It's kind of amazing how trying something new can take you in a direction you never anticipated going. It has been true with singing, as I've written about before here, and now I'm finding it true about sketching too.
See this sketch? I did it last October, and I did it because I was sitting at a place where this was the view. But I became instantly absorbed with painting the details on the buildings ... it made me look closely and I really enjoyed trying to draw all of that detail.
Here's
another sketch I did a while back, just because it was what was in front
of me. Who knew that doing that plain old bank building would be so
fun to draw?
To to my surprise, I have discovered that I really like drawing buildings. They give me the chance to figure out perspective and usually mess about with foliage shapes and colors. I like adding the trim and the texture or decorative bits. In fact, I am loving it. The other day I sat in my driveway and painted the house across the street.
Yesterday I
was out and about running errands and I drew a bit of the town center in
the next town over. So far I'd avoided drawing cars (those pesky cars so often parked in front of charming buildings, annoyingly
getting in the way) but when a big white limo pulled in in front of the
gelato shop, I had to include it. And I kind of like how they add to the scene.
Now, as I'm
out and about doing things, I find myself looking at the shops and
houses I drive past all of the time, thinking "Hmm, that'd be fun to
sketch!" Here's a house in my sister's neighborhood that looked so cozy and tucked away behind a lush garden. In fact, my sister and I were together and both of us sketched it -- it was really fun to see how differently we did the same thing.
This afternoon I have to take the dog to the vet's, and it has
already occurred to me that that might be a fun spot to draw, too. Oh
dear. I will have to add 45 minutes to every errand for drawing time.
Maybe one day I'll work my way up to adding people. Who knows where this adventure with pen and paint will take me next...
This past weekend, Miss C participated in a vaulting demonstration at the barn where she rides. I'm amazed at what she can do on a walking, trotting, or cantering horse -- some of these things I can't even do on the ground!
(By the way, if you get a sound error message box before the video comes up, just click the X in the upper right hand corner and you can see the slideshow without sound.)
I haven't been spending that much time in the sewing room since I finished "Serenity," but I did make another quilt recently, about two weeks ago. I wrote last time about the community chorus I'm in and our party to celebrate the chorus's 25th anniversary and the director's retirement. As a thank you from the chorus, I made this quilt for her. The green fabric in the border and the block backgrounds has pale music staffs and notes -- very soft and pretty. On the back are a photo of the full chorus and everyone's signatures. Making this was truly a labor of love. I was happy to see her delight at receiving it, too.
Meanwhile, though, I've been spending more time drawing and painting. It is remarkably reassuring to me to know that this is all learnable, and to be seeing progress. At my April ranch retreat recently, I too time to do a bit of outdoor sketching, which was very enjoyable.
I even attended an urban sketcher's "sketch crawl, hosted by local artist Richard Sheppard, right here in my own town. I had such a good time meeting fellow sketchers, getting tips and new ideas, and being out and about sketching with others. I sat myself on a benchand did a page spread featuring our local corner candy store.
And just to keep myself going, I've been participating in a challenge called "Every Day in May" where the task is to draw or paint something (duh) every day in May to a daily topic. It's been very fun and I've surprised myself a few times.
I was pretty happy with both of these. But mainly I'm just having fun doing them. Tomorrow's theme is "Something Creepy" which had me stumped for a bit as all I could think of was spiders and I didn't want to paint one of those. Here's what I'll post in the group tomorrow:
Yeah, I hate clowns.
Now I'm torn... when I have time, do I sew? Do I sketch with pen and ink? Do I paint? Such problems.
I've always loved musicals. I know some people are put off by the idea of people suddenly (and seemingly randomly) bursting into song, but that's one of the things I love about them. It's the sudden bursting into song that seems like how life should be, you know?
Back when I was in high school, I had a friend, Paula, whose family had an annual Christmas party that would culminate with everyone standing around a piano singing holiday songs. I'd never seen anything like that outside of the movies, and I thought it was wonderful fun. It wasn't that the group sounded particularly great, but what struck me was the pure joy of singing with friends. It felt fun and uplifting and festive. I remember thinking that some day, when I had my own home, I'd have parties where we'd sing Christmas songs, too.
Some years later, when I was a just-out-of-law-school lawyer and brand new in my New England community, I was invited to a Christmas caroling party. There was snow on the ground, a crisp chill in the air, and hot cider and cookies before and after singing. It was my idea of holiday bliss.
Flash forward some years to when Miss C was little and we'd moved into our own home. I persuaded my husband to host a Christmas caroling-and-cookie party. I got song lyrics printed up, and I strung clusters of jingle bells on pipe cleaners for the little kids to jingle along, and I invited a bunch of families. We had a good old time, and I will never forget the parents of my friend Jenny, visiting from England, who seemed sort of dazed by the whole experience ("Is this a common American holiday event?" they asked) but were good sports about coming along and singing right out.
I stopped trying to do a caroling party after a few years. Looking back, I can see that my husband and I had different goals around those sorts of things, and what felt fun and spontaneous and relaxed to me felt disorganized and unpolished and uncomfortable for him. It just felt less and less fun, and not worth the frustration.
Flash forward some more, and I found myself singing with the Healsburg Chorus, a community chorus in my area. (I've written about it here and here.) It's been wonderrful fun, and I've learned a lot, and I've made some delightful new friends.
This past Sunday, I hosted a pot-luck dinner to celebrate the end of our spring season and, more momentously, to mark the 25th anniversary of the chorus. We'd just learned that our director Betty, who has led the chorus since its inception, had decided to retire. So we gathered to enjoy each other and celebrate the chorus's long life and to honor Betty and the others who've been along for the whole 25 years. The weather was gorgeous, so a lot of people spilled out into the backyard and there was much chatter and laughter.
At one point, we presented gifts to Betty, the 4 25-year members, and Susan, the amazing pianist who as accompanied the chorus for all of that time (and, thank god, will continue.) Our gift to Susan was a music box shaped like a grand piano that played "I Will Always Love You," which was one of the songs in our spring repertoire this year. (You know the one ... Whitney Houston? Dolly Parton? That one.) Susan, and others, got teary eyed.
And all of a sudden, someone spontaneously started singing "I Will Always Love You" to Betty. And the whole chorus joined in, singing along, a bit raggedly perhaps without accompaniment to follow or keep us on tune, but with such love and joy and four layers of harmoney, eyen. It was, I tell you, just like in the movies. There were big smiles, and some tears, but it was lovely. And me, I was feeling an extra delight at seeing 50+ people crammed into my family room and kitchen, singing away for the joy of it. Just like life should be.
The arrangement we were singing was the one that the Denver Gay Men's Chorus is singing above. We sounded sorta like that, only, well, we're not gay, or all men, and we were standing around a kitchen table. But still. It was PERFECT.
I am delighted to report that my newest art quilt, "Serenity," was accepted into the exhibition "An Exquisite Moment" by the Dinner at Eight Artists. Here is how they described the exhibit theme:
"Consider
the following: The unfurling of a flower. A hummingbird in flight. A
magical moment shared with a lover or friend. The birth of a child. A
personal milestone. The realization of a dream. A treasured memory.
The sacred moments of the ordinary. These are the Exquisite Moments
that make us who we are."
I seem to have lost my blogging rhythm. Where did it go? Well, I will settle back in at some point. Perhaps I need to set myself a schedule. Or not. See? I can't even commit to the idea of a schedule. I figure that this period of my life is about finding New Normal, so you'll just have to bear with me.
So far, New Normal has involved reconnecting with some friends, which has been lovely. I've picked up my ink pen and paintbrush and I'm getting reacquainted with how it feels to look and see and draw and paint. Online classes with Jane LaFazio and Val Webb have provided great inspiration and instruction -- not to mention some deadlines to push me forward.
New Normal meant getting back into my sewing room to make a new art quilt too. Yee haw! That felt good! I'm afraid I can't show it to you, as it is for an exhibit which prevents publication before a certain point, but here's one of the several inspiration photos that led to the piece I made.
I've been reading a lot, too -- we've had some gray rainy days that required just curling up on the couch with the novel du jour. Some of the better books I've read are:
If the Magic Easter Tree is blooming, it must be Easter! This is a dogwood tree in my friend Beth's backyard (in Sacramento, California -- sorry to all of you who are still walking on frozen ground!), and it somehow manages to bloom just in time for Easter every year, no matter whether Easter is in March or April. It's magic, clearly, hence our name for it.
The little baby blossoms are exquisite, dainty little cups that seem to open a bit more every minute. I can't seem to stop taking pictures of them.
There are other flowers blooming the yard too -- here's a gorgeous camellia that makes me think of strawberry swirl ice cream.
I'm here to help Beth for a few days as she recovers from foot surgery. So she is sitting with her foot propped up high, and I'm fetching things and plumping pillows and bringing medications on schedule. Today we got her set up on the back porch so we could enjoy the lovely day while we chatted and poked around on our screened devices. This is the sort of nursing I like.
How lovely to be able to just sit and soak up Spring!
Do you ever have times where you just feel droopy all day? I've been in one of those phases. And I've tried chalking it up to a bunch of different things: the aftermath of the burst of painting and decorating energy I've had, that Daylight Savings' lost hour, the emotional fallout from doing some heavy emotional work via Al-anon ... Or maybe it's just that, since the whole downstairs was in disarray for 10 days, Gemma has come to sleep in my bedroom, and every time I turn over during the night she considers it appropriate to come over to the bed and poke her face at me in delight that I'm there.
When I come downstairs in the morning, I make my mug of coffee and go sit in the living room to enjoy the morning sunshine and the new rug and read email, and I've had a few days where I could have just sat there all day reading and napping and waiting for my mom and dad to take their turns in Words with Friends. Computer games are perfect for moods like that.
But then things need to be done, and I get moving, and I'm happily immersed in planning ahead in the school curriculum and painting the dining room hutch (yes, STILL. But I'm on the doors which is the last part) and making progress on a new art quilt, and folding laundry. Well, except for the folding laundry -- that's not something that thrills me but heck, it gets done.
And by late afternoon, there is time to sit outside in the sunshine while Gemma roams on the lawn. Those primroses I bought two weeks ago still haven't gotten themselves planted, but heck, I"m enjoying them in their little cartons anyway.
There's always tomorrow.
Do you have moods like this? And how do you jostle yourself out of them?
So, the new floors are in and a (relative) peace has settled in the house. No more workers and saws and buzzing noises and dust! Well, I should qualify... there is lots of dust around here! But at least the creation of daily sawdust has ceased. Phew. You can see that Gemma is inspecting the floor carefully.
I shopped forEVER for an area rug to lighten up the (now) dark floor and brown couches and brown furniture ... and I finally found one, which arrived last weekend. And I love it. (It's from Garnet Hill, btw. This is my second rug from them and I have been delighted with the look and quality of both of them.)
I'm not liking the yellow sofa pillows much but this was the first look with the rug down. I now need to reaccessorize and haul the stuff that I stored upstairs during the floor work BACK downstairs, and get things moved back in. I also found the perfect fabric to make curtains and soften up the room some. So it was a good news/bad news thing. Yay! I found the right fabric! Oh no, now I have to make them! Eventually. But that rug makes me very happy.
And, as long as the floor guys had moved the dining room furniture out to the garage during the work, I decided to take the opportunity to paint a piece of furniture that has been bugging me since we got it. The dining room is relatively small, with a wall that has two windows and a narrow space between them. When we found a china cabinet that would fit in that space (at a consignment store for a great price) we grabbed it. It fits well and it functions beautifully -- but it was very dark, stained wood and I ended up feeling that it loomed over the room in an unpleasant way. When the floor guys took it out of the room, I felt instantly relieved.
So, inspired by the furniture painting lessons and encouragement on Pinterest and DIY blogs, I decided to paint the thing.
One of my favorite home improvement/decorating bloggers, Kate at Centsational Girl, provided great detailed instructions for painting furniture which gave me just what I needed to know.
So I've been spending time sanding, filling, priming and as of
yesterday, painting. Here it is with the first primer coat. (That front piece, which has glass-fronted doors, stacks on the rear piece.)
Upon reflection, it probably wasn't the smartest
idea to start with a huge piece with drawers and doors and two big
sections ... This is clearly going to take some time. But heck... I figure that once I do this, any project after
will seem easier. I should add that on this piece, the shelves are nailed in place so painting those bottom shelves equired lying on my back and painting to get the undersides, which are visible when the piece is assembled and glass doors are on (While swiping away from that not very comfortable position, I pondered Michelangelo. There is not a Sistine Chapel in my future.)
See that round table up there in the living room picture? I plan to paint that a creamy white. I should have started with that, I'm thinking now. Oh well. Live and learn. And paint.
The mustard is in full bloom around here, so I am feeling very springy. Isn't that gorgeous? When I took Miss C to her horseback riding lesson last week, I couldn't help wandering off to take some pictures of the field next to the ring.
I've got various projects going, not the least of which is heavy cleaning after installing new floors throughout the downstairs in the house kicked up a TON of dust. But the result is wonderful and I'm delighted it's in and finished.
I've taken a break from cleaning to finish a project (yahoo!) and start some new things. First, I finally put the binding on the red flying geese quilt I started some months ago, which I call "Every Which Way." I also realized that I have a bunch of big quilts I've never photographed in full because I don't have a big wall on which to hang them for that purpose. But I rearranged the bedroom recently and that freed up a wall which will work for that purpose. So there's a quilt photo-shoot day in my future and I'll be able to show a full picture of this and some other quilts.)
I was so charmed by seeing a lovely scrappy Trip Around the World quilt that I couldn't resist cutting up a bunch of scraps to make one for myself. All you need is a whole bunch of 2 1/2 inch strips at 16 inches long. The easy method for making these blocks is here
and yes, it really IS easy and yes, it is rather addictive, seeing how every block comes out differently. I've got a stack made, because you know -- when things are busy and you have a ton of things to do, that's always a good time to start a new quilt! I am looking forward to finding time to sew them together.
During this past week (and for the next few days) the entire downstairs of the house has been in extreme disarray as workers tear out the old flooring to replace it with some lovely dark wood laminate. This change has been in the works for months, and was originally planned for last November, but product shipping meant that it is happening now. And that has not turned out to be a bad thing, actually -- there's been a lot of household discombobulation with Mr. H's departure, so having every room in the house feel wildly topsy-turvy seems sort of fitting. When it's all done, it will be clean and fresh and it will give the downstairs a whole new look, and that is a welcome thing about now.
But here's what makes me grin every morning. I had to clear off all of the counters in the kitchen to avoid the flying dust and debris while they work downstairs so I brought the coffee maker upstairs into the bathroom. And every morning, I take a weird pleasure at being able to make my morning coffee right upstairs in the bathroom. I can even look at myself in the mirror while I do it.
It's such an odd thing but it makes me laugh every morning. I feel a bit like I'm in a hotel. Sure, I have to go downstairs and out to the garage to get the milk (I had to empty the kitchen fridge because they need to unplug and move that around to put the new floor under it) but even so, it's a funny start to the morning. I know someone who lives in a rather grand and large home, and she has a "butler's kitchen" in her very expansive master suite, complete with a coffee maker, mini-fridge, cupboard for snacks, etc. When I saw it I thought it was quite odd. But now I totally get the appeal.
So here is how the new floor looks right now, partially done (and very dirty):
And here is what the family room looks like currently, with the kitchen furnishings crammed in. This shows the bare concrete and they will be working on adding the wood today:
Oh, what a dusty mess it all is. But then sometimes life IS a dusty mess, isn't it? I'm in one of those times now, but gosh, it feels good to have peace ahead. I could make all sorts of jokes about "a new foundation" or "new footing" or some such things... but it's true.
Today, while the work continues downstairs, I plan to shut myself into my studio for some scrappy sewing. And I'll probably drink too much coffee, just because it's so fun to make it up here.
I am feeling quite empowered these days. Last week was about wielding a paintbrush (Emplowerment Phase 1) -- this week it has been power tools (Phase 2) What is it about using a power drill or screw-driver that is so exciting?
I installed shelving in my newly-rosy office.
(Note here to any Black & Decker people reading this: When you write the instructions for operating the drill, please identify what the "chuck" is on the drill. When one --ahem-- is new at this, one reads the instructions to find out how to use the tool. And repeated references to the "chuck" without ever identifying "the chuck" is hardly helpful. I figured it out, no thanks to the written materials. Chuck and I are good buddies, now.)
I also assembled a small flat-pack bookcase which holds boring and unattractive legal reference books in the closet. So with Chuck's help (he not only drills but he screws, too) I got that thing together in no time.
Today, I assembled a day bed which will double as a comfy lounging and reading place in the office, and guest accommodations. As my first guest arrives on Friday, I have this thing together just in time. Between getting it all assembled and then getting the whole thing made up, I figure I've accomplished my work-out for the day.
BUT THEN I went on to Empowerment Phase 3 -- electronics! The CD/DVD player we've had for years finally bit the dust, and the new DVD player arrived today. (They are surprisingly inexpensive now, and so tiny!) So I unhooked the old thing, hooked up the new one, AND rearranged the components on the shelves so they fit better and look tidy. Best of all, they all worked fine when I tried them out.
I have now thoroughly worn myself out so perhaps a test of the daybed for a trial nap is in order...
Do I have the flu? Or an ordinary head cold? If I feel like this, does it matter knowing what it is?
Chicken soup never tastes as good when I make it myself.
Changing the sheets on the bed is one of those annoying jobs (especially when the bed is against a wall) but it is SO worth it to climb into a bed with fresh sheets. I marvel over my friend DB who changes the sheets on her bed EVERY SINGLE DAY.
A certain dog who happens to be wearing a big cone on her head (Two knees. Three knee surgeries. Just sayin'.) managed to wedge the edge of the cone under her full dinner dish and flip the whole thing over. Let's hope this is not a new dinner time game.
On Project Runway, when a designer claims directly to the camera, "I am better than everyone here and I am going to win this thing, " you have a good idea of who will crash and burn and leave in that episode. The editors' subtle idea of irony, I guess.
Is it actually possible to have all of the laundry done? For half a day, maybe? Clearly I am dreaming BIG.
Puffs are softer than Kleenex. My nose knows.
A certain cat in the household likes to chew on tulip leaves but will leave other cut flowers alone. What is THAT about?
I seem to be obsessed with the idea of putting buffalo check curtains in the living room. But my mind boggles when I calculate how much fabric I would need. I'll worry about that tomorrow.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
On a good day --a very, very good day -- this is how my office/studio could look. I say "could" because it would have required extreme effort on my part to keep the work table clean, and to keep that spot on the left next to my computer monitor free of papers and miscellaneous stuff waiting for handling.
But, as I've mentioned, I now have the room to expand. The computer desk you see on the left there (a big corner unit), and a table that you don't see, has been moved to another bedroom down the hall. So I have two dedicated spaces: one for sewing, and the other for work, computer business -- but wait, there's more! That office now holds a table which I hope to use as a dedicated space for painting. I can hardly believe it.
Yesterday, the main project was to wrestle the furniture out of one room into the other, and to get the computer hooked up and running. I will add that, in preparation for that, I painted the office a lovely color and touched up all of the white trim. As long as I had the trim painting in hand, I went around the house, touching up nicks and dents and scrapes so things like all white and clean. As it turned out, moving the furniture required taking the doors off of the hinges, removing the feet and some miscellaneous parts from the desk, and basically shoving it through at one point. But here are a few lessons learned: 1) Move furniture first, THEN do the paint touch up. I'll have to get out the paint again to deal with a few (ahem) gouges at the edge of the door frame. 2) A silicone ironing sheet does not work as a furniture slider. Yes, I tried, and no, it didn't really make a difference. Good idea, though, huh?
Today was dedicated to taking the studio from a full-out disaster zone to reasonably tidy. No, I didn't take pictures. But I did fill a whole lot of garbage bags, and in case you need a picture, here you go:
At some point, mystified by some marks on the work table that wouldn't come clean, I remembered I had some of these Mr Clean eraser thingies downstairs. I went and fetched one, and lo and behold, it worked miraculously. I don't know what magic product these sponges have in them, but they clean amazing things. And so that lead me to a somewhat frenzied excursion around the house, swiping away with a Mr Clean eraser and chortling gleefully at how stains or marks I had resigned to being permanent just wiped away.
Cleaning with these is weirdly addictive, and I say that as someone who is decidedly NOT a good cleaner. The weird rust-like stains on my white enameled bread box? Gone like magic. The scuff marks at the bottom of the door to the hall closet? Vanished. At one point Miss C came downstairs to remind me it was time for our trip to the animal shelter for volunteer kitty time, and I found it hard to stop cleaning.
Hah. I know. I think I'll have to check at Costco to see if they sell these things in bulk. If you don't hear from me in a week or two, send help -- I might be doing laps around the house, eraser in hand, scanning for marks to clean.
I will post pictures when things are settled. But for now, I'm enjoying the new space and feeling proud of myself for all of the stuff I'm purging and the dirt I'm erasing.
I think I deserve a hot bath and a brownie tonight.
Apparently there are people who can paint a room and end up with all of the paint on their walls, instead of on their bodies and clothes. I see them on HGTV all the time -- they toss on an apron over lovely clothes and start painting and by the time they're done, they look just the same.
Me? Not so much. When I titled this post "In the Pink," I was speaking literally. I have spent the last few days painting the room I'm converting to my work and computer office. It's a small room -- 10x11, maybe, nothing complicated. Still, I managed to get paint EVERYwhere. On my clothes. On my arms and legs and glasses and feet. There was one exciting (and I mean that in a bad way) moment when I knocked the paint tray off of the ladder and it fell straight down, landing upside down of course. Thank goodness I'd taken my messiness into consideration and covered the floor liberally with plastic-backed drop cloths. And how many times did I then STEP into the spilled paint splotch? Once is bad enough, but yes, I did it more than that.
Sheesh. How do those HGTV folks do it?
I can at least report that I did not get a single speck of paint on my Ipad, which I had in there to listen to NPR and TED talks while I painted.
At any rate, aside from a tiny bit of touching up on the white trim (which I'll do tomorrow), I am DONE.
I can hardly wait to start moving furniture in and organizing the office. And then that will lead to re-organizing my sewing room to take advantage of the space vacated by the desk. So more excitement ahead, but at least the painting is done.
And, by the way, I now remember why I vowed after painting the family room and kitchen a few years ago that from then on I'd hire painters.
There are times in one's life that present opportunities for reinvention. Sometimes we recognize them, as with the start of a new job, or a move to a new place; sometimes they seem like part of life's progression, and only in retrospect do we recognize how much our lives and our roles in them evolved. Graduating from school and transitioning to the working world, getting married, adopting a child -- I look back at those times and while I knew those were big milestone events that would change my life, I didn't appreciate how much they'd change me and my sense of myself.
I've been in transition over the last year, and I'm glad to report that I've entered a new and contented phase. It's definitely a time of reinvention -- I'm viewing myself and my life in a new way, not quite sure what will come, but feeling hopeful and peaceful and energized. I feel a bit like that branch in the photo up there -- something has been lopped off, but something new is starting to bloom, too. It's odd, and a bit scary at times, but mainly it feels good.
So I've been working on cleaning house -- literally and figuratively. I feel the need to get the space around me tidied up and uncluttered and serene. (Okay, I'll confess that I've got a long way to go before things get to "serene" around here -- I just have too much stuff around me that I love and get pleasure from seeing! But it's getting better!) On the literal side, I've hauled boxes of clothes and shoes and household items to the Salvation Army, and I've weeded books from the shelves to donate to the library for its next sale. I'm moving things around, and I've even begun painting the room that will soon be my working office in a delicate ballet slipper peachy-pink, so I can work in a rosy glowing space. My sewing space will expand a bit (moving the desk out gives me a few more precious feet of space -- hurray) and I'm creating a corner that will be dedicated to drawing and painting so I don't have to put away the sewing things before I can break out the watercolors.
And I'm making lists, lots of lists-- and setting some new paths for myself (I'll avoid the dreaded Resolution word) to get back to things I have loved and missed (like blogging here more regularly). When the weather warms up a bit, I'll get out to the garden, too.
Oh, so much to do, so many ideas and plans ... and it feels very good.
You may have surmised by my frequent silences here that the past year has been a strange and difficult one for me. I've found it hard to write blog entries -- talking about what has been going on in my life has felt too personal and too revealing and, at times, just too hard, and trying to talk about other things has felt, well, superficial and sort of phony. The good part is that I've done a lot of inner work, and I've looked at some hard things, and I've realized a lot about myself. So I think I can call this past year a Year of Discovery and move on. (Not that I plan to stop reflecting and discovering. But I'm ready for FUN discoveries.)
But you know, 2012 had a lot of wonderful things. And although I'm looking forward to 2013 with a sense of eagerness I've never felt for a new year before, I don't want to ignore the great things that I've experienced in 2012.
* I have the BEST friends. I won't name names -- they know who they are. But gosh, what a wonderful thing it is to feel the love and support of dear friends, new and old.
* Our Twelve by Twelve project continued with a year of new challenges -- 12x20 in size, with some very challenging themes -- and even while we all found ourselves and our project evolving, I continued to appreciate and treasure the amazing bond we've formed through 5 years of sharing our art quilts. And even while I wasn't bursting with art quilty creative inspiration for much of this past year, I did appreciate the 12x12 deadline and commitment, to take me back to fabric and my sewing machine.
* I think I held my breath through the month of October -- but what a relief the outcome of the November election was.
* Singing with the Healdsburg chorus has continued to be a delight and never fails to cheer me. I've made some lovely friends and opened up a whole new world of learning. I still marvel that I ventured into chorus because I thought my husband would like it and it'd be something we could do together, and while he didn't have any interest, I've ended up loving it. I'm already looking forward getting back to a new batch of music in a few weeks.
* Homeschooling Miss C has continued to be an adventure. I find surprising enjoyment in the process of finding material and ways to present information to Miss C so it will resonate and maybe even be enjoyable. Seeing her devour a book of Edgar Allen Poe stories, laugh at Mark Twain's "The Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" were real pleasures for me.
* My explorations in drawing and watercolor painting have continued to provide me with a lot of pleasure. And through the wonder of online classes, I've been able to learn new things and I've met some delightful and talented artists. I'm looking forward to more drawing and painting and learning.
* Most importantly, I'm so glad that my family is healthy and I'm so grateful for their love and support.
Through the wonders of Smilebox (free) slideshow maker, here are a few more photos from the last year.
Posted with Blogsy
