Internet Connection Chaos!

I am having internet problems.  Slow connection, keeps cutting off.  Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.  Call the provider, tech has me rewriting code for the broadband card.  Yay!  it works!  For at least 10 minutes after I hang up.  Rinse, repeat.  I am getting close to a temper tantrum.

Afghan Hound puppy

Bright Water

reflection

Farm Stand

We used to call these farmer's markets until farmer's markets grew into the block long multiple vendor markets they are today.  I guess that's a good thing.  Especially for the farmers who are trying to grow organic and need a place to market their produce.  I still like shopping at these little stands better. This one is on my way home from where I work in the morning.

 This is a corner of the fields where the produce sold in this stand is grown.  The faint colored line across the middle of the field is zinnias and strawflowers.  They will sell them in huge bunches when they are ready.

Today I picked up a fresh green bell pepper, fresh onion and fresh eggs for a yummy omelet for dinner.

TAW check in

This is supposed to be the check in for Chapter 2 and the start of Chapter 3, but I am slowing the schedule down a bit.
I have been doing the Morning Pages and this week I did an Artist's Date (more on that another time) but I have not really had time to do the exercises or even re-read the chapter.  I skimmed through it last Sunday and that was it.
So I am going to stay at Chapter 2 and spend some time on the exercises.  Morning Pages are great, very hard to sit down and do them, but I feel good as I do them and they make a difference in the day.

Art Journal...this is gonna be fun!

My first art journal - title page

I have always wanted to do an art journal.  Whenever I see one on someone's site I have to stop and look at it.  But I have always been too intimidated to try it.  These last couple of weeks of being committed to having time for my art and doing TAW morning pages I am starting to think about my art more like I did when I was young and the process was the fun and the challenge, not the finished product.  I realized that I was looking at art journals like a finished piece of work, which I guess they eventually turn in to.  Then I realized that I needed to do an artist's journal as a way to explore, take notes, have successes and failures and keep them all together as a learning process.  So I sat down and started one tonight.  I have always been fascinated by how some artist's can seamlessly bind collage and original art together into one piece.  So I am going to experiment with collage.
I sat down this afternoon with some old magazines, scissors, glue, an unused sketchbook, and some watercolors.  I did this very simple page almost entirely from magazine clippings.  I like it.  I had fun.  It was like being in first grade only with a cup of coffee, sharp scissors and no Sister Mary PITA telling me that I was doing it wrong.  I felt like a little kid and really enjoyed the process.  I put a bunch of clippings that I like in a folder, stuck the folder in with my watercolors and it will be ready to get me started next time.

The Next Chapter - The Happy Book

I just got my copy today. It looks wonderful. I am going to read and start playing with it tonight.
When I was in the bookstore there was a woman in the aisle where I was hunting for this book, she had several books in her arms. When I found The Happy Book I leafed through it for a minute and turned around and almost ran into her. I know I had a big grin on my face and I held the book up and said "I can't wait!" I saw her checking out later....she had a copy of The Happy Book. I hope she has fun with it.

internet connections

I have been having internet problems all week, apparently my broadband card is malfunctioning. Wouldn't you think they would just get me another one and THEN figure out what is wrong with it? I had an online tech doing tests for half an hour and another that wants me to call him.
*sigh*
So I haven't been visiting all the wonderful and talented people engaged in the creative projects I am watching or participating in all week.
I hope to cruise around to my favorite sites this evening. Looking forward to a quiet evening and this would be fun.
Fingers crossed.

Avatar

I never saw Avatar in the theatre. I watched it last night, even without the 3-D effects it was pretty impressive.

The Artist's Way - first check in

So, this was my first week doing The Artist's Way and it was eye opening. I did the Morning Pages everyday except Saturday. I don't know why I skipped Saturday, I don't know what happened, it was just suddenly Saturday evening and I realized that I had not even thought about doing it in the morning. That was not good.

I did not do the Artist's Date - at all. I knew what I wanted to do. In the mornings I work for someone else, but in the afternoons and evenings I am self employed and have a lot of control over my schedule. I couldn't get it done. Everything else kept getting in the way. Obviously I was not making it enough of a priority, but I was kind of surprised to let this one slip away from me.

I did get some of the exercises done, not all like I had thought that I could do but I did some.

On the plus side, the morning pages really do help put things in perspective. After you blather on for a page about something that seems like the end of the world, suddenly it doesn't seem like such a big deal any more. And some little thoughts that pop into your head suddenly turn into important ideas when you write them down. I do like doing this, although it is really hard for me in the morning. I tend to be somewhat of a zombie with coffee for a while in the morning.

On the negative side, this is a lot harder than it sounds. The whole program together means actually valuing yourself, your ideas and your time. Apparently I don't do that very well.

Carrying on this week, trying to do more.

Creative Every Day - Fire

The Next Chapter

What made me happy this week?

I have stopped "planning" to get back to doing fun and creative things. I stopped wishing I had time to do the things I want and found a way to get started.

I am doing The Artist's Way and really enjoying doing the Morning Pages, they have motivated me to get moving. I rejoined Creative Every Day and I just found The Next Chapter. I don't have the book yet, but I have the message.

Probably the biggest thing is that my paints are not put away where it is a PITA to get them out to use. They are on the kitchen bar. Brushes, sketchbooks and paper, paints, jars, palettes, all sitting right out where I can work for 5 minutes or an hour, whenever I find a few minutes. I have sketched a couple of really bad watercolor sketches that have given me the inspiration for another and taught me some new techniques. I always wanted to watercolor paint, I have always been intimidated by it and I have always put it away at the first sign of 'ick.' Now I see lessons learned in 'ick' and I am having fun.

Creative Every Day - Fire

Fire in the sky. Dawn over Denver 8/6/10

The Next Chapter

I looked all over the net a few weeks ago to see if there was a new Next Chapter and I couldn't find one. I was so disappointed because I had really enjoyed the 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women. And guess what!? I found it. I forgot it was Jamie Ridler and when I linked to her page it came up. And along with it this video of a flash mob in Toronto.
So, the book is The Happy Book (have to go get a copy tomorrow) and the question last week was, what made you happy this week? Finding the project AND this video made me happy this week.

on my 'must read' list

Two young men create a fictional character, an eccentric elderly woman, and find her standing on their doorstep. Info on Amazon here.


A blend of historical fiction, set in an early Chinese dynasty, and fantasy. Info on Amazon here

Creative Every Day - Fire

Playing with Fire

I go to the gem show and pick up stones that I have plans for, stones that I get an inspiration for as I play with them and some stones that just catch my eye.

In this picture are citrine, carnelian, red jasper, rhodochrosite and hematite. These are all stones of projective energy, associated with the element of Fire.

The rhodochrosite is destined for a necklace with a pendant of rhodonite (another Fire stone). I have played around with the citrine (one of my favorites) and the carnelian but I have not been struck with an idea that I like yet. I will do something with them this month in honor of Fire.

The Artist's Way - official start

This is it. The official start of The Artist's Way. I have been doing the morning pages all week and glad to be able to say that I have done them everyday, over huge mental resistance. I decided that Sunday would be my day to read each chapter and plan for the exercises and artist's date for the upcoming week. Saturday will be check in day. Although she says that you don't have to do all the exercises each week, the first week's seem to be all interconnected so I am going to try to do them all. Most can be added onto the morning pages. For an artist's date I am thinking about browsing the antique stores in Lafayette, something that I have wanted to do for about 15 years, I think that was the last time I did that. And a cup of coffee at Canon Mine, which is something I do manage to do every once in a while. I need to set a date and time and carve it in stone. Equal amounts of skepticism and excitement over this.