when it rains it pours in a good way

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Paula in July

This month I've had

some daily adult "me" time free from parenting obligations...

some unexpected extra time to spend with my husband...

time to take a class about chain-making...

&

two back-to-back unplanned opportunities that were too good to pass up involving positive changes to my art studio space.

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so this month I

like the parks and recreation department...

am thankful for good doctors, modern medicine, and good benefits...

am still a bit scared of my torch...

&

hope I can work hard enough to bring this plan from concept into existence.

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Do you like my hat?

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love from the garden

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rose petal heart beads in progress

idea journal

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Birth of a Daisy

small study for a larger painting

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I keep an idea journal.

It is a kind of a tear file and visual reminder of things I see in the paper or anywhere that give me any kind of a creative idea or good thought about life in general. I like being kind of messy about what goes in there, just glueing it with the glue stick, not all that carefully.

The purpose of keeping it is for jump-starting myself when I don't know what to work on next. It is still that, but it has also become just for looking at and feeling good.

I began making entries in 2006. My book is small and black, and smudged on the cover. It is warped. I keep cutting off the year from the calendar in my desk drawer and adding that to the front. I usually get around to that in May or so. No rush.

My pages are filled with a collection of pictures of various green items, next to the face of Jesus with black skin, next to the obituary of my favorite high school Spanish teacher. I have quite a few dog pictures in there, and some lakes and kayaks because I might go kayaking someday. It has recipes, paint textures, pictures of rust, and many, many trees and flowers and pathways in the woods. It has sterling silver jewelry, pictures of Santa Fe, and the words of a cancer survivor who said to get up and fix yourself up and proceed as best as you could.

Sometimes when I look at a page I cannot find one single reason why I chose it, and then I wonder what I was thinking about on that day. Usually there is something in there that makes me cry.

This week I have been computer-generating some small working studies as the starting point for large acrylic paintings, so tonight "Birth of a Daisy" goes into my journal too.

bye, Buddy

R.I.P. Buddy

July 11, 2010

This was truly one of the nicest dogs God ever made. He was one of the seven that lent this blog its name, and he left us peacefully and suddenly without warning. You will be remembered and missed, Buddy.

working study

small study for larger painting

Tonight I created this small computer-generated sketch as a preliminary study for a much larger acrylic painting. My original photo was a macro shot of a bougainvillea blossom, manipulated and filtered with Photoshop beyond recognition. It retains the organic feel and vibrant color I love, and I think it would translate really well into brush strokes. I like the speed and multiple variations I can generate using software as a "sketching" tool. It clarifies my thoughts and frees up time for working on the final project.

my starting point

bead stash

beads in my "new" thrift store jars and bottles

Yesterday I organized my art studio again to make the available work space be larger than the supply storage space. This seems to be an ongoing trend.