finish her instead. I was really enjoying where it was going, but it seemed ordinary – boring – so I decided on the blue shoe.

I love it actually, because I think that this dancing girl and her one blue shoe could be the beginning of a new story. Did she lose the other one? Or is the blue shoe a loaner because she lost her other red shoe?

Maybe she’s just a rebel, or a trend setter. It’s hard to say, but I’m sure there’s a story in there somewhere. I may get back to you on that.

In the meantime, I’m in a good mood this evening… and ready to curl up in bed and watch one of my favorite shows.

Thanks for looking or reading, I hope you enjoyed!

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“Isn’t life exciting! Everything can change all of a sudden, and for no reason at all!” -Tove Jansson