Good Morning

 Greetings- 

1) for March 3 - Being accountable to the gods of March Personal Challenge. I already have not blogged EVERY DAY quite a bit. Argh. Brains can be not-our-friends in this meeting one's own challenges thing. Some get zipped through. Others refuse to happen. (Sips the 1/4 Caribou Decaf grounds-3/4 Teeccino French Roast chicory grounds stuff. Because it makes me kinda think I'm drinking real coffee. Caffeine is no longer my close personal friend.... I miss it.) On to pecking at the keyboard. High school typing class does not bring many good memories. A few - but not many. As with life - I'm ok with the alphabet - it's the numbers that muck stuff up.

Just putting "Mr. Mustard" here to remind me to get back to work at making art. Today holds part of a shift at American Gothic Antiques in Stillwater, Minnesota. We have had booth space upstairs there since September 1, 1993. The same day that we moved into this house on the top of the hill. I drew the first bear in October 1997 upstairs in the shop - at the same nondescript brown wooden desk that I will sit at today. You might never know when a little change in habit will change your life for the next twenty years.

2) for March 4 - Pretending that is another blog post - this may become the pattern. Ye olde thing about starting is hard - keeping going is easy. Many of us know this to be true. The laptop is frozen shut in huge block of ice (not really) so cannot be accessed so how can I blog? I can't - because the the laptop is encased in a huge block of imagined ice. So - whew! A "reason" - not an excuse! Except - there IS NO ICE. There is only excuse. Yesterday's "reasons" that the writing did not happen is because there was other writing that got done, clothes got folded, Facebook got attended to, some sketching got done, and a three hour chat over coffee with a friend - yes, we were masked when we weren't sipping). Oh, and I made delicious gluten-free pancakes (Pamela brand) for dinner. With real maple syrup from family syrup-making. Soooo... there must have been "no" time to blog yesterday. The lies we tell ourselves. I could have blogged about pancakes. Many people blog about pancakes. On to  "Day Next" - 

3) for March 5 - Soft guitar and piano jazz is coming out of the laptop while classical stuff from Minnesota Public Radio is mixing with that. Keep "loud" tinnitus brain almost sane. Distractify! Otherwise the "loud" chiming buzz (only one variety of "sound" the head hears constantly) keeps me company every waking hour. I cannot speak of living with constant pain or the oddness of one's body attacking itself through other afflictions, but I can speak of the weariness of "hearing" "loud" vibrating not-sound for almost ten years. Millions deal with this affliction in various degrees - the idea of tinnitus used to interest me - everything interests me... - so the universe said "Study THIS, mofo." No school holidays, either. Haha. Gotta "laugh." I learn much from friends, family, and others dealing with far worse. Still not quite at Zen acceptance - though with change in diet and other practices  - well, I haven't cried about this in many years. On to the chiming roaring day - hooray!

4) March 6 - Now I'm just typing for typing's sake. May dig a real machine out of the basement treasures - just to see what happens. It seems that different thoughts and words happen with the use of different writing implements. Pens spill different words than pencils scribble. Almost-soundless laptop squares tick different thoughts than pounded typewriter keys. That's OK. We need them all.

And so - ta da - counting the above blither as four blogging posts. Why? Because I can. On to checking off a few more boxes in the Week of Life.

Fare-thee-well,

Sue

This Morning

Greetings - 

This morning I got up  about five AM, turned the plant lights on, heated water for herbal tea, decided NOT to turn on the TV, and did play the Lionel Hampton band jazz record that with already on the record player turn-table. Huzzah for Lionel Hampton...

Next...., flipped light switch to brighten studio, switched on the large light box that now sits atop main studio work table, got tea, got around to scribbling three pages in the journal, and glued some paper to other paper. For particular people.

This thought came:

Maybe I would like to meet almost everybody in the world & ask them why they are who they are.

So, there is that, among so many other thoughts. 

I feel that I am going backwards in so many ways. But forward in others. Hanging by many threads. Riffing life. Caring/not caring. Being/not being. Some of you - many?- know the drill.

Trying to figure out who the next bunch of Sue Rowe is/are.

Paper, words, and people will be involved. And bears and bunnies and squirrels.... But the bell jar of Now has to be tipped over somehow. I do love "safety." But also so much other stuff. The battle is real....

On to whatever challenges the hours, day, week, year brings. I have no idea about how the holiday season will go - I'm thinkin' Low and Slow.

AAARROOUUUUU! (a good howl is better than no howl at all)

- Sue

A "Better" Day and Evening

As April zooms by it does leave some evidence along its trail.

After doing "real work" things and going to a theater to see and only nap a little through "Isle of Dogs" I treated the brain to some Keith Jarrett jazz and an hour messing around with paper and paint in Studio B.

Here is a bit of the chaos resulting from a few days' play - 

The single heart is from another day's adventures, but is included to show that SOMETHING WILL come of the colorful "trash" covering the work surface. (Under all this stuff is a goodly-sized piece of clear plastic that is no longer clear. In fact it is so pretty that I'm considering ways to use it in future mixed-media projects.)

This is a little bit of if you want to play just go ahead and PLAY! Make some stuff that might just be fun to make. Or it might be fun to use later. Gather some favorite colors or other supplies and dare to goof off. Play your favorite tunes or click on a favorite movie. Give yourself an hour to Have Fun. It'll be O.K. Even if it isn't.

In the above junk is tissue paper from somewhere, paint on paper napkins, paint on coffee cup cuffs, paint on tea bags, paint on lace. 
On the large piece on the bottom I'd just started using some acrylic matte medium as adhesive, and stuff was drying. There was no plan. I just ripped paper and mooshed it on to a pink piece of 12" x 12" card stock. Yay for using up art supplies any way one can! Black tissue paper. Pink tissue paper. Scraps from other projects. No rules. Just play until one side of the record is over. Stop. Wash hands. Turn record over. Continue gooing.

The whole sheet is covered now - metallic paints helping unite the many layers. And as I have a meeting planned for tomorrow afternoon with a pal  I will probably bring this sheet of paper and some others along to cut and create even more Hearts. 

Life is O.K.

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

Goofing Off in Studio B

In early afternoon Todd and I headed for a metro area estate sale. The ad showed images of art supplies. I have no need of more art supplies, but Todd needed to get out of the house.

The studio area was almost picked bare, but I spent $2.00 for these items - 

The Super Amber paper is lovely translucent stuff, and most of the sheet is there. Now to see if I can de-curve it! A small sheet got painted later in the day, and a few Hearts are sitting under a weight. We shall see what happens.

I'd not owned a painting knife this small. Now to play with some marks. And as I didn't own an old two-foot wooden ruler - well, I "had" to buy this one. Could have purchased another. Practiced self control.

Did spend one whole hour playing in Studio B this afternoon.  Paper and paint. Teabags and paint. The Oscar Peterson Trio was most excellent company.

                            They played better than I played.

This album was released in 1963. The music is still fresh. It makes me happy to "rescue" vintage record albums, and I have owned this piece for some years. It's exciting to know that people young and old are discovering and rediscovering the joys of placing a large vinyl disk onto a turntable - and trusting a sharp needle and some speakers to create sound from those tiny grooves cut into that disk.

Tomorrow will bring different studio adventures. And more choosing tunes. I have too many art supplies. And too many records. Life is pretty peachy for the moment.

I figure any future estate sale happening here promises to be at least interesting!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

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

Baby Steps Again

Thank you to all who typed kind and gentle and kindred words about previous post.  Those "lost" hours in Magic Uncaring Recliner seem to have helped a bit. 

Here's a Morning State Fair Bunny for us - (Currently working on a mixed media portrait of this lovely creature.)

This dark cold morning I've discovered that ridding house of Quaker Instand Oatmeal Packet by eating contents might have simply been best if tossed in trash, or maybe out to birdies. Birdies,you didn't miss much. I've gnawed on cardboard that had less of an odd taste. But cinnamon, frozen raspberries/blueberries, and half a banana saved bowl into being breakfast.

Also, this morning I have learned about Random Number Generators.
And Day of the Dead symbolism.
I do not know the correct salutations to you who celebrate this day - know that I am appreciating that you are Celebrating.

The house has been rid of over ten things already this morning - mostly paper - some Christmas cards still taped to kitchen wall - yes, they stay there from season to season (a few choice few have been there for years), an unused calendar from 2014..., stuff like that. And the oatmeal. And a paperback copy of "True Grit." This will find it's way to one of Stillwater's many Little Free Libararies. I am thankful for Little Free Libraries!

(Soft guitar jazz is good for this soul. Bareny Kessel is playing on Pandora now.) (And now - Mr. Miles Davis.)

And it is a season for giving Thanks.
What is the smallest bit of something for which you might be Thankful? 

On to whatever Adventures lie ahead today - 
Going to try and tough it out for The Whole of the Day.

(Jazz now - Vince Guaraldi and Band playing "Linus and Lucy." A great way to be up and doing. Come on now, back and legs and head and torso and arms - let's do this day!)

And Best of Luck with yours! Use whatever it takes.
AND - congratulations to the Houston Astros and their fans for winning their first World Series. It was quite the bunch of games.

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

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

A Bear for the Day

Greetings -
Too many tiny tasks.
Must remember to tackle them, as stated by Anne Lamott's father, "bird by bird."
 Keeping Lists in small notebooks is a must this days. Just don't start writing in too many notebokks.
AND DO NOT LOSE THESE NOTEBOOKS!!!!!

Sent one Christmas card. Am hoping to have ambition to write witty Christmas letter this year. Last year, well..... adventures, good and bad, were not chronicled.

Here's a Bear for the Day:

Some days that's all you can ask.

Time to get back to organizing greeting car orders and finishing custom work and finding some "Not Really Balanced - Don't Really Care" tees in the basement bins.

Playing excellent jazz all day in honor of the passing of the great Dave Brubeck. Some days are filled with Bach. Today it's Mr. Brubeck's turn.

On to this December and all that it brings - may you find a bit of Play in your day!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue
Our Sue Rowe Studios Facebook page is always willing to take on a few more "Likes". Sitting at 99 - maybe we'll hit 100 before year's end? And who knows the Mysteries waiting in year 2013? Must get back to some Challenges. Suggestions?