Studio Expansion

After the incident yesterday with oil paint sticks and the carpet, the Professor has decided to put down a canvas drop cloth in the living room to match its twin in the studio/dining-room. Seems he doesn't trust me not to drop oil sticks or their shavings onto the carpet again. He's usually right about these things anyway. I'm just grateful our carpet is nearly the same color as the drop cloth, at least initially. I suppose if we owned this place it wouldn't be such a big deal.

In preparation for both the Fire Belles Christmas and the Allied Arts Christmas Festival (yes, I got in!), my living-room has begun to look like a factory. A table liberated from storage has taken up residence behind a chair providing an extra surface above and storage beneath for the  mountains of paper needed to fill my ever-increasing collection of journals. A tower of 12x12 canvasses are snugged in under there as well.

Dining table now has a 2nd tier for drying created with an extra table top and glass vases.

 And I am daily gaining stamina by simply showing up and playing in said factory. I can't wait to get started each morning at the drafting table.

And I fall into bed and sleep like a baby every night.Life is good.

Surprising Response

Hope you missed me last week. I'd like to say that I just got busy, but that is not entirely truthful. I did work on some creative projects, but they were either unfinished by last Thursday or fall into the "Hush'Hush" category for one of you.

This week, however, has been thrillingly creative. New projects are brewing in a variety of media. My sister proposed interesting project involving silk and color and design. A new friend, Flame-lighter, shared a free write begging for a slide-show. Another friend, the Counselor, gave me some wooden block to adorn with truth and lies. Mother Mary, the Poetess, has partnered with me to create a children's book. All these projects have served to give my eyes new sparkle and put the bounce back in my step. Thank you all and I'll keep you posted.

On top of all this, I am reading a book by somatic psychologist, Christine Caldwell, entitled Getting Our Bodies Back which has been thought provoking. And no, it is not about getting rid of that "baby weight." This book seems to be the inspiration for this week's You Create project. After reading a chapter the other morning, I pulled out my crayons and journal and began to play a bit. The following image is one of the surprising results(surprising because I have never done anything remotely resembling this). No abstraction here...


Reminds me of a toned-down Matisse done in wax crayon.

What have you created today?