Decisions, Decisions: Which One Next?

Some ideas I have for future Artist Dates:

• get a facial or a manicure... I haven't done this since I was in high school
• ride a bike - hum...have to make sure the bike still has tires...
• go to a theatre production
• go to a concert
• go bowling - or maybe just watch!
• take a walk in the park
• listen to choir practice at the church
• visit a museum - there are a couple in downtown that I keep passing but never stop in
• go to a toy store - I probably will skip the Barbie and the HotWheels sections though
• go on a thrift store shop hop - there are a couple of thrift stores in small area in downtown
• get a new musical instrument like a tin whistle or a lap harp and learn to play at least one song
• watch a sunset - hope I have the camera with me
• visit a second-hand bookstore - I have books to take with me to sell
• buy a loaf of bread and feed the ducks
• poke around in an antique store
• visit the library and look at the sections I typically bypass
• get some herb plants or seeds and make an herb garden
• learn to make strudel - have my granny's recipe
• get frozen breaddough and sculpt turtles or some other animal
• fly a kite
• build a sandcastle
• paint a picture using my toes
• visit the hardware store
• cook a pot of stew or soup - mumm...and a loaf of bread too
• make cinnamon dough ornaments
• roll down a grassy hill - might have to be careful with this one
• make snow angels - dunno when I will find snow in So Cal but I will be on the lookout!
• make a greeting card and send it to someone
• make a locker-hook rug
• do some flower pounding
• get some bath crayons and draw all over the bathtub
• write a poem about the colors orange, purple and silver

The Artist's Way Check In - Week One

1. Did the morning pages every day but one. Yesterday I recorded a really cool dream I had the night before...and I made my Christmas list (this is pretty early for me!)
2. Did the Artist's Date and had a grand time - did notice that like a little kid, my Inner Artist wanted me to buy everything I picked up - had to tell Inner Artist that some of those things we can get or do in upcoming Artist Dates!...next week I am going to go to a park that I haven't been to that is on my way home and blow bubbles...I will try to take the camera, but it remains to seen who gets ahold of it first...we really need another digital! (On my Christmas list for DH)
3. Issues - resistant to the idea of having to do the morning pages...but I 'spose they will get easier to do if I just keep it up. No issues with doing the Artist Dates - I love the idea!

Here There Be Monsters

In searching for my monsters this week, I found one that is not so much an enemy of creative self-worth, but just self-worth in general.

Let me set the stage...In third grade, at least at the time I went thru it, there was a big emphasis on learning the basic skill set for mathematics - adding, subtracting, muliplying, dividing...My parents were house sitting for a guy my Dad knew that was on sabbatical in Europe for a year...so we knew the housing situation was temporary. A couple of weeks before we were to move out - in the middle of my third grade year - I came down with chicken pox...missed the last couple of weeks of school..arrived at the new school, barely got to know how to find the room, and I came down with measles...so that shot another couple of weeks..

When I left the first school, the class was barely starting on subtraction...the new school was way futher along - they were into complex multiplication and division...So after spending weeks in bed or in quarantine, I was faced with the ugly realization that I had no idea what was going on...the teacher called on me to do a math drill, not my favorite sport under any circumstances, and as I opened my mouth to attempt the answer, I hurled all over the desk...In my weakened state, I had come down with the flu and it just picked that moment to make itself very shockingly public...The boys in the class were not at all kind...

And unfortunately, I was too embarassed to let my mechanical engineer Dad know I was struggling...Mom and Dad had other stuff on their minds - my sister came down with every thing I did, two weeks later like clockwork, and my mom came down with Mono...so we were all really sickies for several months...

So...that 'You don't know anything about mathematics' monster has been hanging around for eons...definately damaging to self-worth - sometimes I even hear the laughter. I have been working really hard on changing that this week to 'Of course I CAN do mathematics', but the blurts have been ferocious - like 'I don't know that I will ever enjoy mathmatics' or 'What do you need to know mathematics for? You have a huge machine that will do any math you type in and Google will tell you any formulas you need'...Tragic when you think about it that this monster has been hanging around for almost all of my awareness..

I need a huge monster-swatter... this one may take a while to kill off..

Nibbling Your Way Thru Costco

I've only this year been introduced to the seduction of Costco... The first time I went I had a distinct goal - to get pricing for my new glasses. It was obviously NOT a demo day...the aisles were clear and I got out of there under $30 bucks.. But its so much more fun to go on one of the demo days and nibble on the tasty goodies as you try to make your way thru the crowded aisles - reminds me of salmon swimming upstream... and then of course those tasty goodies just have to jump right into your basket...and it rapidly becomes a $100 or more shopping trip...but, I didn't need dinner by the time I got out of there!

Out of My Gourd

This is Gourdy the Turkey...my creation from my first Artist Date. I finally made him a hat. Since I could not find the little straw hats I was sure I have somewhere, I made him one out of felted wool. Felted wool is such an easy material to work with...no raveling and cotton thread just melts into the fabric and is nearly invisible.

I am trying to keep up with my morning pages...so far have only missed one day. I have noticed a couple of things... 1. I keep going over the same topics and 2. My handwriting is getting sloppier and sloppier...such a pity too, I used to do hand calligraphy, but its so much nicer (and easier!) to compose and print out calligraphy on the computer these days that I have retired my pens.

Resistance is Futile....

I did my first Artist's Date today...went to the Dollar Store and had a blast..Amoungst other things, I got a gourd, some fall leaves, some wooden beads and a small vine wreath to make a "turkey" with...He's actually pretty cute - a bit bizzare, but cute..(I would post a picture, but the camera is not here right now)...He needs a hat, so I have to hunt up something for a hat...I know I have some small straw hats somewhere in my project boxes!

I also got a spiral notebook for my 'morning pages' , some shelf paper with cheerful sunflowers and little bees on it to decorate the cover with, and new pencils...I love having new pencils...reminds me of the first day of school...So, I covered the notebook, covered a can for a pencil holder, put the pencils in the can, sat down and actually did my 'morning' pages! OWWIE!!! I have not done much longhand for years and I have a bum thumb joint on my right hand...Mr Arthur and Mr Itis come to visit it way too frequently...it does not bother me when I am drawing - I hold the pencil differently...but writing...golly gosh - thats a different story!

I guess I have resigned myself to actually trying to do the morning pages during the 12 weeks...at least my notebook is cute!

The Artist's Way Check In - Intro

Well...here it is Sunday...time to do the first check in...

Morning pages I think is going to be an issue with me...not sure I like the statement that the author makes "Morning pages are nonnegotiable"...in fact make that that I know I don't like it...seems arrogant...I thought Picasso's statement (quote from the margin on page 17) makes more sense - "Painting is just another way of keeping a diary"...I may end up sketching my 'morning' pages on the days I actually have time to do them...most days, they probably aren't going to be 'morning' pages at all - afternoon or evening pages is probably the best I can handle... Also, I work in what I consider to be an artistic field...I frequently do the shift to right brain mode to create solutions, so I don't feel like I have a violently active Censor telling me I can't that I have to slay...

Artist Date - gonna go off to the Dollar Store and find something that can be repurposed or embellished...and then go home and play...

Filling the Well - I love this time of year (well, except for the fools who go overboard decorating for Halloween...a pet peeve)...There are a couple of spots on my drive to work that are really interesting and inspiring. My favorite is a gap between two hills..when you get to the bottom, you can see a lake, some grazing cows, green grass (its green again, we had rain last week!) and if I am really lucky, the sky is blue with puffy little white clouds - makes me feel good just to be able to see it... Occasionally, when I am driving into LA with DH and it happens to be clear of smog, we can see the Downtown buildings far off in the distance - looks like a castle on a hill with the buildings being the crenilated towers..of course the whole illusion is shattered once you GET to Downtown though (LOL)...

By the by...I must remind myself: do not read The Artist's Way right before going to sleep! It was like my brain was revved up and working overtime!

20 Things...

1. I live in a mostly rural area of Southern California, though the 'burbs are creeping closer every year...soon you won't find a cow or a horse anywere close...Used to have several thousand head of cows out our back wall...they are gone..soon to be replaced by townhouses!
2. I have two grown children...neither of them are married...and no grandkids yet.
3. I was born in Newfoundland, Canada while my Dad was in the Navy.
4. I write web pages for a living.
5. I come from an artistic family. My great-grandfather was a jeweler for Tiffany's...my grandfather created several large sculptures that grace the St. Augustine city gates...my great-uncle has a statue of Mary in the St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City and is also has works in the Met in Chicago.
6. I have three cats and one dog.
7. My DH is an actor...he took up acting about the time I took up quilting, three years ago.
8. My favorite color is green.
9. Almost all of my life I have had long hair. ..Except the time in 7th grade we went on a field trip to a hairdressing college...they asked for volunteers...Twiggy was really popular that year...Guess what I ended up looking like?
10. I love chocolate...
11. I like quilting. My best friend got me into quilting after years of me saying " I don't see the point of cutting up perfectly good fabric into little pieces just to sew it back together again".
12. I like to read... I almost always have at least 3 or four books going at once.
13. I like to cook.. but hate cleaning up!
14. I love to draw. Favorite medium is pencil.
15. I hate driving on freeways.
16. I love traveling - I have been to most of the states except the very top eastern states, Alaska and curiously Hawaii..Have been to Europe twice.
17. I play the flute...
18. When I was a baby, my parents left me sleeping on a quilt in the center of the living room. They left for a few minutes...came back and no baby!..I had learned to roll over and rolled under the couch.
19. I have one sister...she has 5 kids and 4 grand kids.
20. My grandmother made hundreds of charity quilts before she died.

Its a BLOG!

This is the first post to my Blog.