Wednesday, February 29, 2012

flip the page on the calendar ...tomorrow

Yesterday it snowed..and I tracked a raccoon on his/her trip around my property.
Today it is gloomy and there is supposed to be more winter storms this week. Looks like March will come in as a lion. I brought home some good paper for drawing my totem ideas and haven't touched it yet. It takes me so long to get moving these days.
I bought a juicer because I want to change up my diet and get back on track...I have downloaded some recipes but always open to more.
There is a talk tonight at the SLC Main Library with the son of Ghandi. That sounds interesting. Sunday though I will definitely go to the university to hear Ken Sanders (local rare book seller) talk about Edward Abbey. I also plan to see the faculty show too.
I read Abbey a lot when I came to Utah. I especially like Desert Solitaire. I usually read it every spring and it whets my appetite to get to the desert.
I also love Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. Although I gave away the copy my brother Ed gave me when I turned 18 to a friend..I bought a new one later. The story of Ed is a whole blog or two..and not sure if I will ever write it.
But I am grateful he introduced me to writers like Abbey and Dillard.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Saturday, February 25, 2012

forecast..windy with a bit of art happening!!!!

so the workshop did not happen and I will have to rethink the whole deal.


But it is ok now that Hubby is back to full time work and my job is just around the corner! Sometime in May I go back to the canyon. I must admit that I have enjoyed this week at home without the ever present hovering spouse and his daytime TV penchant.
Maybe I can hope for some of the art I have hanging around town will sell. In the meantime..I have been conjuring up ideas as per my last post. I do envy artists who work everyday and crank out amazing art. My process is different but I am sure there are those who can relate.


First I have to deal with the myriad amount of chores..but not complaining since it involves keeping my pets up to snuff!
Then there is the coffee which is a ritual for me. I didn't realize how much of the actual making of the coffee was such an important ritual for me..not exactly a tea ceremony..but certainly something that puts me in a different frame of mind.



There is the dealing with knee pain if I know I am headed to the studio..easily dealt with a dose of Aleve.
I was wallowing a bit in depression. Diagnosed years ago with chemical depression and given Prozac which after a time I realized saved me from the abyss.


But you pay a price and that for me was not having the mood swings which at the time of diagnosis were out of control but with some therapy I learned how to minimize the swings and have gone for years without meds.
But I decided to use the Prozac again after my oldest son was diagnosed with mild bi-polar. We wanted to make sure that wasn't what I was experiencing too. But no just some depression. So his very nice doctor prescribed the dose that seemed to help and when I used the last of the refills over 4 weeks ago. She refused to refill it saying I was no longer a patient of hers.
Well that made me depressed..because I hadn't seen her in over 6 months and didn't realize that we were now going our separate ways. But after a day of that I realized I could make do or get another doctor.
Wouldn't ya know that very evening a research doctor came out and said that depression meds were no better than placebos and he had research to back up his claim. Now I don't believe every Tom, Dick and Harry who does minimal research and makes claims that seem far fetched...but it is intriguing. So I will work on more exercise and better diet and see how I do without the meds that made me so even I was dull!
Now don't laugh knowing that I failed the Dr. Oz 2 day cleanse so easily. It was a yuck situation, and I know better what I need to do than anyone.
So now I get to the part of the day where I make the crucial decision to get on the f@#$% computer and then find it difficult to get off.
When the computer is on, the artistic creativity wanes and the will goes to nil and I want to take a nap.

I definitely need to limit time here.
Obviously I am still working on process to the making of art. I have become such a creature of habit that I cannot seem to get to something new until the housework/checking in with Mom, etc. are done.
So then I do use the time between sleep and awake to brainstorm. I write down ideas on my lists..of which are many.


Then I envision what and how I will do the art..before ever even setting foot in the studio.
The actual art making comes quickly after all of this.

I am not sure if it because I know I am wasting time, or if the need to daydream about it all is crucial to what I do..but it is how I work.


It seems hit or miss and I think I can do better. I know I need deadlines sometimes and definitely structure.
Plus I really want a good garden this year and some more chicks..not to put obstacles in my path to more art but to make this property more productive and get me out of the house more.






Did this seem random? Well that would explain why I envy those artists with such great work habits...mine need sprucing up!!!


Still I really love doing art. I love the processes, the experimentation, the results. I love the daydreaming as I slowly awake, the ideas that I get, the visualizations. Yes it not the actual making of art but it is the way I go.
So those of you who produce something everyday..be thankful for your singlemindedness (is that a word?) that keeps you producing and selling.
And for those of us who don't work that way...well if I was younger..I might be able to change the whole way I work..but now I just accept and do and realize that I won't be the artist who paints everyday.
I do know that I cannot have too much on my plate or I tend to shut down..so maybe the workshops were a bit ambitious. I know the open studio and the fact that I have art all over town tends to make me scattered and unable to focus. So maybe I have done what I can and need to accept it and slowly carefully move forward.
You say being careful isn't a road to creativity but I mean being careful with me, my psyche, my feelings, my limits which are many. I have no limits to some things I do and in some areas I have limits that keep me happy and sane!! That would involve not allowing toxic thoughts and people into my space. So those are learned limits, necessary to my flying free in my mind and my studio.
So after reading this over..I am done randomly going on and ready for some art..yay.
I hope you all understand and don't worry because I am good and happy to know who I am. Have a great weekend..I am !!!!

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Needing to work..having little will...

I have spent way too much time at home doing nothing..well making mac and cheese and watching Finding Bigfoot..but it is time to get off the old duff and get some work done. I have dreamed about and daydreamed about and thought about new paintings and come up with 4 series ideas that could carry me through for a few years worth of work.
One idea is influenced by Joan Brown, Gaylen Hansen's still lifes, Rousseau well you name it...It would be a series of large oils on cradled board of everything I love or think about..










Another series is going bigger..way bigger on the watercolor/ink/stamped painting like the ones in my library show. I mean bigger than full sheet watercolor paper..elephant size? Or just figuring out how to use my huge roll of Fabriano paper..although I am not fond of it.






Another series will be a series of drawings..possibly becoming prints (when I can afford to pay my way at the local printers co-op). These will involve animal totems with plants, and toys...I am actually pretty excited about this one.







And another series based on the Faux Naturalist pages I did a few years ago..only going crazier, goofier, having lots of fun and really using collage and drawing and writing to create an actual naturalist notebook quite unlike Darwin, or other scientists, biologists etc.













The watercolor/mixed media on paper will be costly to frame but could be wonderful if I can get to doing bigger!!
The oils on wood, harder for me to envision ....very vague and abstract as yet.
The totem drawings will not be small..hoping to use arches cover and use the whole sheet.
The naturalist journal is an idea that has been percolating for a long time...I am excited to get that one too.

Monday, February 20, 2012

yuck!!!!!!!

ok going this route is not for me!!! I think that I will include the juicer and several good tasting recipes in my diet but diving in with both feet is quite a shock to the system!
Not that it isn't a good idea to do better with food choices and exercise...I think I need a day outside....

Presidente day

Today I started a 2 day cleanse that Dr. Oz had in the latest O magazine.

I figured it looked like something I could do for 2 days. Haha..I made the breakfast..quinoa with nutmeg,rice milk, ginger and chopped prunes..well..let's be kind and say that it is an acquired taste.

I know there are things that can be done to quinoa to sweeten or make savory but I am going by the book (in this case-magazine) and crabbiness is happening because I haven't had coffee. The lunch smoothie with almond milk, frozen blueberries, ground flax seed and banana is really good. I finally bought a juicer and tried it out on the snack drink which is kale, cucumber, mint ,lemon, artichoke hearts, pineapple...forgot to put a cup under the spout and juiced pineapple and lemon all over the counter!!!! DUH..so added more lemon and pineapple and got a lovely green juice that now has too much lemon...but I can get behind this recipe..still a snack means chocolate, potato chips, etc. to me so a new world for me. Still need coffee. Went to the store 3 times to get ingredients and said juicer only to have discovered I forgot the red onions and cabbage for tonights vegetable broth. Sigh...it makes enough for 2 meals so I do need to get the onions and cabbage. All of the ingredients are to enhance your liver, kidney, digestive function without leaving you weak and short of amino acids and nutrition. So far so good. I think I feel good because I am actually trying something new. Think maybe my brain will work a little better so I remember to get what is on my list and also add what I need on list? Unlikely but I can hope. Hubby is home for his 2 days off..didn't he just have over 4 weeks off? It seems like he just went back to work and here he is home again!
Anyhoo...I will have to let you all know how the dinner tastes..after I get the onions and cabbage..see if I say and write it enough maybe I will remember it!
I did get my art at the Kafeneio coffee shop on Saturday. Now I have only my workshop to consider..although no one has paid and I think it isn't happening. I need to work on my recruitment for workshop participants!!!!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

no one around

Can you tell we are all busy busy? I hope so anyway.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

‘Leonardo Live’ comes to the big screen

‘Leonardo Live’ comes to the big screen
I saw this tonight..it was simply awesome..how I wish I could have been in London to see this show.

Sunday, February 12, 2012