Paint Party Friday and a Mini Book from Mini Book Thursday!

Well, it's party time again over at PPF, and this time it's about what inspires us to paint. I am showing a picture I made in 1995 and then I will tell you WHY I painted it.

Now, here's the story:
I was in town for my Spanish lesson. I always went by tram, because I could travel almost door-to-door this way without having to search for hours for a parking space in the town centre.
On the way back, I just managed to get onto a tram in the very back compartment. It was quite full, but I found a seat near the door. There was a group of tramps at the back, behind me, all rather drunk and very loud and boisterous. Suddenly one of them, a young man, reeled over to me and grabbed my shoulder and demanded that I take a swig out of his bottle. I said *No, thank you* and hoped that it would end there. It didn't. He got really maudling and then aggressive. His mates thought it was funny, and the other people in the tram all moved backwards, away from us. One man wanted to help, but his wife held him back. Then the drunk squatted down onto the floor beside me, and grabbed my leg, At that moment, the tram braked for some reason, I hit out at him with my left hand, caught him on the chin and he flew backwards and landed at the feet of his mates, more through the sudden jerk of the tram than my punch. But they were all extremely impressed, and thought I was some sort of super-boxer. At the next stop I got out and ran up to the front and got the driver to come back with me. He threw them all out, including all the people who had just stood there and watched, but not tried to help. When I got home, I painted myself as Super Woman, and this picture has been hanging on my wall ever since. I love the strong colours, and the motto *Nemo me impune lacessit*. This is the Scottish royal motto, and translated means something like *No one harms me without being punished* or *Who dare meddle with me?* I think for me, painting is very often a result of strong emotions.

Yesterday I made three mini-books (for Lenna's swap) on one day. I used some of the nice things I bought from Alyson, and some of my stash, and had a whale of a time cutting, sticking and playing with all those nice things. Here are the pics of the first book, the others will follow tomorrow.

So, thanks for looking, and have a great day. Happy holidays for those of you who are starting into their Easter breaks, and a good weekend to you all! Take care!