New Week - Different Room

No, The Desk is not completely as organized as it could be, but it is much improved from where it stood at the beginning of last week. It is beginning to help bring Joy and Happiness instead of Dread and Fear - LOL.

This week's tackling is the room we call Studio B. No good reason for this name - but hubby and I know what we mean when we say it.

Today I listed in Planning/SuperBetter/Bullet Journal: Clean in Studio B for one hour. Then drew three little squares. Each square equals twenty minutes. For some reason this system works best for me - and so I keep using it.

First area to tackle? Printer desk and shelves - 

Not pretty. Anybody else use artistic stacking as means to store one's possessions? Time to click that timer for first twenty minutes - and, GO!

Twenty minutes later:

Magic!?! No. Simply focusing twenty minutes at a task. (I have NO idea how this "new" space will be used now, and that is O.K. A little "Zen empty" is lovely to see.)

After two more twenty minute stints the area now looks like this:

Almost like a "normal" person's working space? I AM trying...

Tomorrow holds at least another hour in this room, but also a twenty minute period back at The Desk.

And maybe time for making Art!!

Fare-thee-well,
Baby Steps Sue

30 Day Personal Challenge - Clutter - Again

Jaunary's 30 Day Personal Challenge? 
Dealing with "clutter." Again.
Like ridding the house of "30 Things for 30 Days" challenge I did some Novembers ago. But different.

This time the definition of "clutter" encompasses more than the stuff in the house and studios. Clutter in mind is a big one. Clutter in the doings is another. 

Time to baby step and giant stride through this messy month.
Others have been tackling the piles and stacks all year though.
It is time again here to join the game.

The book "SuperBetter" offers a way to game oneself through much of life. One gets "Power Ups" in a variety of ways. One names the "Bad Guys" with which one battles. There are "Quests" through the days. One can achieve "Epic Wins."

It's worked for me before. And will be put to use again.
Hi-o! Clutter away!!

ON TO THE MANY THINGS THAT NEED DOING!

Fare-thee-well,

Sue

www.suerowe.com

Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

"However, one can not put a quart in a pint cup." 

                               - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Challenge of a Challenge

Yes, I enjoy giving myself 30 Day personal Challenges. But just now I had to go back into the posts to check on what exactly this month's challenge WAS/is! That's not a good sign.

It WAS/is to Play the Banjo Badly. I am failing - not only in the picking, but in the forgetting to remember to lift up the machine!
There are reasons - and other daily things somehow wedged their way past the banjo in its case.

Drawing rabbits and bunnies  - mainly.
This was not on purpose.
But it happened.
And it is O.K.
And it's an Unstated 30 Day Personal Challenge.
These things happen.


The banjo has been waiting patiently (?) for years. It's on the radar. Perhaps November will be it's month. We will be home more often. Paper and other art supplies are easier to haul around than a weighty banjo. (I am still practicing that basic fingering method in a first lesson from the YouTube.)

Sometimes we have to be flexible enough to be brave enough to be more flexible. My mind is on people dealing with hurricanes and fires. Their Challenges are greater than anything I can imagine, and NOT of their choosing. They have to bend in ways they'd never thought of bending. Some will break. I might have been a break-y sort. We never know until we know.

I know that every time I check the weather forecast for this weekend's Red Wing Art Festival the weather for Saturday gets worse. Not hurricane or fire worse. But rain-all-during-art-fair-hours worse. We will bring plastic. And weights. And warm clothes and beverages. We probably won't display the more pricey pieces. We will be flexible. And the customers will be, too. Hot chocolate instead of iced coffees. Goose down vests instead of sleeveless tee shirts. Red Wind boots instead of sandals.

A friend challenged me to the Seven black and white photos - no people - no explanation Challenge. It's been fun. I decided not to challenge others. the Ponzi Scheme pattern sort of happens as more and more people become involved. But it has been fun to see others' images, and it's been fun to get into an Instagram semi-habit. I tend to "live" on Facebook, have not become a Twitterer, nor am a Linked one. Should I tweet? Should I link? Even less time to not practice banjo! Even less time to draw and paint. And the "hearts personal challenge" has been ignored, as well. Though starting a "bullet journal" has been sort of helpful in herding the life's cats. WHEN I REMEMBER TO DESIGN THE WEEK AND FOLLOW THROUGH. 

Really, Everything is a sort of Challenge. From minute of waking to moment of nodding off. Not for everybody, but for someone. One challenge is simply to wash out every crumb in a particular plastic bag. Another is, for particular friends, to make sure mom is fed and warm and safe.

One new aquaintance's Challenge is to get her family farm's Costa Rican coffee into more farmers markets. She can vend at some, but not at others. Reasons and rules. Several chats with her have been interesting and eye-opening. It is often a good Challenge to oneself to talk to a person one does not know. After a few visits one can start in on conversation where it stopped the time before. I now know a tiny bit about being a coffee grower in Costa Rica. And now our daughter in California is sipping through a pound of their really good coffee.

Uh..., and though I should not be sipping it - that free sample of cold pressed coffee is seriously delicious!

Enough about coffee - sigh. Another blog has been typed - thanks for reading!, and now it's time to do the List-y things. 

Hmm. Perhaps not yet. It's almost time for ten o'clock break. And as I am already at a local coffee shop, it might be time for a second cup. De-caf, sadly, but in my favorite Daily Grind cup: the one with the elephant (trunk turned upward) and the quote from Buddha: Live in the present moment, wisely and earnestly." 
No Challenge to that!!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

Last - First

Seventh Post of Day:

Wet Runner

While driving
dry
down
the hill

I watched
the
wet runner
running
in the ran

She was
speeding
along level land

Swift
Wet
Didn't matter
Running mattered

Once upon a time
I pedaled
like this

Torrents of rain
and no fenders
on racing bike
made road dirt
stripe up my back

While torrents of rain
weighted
down long
striped
athletic
socks

Five pounds
of
wet cotton?

Pedal on
Pedal on
Pedal on

This pedal
person is
still inside
me

It's time to
set her
free
outside

Heart Power

Hmmm.
People and Hearts are making me re-think the February Personal Challenge.
A recent CBS News story reported on one ambitious and amazing high-school student who made 1300(!) hearts. She and a few pals then attached them to every locker in their school - so every student got a Valentine on February 14th!

1300 HEARTS!!

(I have made about 30...)

Here are a few:

Paper, acrylic paints, some paint pens, and regular pens.
And lots of "Yes!" paste.

Nothing fancy.

But each is unique.

And holds its own power.

I hope.

And as stated previously -
Making Hearts Makes Me Happy.
Receiving Hearts Makes Some Others Happy.

So this heart-making WILL go on.
Some will be made for next Valentine's Day.
But most will be made for any day and all days.

Why not?

May we all get to do something that makes us Happy today.

Adding to the blog totals is helping my little brain. (Because of a deal it has made with itself, but forgets every few days.)

Morning not-really Light is starting to peek into the backyard.

Mosaic-making adventures await.

New makings for me.

Mud and shiny things? Oh, yes, please.

Fare-thee-well,

Sue

www.suerowe.com

Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios (not the acting one)

A Bit of Childhood Revisited - "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod"

Once upon a time most of us were kids. I don't know if your parents recited or read poetry to you, but ours did. And certain pieces more often than others. One, "The Fairies," by William Allingham, that I've just now read in its entirety is even more frightening than the much abridged version our parents would recite! My favorite was probably "The Owl and the Pussycat" - but I also loved "Wynken, Blyken, and Nod."

*****************
(In public domain)

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe -
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?"
The old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!"
Said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

The old moon laughed and sang a song,
As they rocked in the wooden shoe,
And the wind that sped them all night long
Ruffled the waves of dew.
The little stars were the herring fish
That lived in that beautiful sea -
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish - 
Never afraid are we";
So cried the stars to the fishermen three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

All night long their nets they threw
To the stars in the twinkling foam - 
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
Bringing the fisherman home;
'Twas all so pretty a sail
It seemed
As if it could not be
And some folks think 'twas a dream they'd dreamed
Of sailing that beautiful sea - 
But I shall name you the fisherman three:
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes, 
And Nod is a little head, 
And the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
Is a wee one's trundle-bed.
So shut your eyes while mother sings
Of wonderful sights that be,
And you shall see the beautiful things
As you rock in the misty sea,
Where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three:

Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.

***************
Well, if that doesn't bring back a few memories - such as netting smelt in Lake Superior, and wondering what the heck a trundle bed was!  
***************
For some reason I'd thought this was probably a Mother Goose poem. Nope. It was written as a bed-time story by the American journalist and poet, Eugene Field, who also penned the popular, "The Gingham Dog and the Calico Cat," among a number of other poems for children.

A few facts:
Mr. Field (1850 - 1895) was born in St. Louis, Missouri, and was a journalist in Missouri and Chicago, Illinois. 
Many of his poems were accompanied by the paintings of Maxfield Parrish.
Numerous elementary schools in the midwest are named in his honor.

Known as the "poet of childhood,"Mr. Field was far more than this. But you will have to do your own research. I'm feeling the eyelids drooping, and have a serious yearning for a soft goose-down comforter in a large wooden shoe. The herring are safe tonight...

*************
Fare-thee-well,
Sue

www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

Today's Poet - Mary Oliver

I admit coming late to the work of Mary Oliver. According to Wikipedia she is our country's best-selling poet, but until listening to her speak on Krista Tippet's podcast, "On Being," I was unaware of her long (born in 1935) and well-known life.

I'd missed out on reading poems created from accessible words that go straight to brain and heart. If you are one to enjoy a slow walk along a river, a sitting still to watch a busy insect, Ms. Oliver has written a poem you may well enjoy. In one interview she said hides pens in trees in case she needs to write. I like the idea of pens being available in case an idea or phrase comes to mind. Always carry paper. Try not to to lose your pen.

Although writing in short, easily-read sentences, Ms. Oliver is not a "light-weight." Among her many awards are included both the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the National Book Award for Poetry.

She dares to ask the reader questions that make one STOP and think about answers. One of her most famous lines: "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
Well, thanks for THAT, Ms. Oliver?!? Thanks for waking me up once again to mortality and life and possibility? Thanks for saying that our lives are precious. Thanks for making us ponder, if only for a minute, something well worth the serious ponder.

If you care to read Mary Oliver's poetry online, there are many places in which to do so. Dare to read several or many. Dare to ask yourself the questions she raises. Dare to go to the library or local bookstore and actually sit with her words in your hands. (I plan to do so tomorrow.)
She seems the sort of person with whom one could invite to coffee. She seems to be that neighbor both gentle, yet firm, in her views. I don't know if she'd be one for company for a walk. But she might suggest you go on a hike of your own.

Today's Challenge "forced" me to slow down and READ and think and imagine. Dare yourself to step into Mary's landscape. The short poems can be read quite quickly - dare to read them several or more times. Allow the words and images to sink into eyes, ears, brain, and soul. Your world will be both larger and small for the doing.
Sit with Mary Oliver's poetry and you sit with Mary Oliver. Words of darkness. Words of joy. The next time you see an ant you will probably see it differently.

Because of Mary Oliver.

~~~~~~~~
Oh, and I made a little hand-made book today. It's cover is the protective brown cardboard circle off of a paper coffee cup. It was fun to make. It helped me focus. I used up some other papers, linen thread, and two small beads. It's a start. We have to start....

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: sue-rowe-studios

Made a Deal with Myself - 1/1/17

Yes, I made a deal with myself about blogging in 2017. No, I am not going to type what it is, but I will stand accountable on last day of this year.

Personal Challenge for January is to learn more about poets and poetry. Several days ago I requested favorite works from Facebook Friends. Oh, the wide range of works/writers threaded their way onto post. Thank you, one and all! Many writers I was familiar with; others were/are a complete mystery to me.

This early morning found me exploring the world of Don Marquis' Archy and Mehitabel. Years ago I tried to care about the cockroach and alley cat, but could not read the words in the spirit in which they were written. Today I found a number of readings on YouTube, including ones by Neil Gaiman and Sam Waterston. Indeed, Mr. Waterson's recitation of "archy interviews a pharaoh" was quite delightful!

Now that I have a different outlook on the pair - well, the library is just down the hill, and I plan to check out one or more of the Archy and Mehitabel books.

Thank you, Teresa Rogers, for your recent suggestion. And on to the reading adventures the rest of the month!

And maybe I will attempt the drawing of a kitty and a cockroach? A person needs a challenge every now and then.

Fare-the-well,
Sue
www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

100 Days - 100 Dreams: 22

OH DEAR

I wish I would Remember to Commit to:

painting more

 exercising more

reading more

eating less

bitching less

"wasting" less time

hugging more

listening more

hoping more

talking less ( but only a little less)

making less messes

quitting less

writing more letters

reaching out to more people

hosting more togetherness

Enough "pressure" for now - but a start to the list.

Time to choose another "30 Day Personal Challenge." And commit to following through. Oh, that Following Through....

May your day hold Joy and Good Amazements -

Fare-thee-well,

Sue

A rooster named "Doppler"

No, I do not know why "Doppler"  is named "Doppler," but it seems to suit him even though I know him only through an on-line photograph.

He is a Frilled Serama, the world's smallest breed of chicken. The photo sent is probably larger than life-sized and then I cropped THAT and blew him up to about TURKEY size! (This was before I knew he was a tiny chicken.) Some day we shall speak of Actual Scale versus Perceived Scale.

This guy was painted on a 12" x 9 1/2" sheet of 140 # water-color paper. I wanted to see what gouache would do. I have used this paint only once or twice before. Time to see what happens.

Not trusting my free-hand drawing skills I worked out a large grid system for initial pencil drawing.
The brain fights between wanting to practice seeing and having the hand put the pencil exactly where the pencil should go AND accomplishing more than spending all day SLOWLY drawing a chicken. If the Old Masters could use tools to make marks more quickly then so can we. NO GUILT. Although if you have TIME then certainly taking  TIME to really observe spacial relations on a flat plane is well with the effort. Any exercise in seeing is a good exercise. Except stuff like staring directly at the sun or the lovely light of a welding torch being used...

Once the initial form was drawn it was time to get out the gouache. This opaque water soluble paint is simply FUN to use! Unlike traditional watercolor you can PAINT OVER MISTAKES. At least enough to not be afraid of making mistakes! Doppler was created with about six colors of gouache and three cheap brushes. No, not Cheep Brushes.

These are not the best grade of paints - but that's O.K. One feels more free to goof off and not worry.                                                          NOT WORRY!!! 
Brushes were simply the first ones touched. Yes, I knew I'd need a Liner for eye detail. But I used finger tip to plop in paint on comb and a few places on body, too. Why? Because we never got to finger paint as young youngsters. I still like using fingers for painting and pastels. Use whatever works for you!

If I had him to do over again, which I could..., I would probably start at the top and work my way down. Naw - grab the largest brush, dip it in the black paint and see what happens! I was curious to see how easily the feathers could be addressed. A modified dry-brush method worked from the very beginning. Whew. Knowing this helped me relax a wee tad, not that the always-alert rooster noticed. Tap tap tap. Dob dob dob.

As the minutes ticked by, and I had given myself a particular time in which to finish, I had to make decisions quickly. Some areas needed re-working. Bleah! But that's where opaque White is of great aid. Me being me had contaminated the pureness of color, and was too stubborn to squeeze more out of the tube. thus the shadowy areas created. We will call these areas Art.

It was great fun to know that this wasn't going to be an entry in a National Poultry Art Contest, yet I worked hard to get eye, beak, wattles, ear as correctly rendered as possible. I grew up around poultry but never thought to LOOK at them as a portrait painter would. Maybe this is as good a reason as any to Draw early, Draw Often.

Here is the final "Doppler."

The actual paper is much lighter, but Doppler's color is close to that in actual painting. Dob and peck. Check and recheck. My favorite part is, of course, his eye. Got that glint down quite well - luck or skill? Hard to say. If time permitted I'd still study and re-work beak. Beaks are hard in more ways than one!

No beaks today! Today will probably hold another cat. So. Many. Cats...

You will notice that this Challenge Blogging will not go in order. Such is life.

Time for actual studio work, ordering supplies, applying for shows, and lunch.
Goodbye, "Doppler" - May the real you be happily pecking away in Sunny Southern California even as we type.

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

Spring

Tulips are up, birds are chirping, grass is greening, and it's time to take a walk without headphones or earbuds and hear the day - whatever it's sound.

Time, also, to dig out some old art supplies and play. Chuck Close says painting is moving colored dirt around with sticks. Maybe it's time to do the same. Roz Stendahl is a great fan of gouache. We found a box of colors in the basement yesterday. Time to spring into action - find out where the magic hides, and agree or disagree with Roz.

The sun is winning the battle over clouds for the moment. The odd heat of last week is gone for the morning. Except for constant pulse chiming in right side of head (yup, still there), the day seems almost normal. I've not been listening to ESPN's Peyton Manning/Tim Tebow talk, nor things political. Stuff will sort itself out in the end.

Now there are thoughts to write down and images to be created. Sometimes one or the other or both make a difference in another person's life. That's quite amazing. The things YOU say and do make a difference in peoples' lives. That's something to Remember.

On to playing with some dirt. Spring is here. Next 30-Day Challenge? Make a difference in somebody's life before Summer.

On to the Grand Adventure-

Sue

1-5-12 - On To It!

Sheesh. Focus . Do.

These sound so simply easy to do - but the bag of sugar needs returning to the correct cupboard, Facebook Friends need propping up, one must glance out to see if the birds & squirrels are re-using/recycling, & yes, there are bits of stuff in floor corners that will have to be swept up if one is to live slightly less free of house-work guilt.

Light Latin Jazz is helping..... One small pastel has been finished this week, as well as some small sketches. I admit to spending way too much time with Roz Wound Up blogs, but there are so many excellent posts to catch up on. Then Roz sends one down other darned fascinating paths, one looks up, and oops, the early morning is all used up.

So, today I will FOCUS one hour (30 minutes?) on serious business doings - laugh, you Serious Business Sorts, but we artists at home must put really thick blinkers on our brains & not consider sketching the jade plants right now, or experimenting with the raku clay that we keep forgetting we want to play with, or writing that long-over due letter to a favorite aunt.

The oven timer has become a great friend in The Focus. Even 30 minutes of "You can no nothing else but (fill in blank)" helps immensely. Although self-employed, I do have that inner boss. But in winter I tend to sneak off for really long rest-room breaks. And I really don't want to do what the boss wants me to do. Sigh and huff. And if one hides in the mental rest-room long enough, well, it's time for 10 AM coffee break. And so it goes.

30 Day Challenge: 30 minutes actually doing Bear Business. On to it!

If you have advice for the focus-impaired feel free to share! Millions of folks are accomplishing wonderful things today. Whew!

Fare-thee-well,

Sue

2 - 30 Day challenge

A bit from my second book, ROUGH TERRAIN:

So now Al was alone at the lake.

Mallards quacked at his feet - hoping for crackers and bread.

Al kicked the drake into the water. A calm, lovely, high arching kick.
Plop! Swim swim.
The duck was fine.
And Al was better.
These days it didn't take much.

------------------------------
I have no idea why Al is at the lake, if he knows these ducks, or why he decides to make the drake fly a slightly different way. Thinking in snap-shot form is my usual way of working. I am in awe of the novelist's way. What? You can see more than one picture? Your characters are in view for more than a minute? How do you do that?
------------------------------

Anyway, back to work. Pastels or acrylics? Business or art? Greeting cards or new stuff? The afternoon is zooming past, and the patio will too soon be in complete shadow. Time to head for some art supplies and see what happens.
------------------------------

If needing a heady dose of inspiration, check out the blog untitled "Roz Wound Up." You'll not be disappointed!
------------------------------
Fare-the-well,
Sue

Year-long 30 Day Challenge

Good Morning -
It's 5:04 AM. As a challenge, and in honor of TED Talks, it's the first day of following Matt Cutts' suggestion to try doing something new for 30 days. Big, little - it doesn't mater. It's the doing.

So. For the next 30 days I'm challenging myself to post 30 blogs. Maybe not one per day - but a total of 30.

You may want to try something, too.

1) Today's topic is: Cayenne Shortbread. This is a "savory, not sweet" cookie offered by A Gourmet Thyme Too and available at The Golden Fig shop on Grand Avenue in St. Paul, MN. A sleeve of these cookies is almost reason enough to hop in car and head to Grand. )And while on good ole Grand stop in at Wet Paint and buy an art supply or twelve.)

Why? Although a small cookie - each bite packs flour, butter, sugar, heat, and a crunch of Kosher salt into a wonderful mouth treat. One cookie is just enough. But it's lovely to know that there are others waiting. (Not anymore...) Note - Some folks I offered a taste to thought the pepper was too peppery for their taste. More for the rest of us!

The package's hang-tag read: Wonderful as an hors d'oeuvre base. Press some goat cheese in place; top with your favorite pesto, hummus or chutney. Simply enjoy plain with a sip of wine or expresso.

I munched all of mine plain and with a spot of tea. I wish I'd purchased two sleeves.....

On to the day's Grand Adventures -
Sue