Ends/Starts

So it begins.

The last day

 of another lived year.

Breakfast?

One half 

 a carrot.

And too much crunchy peanut butter.

Nice

It's nice to 

have a bunch of scissors

in

The Scissors Drawer

It's nice to 

receive

a surprise gift

of four hand-painted eggs

in the mail

It's nice to

have an outing with good friends

planned on a 

morning

of a 

Work Day

It's nice to

go outdoors

and not be socked 

in the head

by 

Serious Winter

It's nice to

hear

birds songs

sounding

"spring"

It's nice 

Heart Project Again

This morning found me driving away from morning news shows on TV and down to The Daily Grind for real people talking about real things and working on crossword puzzles and eating freshly-prepared breakfasts.

I celebrated finishing a "21 Day No Junk Food Challenge" by scarfing down half a delicious chocolate-pistashio biscotti - but not until I'd worked for about an hour on some new Heart things. The large cardstock-weight tags have been sitting here for a couple years. They said they would not mind being part of the 2018 Heart Project - and here are a few. More will happen. 

The laptop played Miles Davis and Stan Getz jazz, I had headphones on so others who might not appreciate jazz were spared, and a sort of meditation set in. Cut out a heart, "crazy-quilt" some scrap papers together (Yay for "Yes!" glue!), cut out another heart. And on and on.

No, I don't know what will happen to these. Yes, I very much enjoyed making them. No, I don't know if these are "finished" yet.

I'd drawn the drawn portions while riding in the van recently. Always carry SOME art supplies. Always. LOL.

Now - back to "real" work. Two small paintings with dancing bears are due for gallery delivery way too soon.

So it ever goes.

Yes, I appreciate this odd life I get to live.
Back to it!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Accomplishing in the Whirlwind...

Some days, weeks, and/or months are more whirl-windy than others. This is one of those months.

Today I am VERY thankful for our Stillwater (MN) Public Library and it's helpful staff. Very. 

So I got some things DONE I could not have finished today at home - internet connection problems.... - and now have about 9:33, 9:15, 9:09 .... minutes left of time left to type a something.

This might be about it. 

The little boxes are being checked off the column of numbers/boxes/tasks. Two down - 43 to go. Yes, I broke down this morning started a new MASTER LIST. So intently that I forgot to drink my de-caf at The Daily Grind.

Life is a wee tad better now. 6:37.....6:30....

Maybe tomorrow there will be time to make art. 
Or tonight - during Tax Time. 
ALWAYS BRING YOUR SKETCHBOOK and ART SUPPLIES!!

A Wonderment

Does stress make tinnitus appear "louder"?
Or does "loud" tinnitus make one feel more stress?

Not "asking for a friend."

Breathe in. Breathe out. Tomorrow will be a different day.

Banjo Personal Challenge

It is past mid-March in my Person Challenge to practice playing banjo.
I am not good, but I am "ugly better."
I don't know many chords, but I know some chords.
I still only know "Tom Dooley."

But this morning I wrote a tiny four-chord song.
It is not a happy song.
But it is about the few "happy" things one might see on TV news.
It is a real song.

No, I am not going to share the words.
Not yet, anyway.

"Ring! Ring!" - the phone.

Time to quit typing about banjo stuff.
I've just committed to sending two new paintings to a gallery.

The stress of getting to do what you love for a living is oddly real.

Back to work.
Patience, banjo. I'll be back.

Keep Going

A Couple Things That Keep

Us Going -

The Force, Good Mugs, and Lots of Hugs.

(And I'm not from a Hugging Family - LOL!)

Mug was created by good friend and potter 

Ingrid Rogers-Bjerstedt.

Yoda is our Traveling Companion

We try to have fun with The Force at most Art Fairs.

And hugs seem to be happening more often -

which is mostly for the better!

On to a day of medium adventure!

And then back to work on greeting cards and bears.

Internets

Tonight our house and the interwebs are not getting along. I have a rough enough with tech stuff when everything is playing nice.

Anyway - typing just to type. Today a friend gave me flower seeds in beautiful seed packets. Zinnias and asters. The packaging is so pretty that it will become part of my long-neglected Garden Journal.

Yes - ANOTHER Habit not kept up...

But the sun is getting stronger and the geraniums have all survived the winter. They turn their leaves hungrily toward the light coming in through the patio doors.  The Mr. Jades do the same - but as they are back more from the door the motions of their branches and leaves are harder to notice.

The corner of Green in this kitchen helps mightily in keeping the brain semi-happy through the frozen-dirt months in the Upper Midwest. And the opened bag of potting soil is hinting at wanting to be put to work - soon.

Tomorrow morning holds an art exhibit adventure with a friend. A show of works by Judy Chicago. "The Birth Project." It cracks me up just a little that although I gave birth to two now-grown tykes and helped birth calves back in farming days the imagery of such can still make my open brain close up. I am prudish and also not. Art IS Powerful.

And now to push "Enter" and hope the internets still work - click!

Keeping On Track.

Sigh.
I am not so good at staying on the blogging track.
Priorities. Remembering. Keeping track. 

Too many "irons in fire" or not the best irons?

Time to consider creating more sheep - 
because friends on Facebook suggested a number of excellent Sheep Names.

Rosemary, for one.

Here is the photograph I shot at the Minnesota State Fair that was used for newest pastel - now titled "Luna."

Focusing in helped. So the above became this:

Somehow "art" happened. Decisions were made. Guesses were second-guessed. And a few last marks were decided upon. 

I do not know how YOU keep on the various tracks you are on. 
I do know that now I can leave a coffee shop and block on a few more tiny squares in a journal. 
Lose the journal - lose the life! Almost Haha.

I guess this life is about making marks - in the manners in which they might add up to living a life...

So - back up the hill - 
And on to getting back to blogging more often and with better content.

Hi-o, filling in "boxes" - away!!

- Fare-thee-well,
Sue

P.S. - We have been accepted into the Spring Green (WI) Art Festival in late June, 21018. We ARE excited!!

Another Re-start -

It is time to consider doing more with these three. 

They sit on the studio table. Waiting. I have to get near enough to somehow overhear what's going on, but not so close as to make them get up and move off the paper. 

Something has happened. And something is going to happen.

The pastels are waiting to see what it is...

Joy

It is time to try finding Joy in the smallest of things:

Here are a few for this morning:

Reading a few uplifting quotes from friends on the Facebook.

Remembering to play around a little with COLOR!

And FONTS!!

These really are not SMALL things when one tries tracing back the many small "miracles" it takes to type and send a dumb little post. So many humans had to create so many things in order for us to take technology and almost instant connection to humans around the globe!!!

Thank you,Various Humans!!!

On to the normal things that will fill up this day.
I will be Thinking of SPRING!! while shoveling White Stuff...

May you find a way to find Small Joys throughout the Day!

O.K., Serious Boots, where are you???

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Sheep - part the first

For a little something different - and maybe Fun - on a piece of left-ever prepped paper  - subject - a cropped photo of a Minnesota State Fair ewe.

Of course, one has to start somewhere. And as I'd already placed a circle on the paper - let's put the sheep somewhere in the circle - scritch, scritch:

No, I do not know what I am doing. This is pretty much the usual. Start in. See what happens. Try to respect the subject. 

See those large crosshatched marks on the bottom of the paper? These are from a trimmed edge of a much larger drawing. I find it hard to throw paper away, but I hadn't remembered saving this, either. As it happens - the strip was large enough to generate three squares of 7 1/2 inches each. And to generate the challenge of  incorporating these marks into completed pastel. This is yet a work in progress...

But there IS progress. So far - so - well, we'll see...

Still not sure of where this is going - but it's heading somewhere...

Sometimes I wish I had a map. Too late this time!
And, yes, I am fighting typing sheep puns.
But - you? Feel free!


Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Back to the Clutter

Yes. I might enjoy PAPER a little too much. Paper equals Potential. Ideas. Images. Hope. Plans. Other peoples' ideas, hopes, plans. 

So.....  although a sheet of paper is of little monetary value in itself, it's value in other ways is tremendous. Therefore, shelves full of paper might be unwritten biographies or not-yet-designed rocket ships. I only joke a little.

After twenty-plus years of cramming stuff into a particular "linen" closet. Linens? "It is to laugh." Yes, a few - but mostly paper - and some.... of the record albums I might be keeping... for reasons.Yes, I actually have a turn-table and DO play records. But most often from other portions of the collection.... I digress.

So, as it is on the Goals for Week List - it's time to set the timer for one hour - and FOCUS on accomplishing Something. Here goes- 

Stuffed with stuff. But timer is running and on to the sorting!

Dotted papers, tissue papers. used part fair comment books, tiny notebooks, onion papers, un-used sketchbooks, a full-sized iron! Shipping envelopes and boxes. So many partially used legal pads.

Using the hallway floor, I put things into "like" piles. 

Put packing materials into new packing section in Studio B. But iron in a safer spot in house. Yes, It had been balancing on things irons should not be balancing on. Put some items aside for Little Free Libraries. But some things in spaces better suited for their eventual use. They WILL be used.

Timer went off every twenty minutes. I could see Progress with every break. And though the whole closet would not be finished that day it ended up in much better, and useful shape than it had started. Amazingly, there are two EMPTY SPACES in a shelving area. What Magick is this?? Cleaning Magick!

All the similar papers are grouped together now. I know where particular large envelopes are, and how many we have! I didn't find any particular Treasures, but I know where recent Art Fair Comments notebooks are. No, I DON'T know what will happen to those two empty horizontal spaces. There is a bit of Joy in this! The box of picture-hanging wire will stay as is - because it is handy having it there. But many things have moved on - whether into trash, or simply other areas of the house better suited to their being stored. Yes, I know where they are.

Anyway, that Goal box in the notebook has been checked off. Next week will hold another. Baby steps are starting to pay off.

Best of luck with YOUR Challenges and Goals!
Gardening Goals are next!

But first - a jazz album or two.

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

March personal Challenge

Hello there, March Personal Challenge - 

Giving this a second try:

Start Learning To Play The Banjo.

There are three other tag-along challenges, but this is the main one.

On to the notes and picking and strumming. And remembering...

Yes, the left-hand fingers are needing to get broken in again. Those guitar-playing callouses are years gone.

Fare-thee-well,
Sue