"Stay Gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold..."

In middle school, I read The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. I loved this book. I can't name just one specific element about this text that captivated me, but it is a book that has stuck in my memory. 

I had a great English teacher that year. Mrs. C. had actually been my math teacher the year before, so I knew going into the school year that I would love this class! She was definitely one of the teachers that made me want to become a teacher, a middle school teacher no less. 

Years later, when I was in high school, I had the privilege of going back to shadow Mrs. C. for a day when I was working on a career project.  I'm pretty sure that my love of this seventh-grade English class is a key reason why I think so fondly of this book.

Early in the book, Ponyboy recites the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost. At the time, he explains to Johnny that like the sunrise, nothing that beautiful can stay forever. 

I used bright, beautiful colors around the text to represent the colors you might see in a rainbow, sunrise, or sunset. Here, of course, I can hold onto them longer, though even the color in these paper strips will fade with time.

Later in the book, at the end of chapter 9, Johnny visits Ponyboy in the hospital and says "Stay Gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold..." (p.148) He's recalling their early conversation and wants Ponyboy to remain good, remain innocent, for as long as he can. I remember this part of the book being heart-wrenching for me when I first read it so many years ago. 

I think of it now as a more positive mantra, hence the happy embellishments around the calligraphy. It's a reminder not to take things for granted. A reminder to enjoy the moment while you're in it and to treasure as much as you can, so that you have that to look back on when the days are rough.

This is another project that I planned out in the spring of 2018 when I was laid off. Though it was on hold for quite a while, I'm glad that I picked it up again. This quillography has actually turned out significantly more cheerful-looking than I originally intended; the small colorful leaves look like Christmas lights. It wasn't what I wanted so I redid the leaves in brown and outlined the purple pieces in black to mute them a bit.  Still a bit brighter than I intended, but I guess maybe my outlook is a bit brighter these days, too. 

UPDATE: April 25, 2022

I decided to revisit this piece because I'd like to possibly do something with it, beyond just storing it in a drawer, but that bright green leaf is still throwing me off... :/  Hence, why I cropped it out of the picture above!

I decided to take it out. To cover up the slight tears and glue marks on the page, I added a "sun," which I felt was in keeping with the theme but made the overall piece more elegant.

It is certainly less bright and cheery, but it is more in line with my initial vision and I am finally happy with it!

Stay gold.