I'm Back...Sort Of

It's been a long time since I blogged. So long, in fact, that I actually had to look up my user name and password. (I sometimes wish I would just use the same name and password for all my accounts across the web, but that's not safe so I'm left with a list of combinations.)

For the last couple of weeks, my husband and his d-o-g have been home. Not for a vacation, really, but because his truck (big, 18-wheeler) needed to be repaired. It all started with having the clutch replaced, because it was failing. Simple job -- drop the transmission and replace it. While doing that, the mechanic found that the transmission oil cooler was leaking coolant into the oil. Not good. So to get it replaced, I had to drive to Fontana, CA (90 miles away) to get a new one, but -- and here's the cute part -- the dealer said he had the right part but it turned out to be the wrong one. Well, when the mechanic called around to other shops and dealers, the only one he could find was in Atlanta, GA. So, sending it by overnight freight (for $160), I got to do a return trip into Fontana. (The new part came into another dealer, but I still could return the wrong part to the other dealer and get our money back.) Then when the mechanic test-drove the truck, he noticed a fuel leak out of the fuel pump and an oil leak from the front of the transmission. The fuel leak ended up being just a few loose bolts and the oil leak didn't seem bad. So, on Friday, we paid the bill and brought the truck home.

Over the weekend, we drove it down to Palm Springs to pick up some lights for the truck and to figure out how much oil it was using. We found out about a pint of oil in 70 miles. Since hubby will drive 500-600 miles a day, that's nearly 2 galleons of oil per day. At $12/gal, this gets expensive fast. So Monday it went back to the shop. The cause was some dumb gasket, which was available in Chicago. After another bill, hubby finally got a working truck and left on Friday.

The total cost was about $5000.

This is why I about killed myself getting some Xmas cards done this week. As I mentioned, the alpaca farm wanted another alpaca piece by last weekend, to take to a show. She had also told me that she wanted a set of 3 Xmas cards by early November. Well, a week ago Friday, she calls and says they took out a half-page ad in an alpaca magazine, so she needed the cards by Thursday. With all the stuff going on with hubby's truck -- namely the trips to Fontana -- I didn't get started on them until Saturday afternoon. I figured one a day for 3 days and then another day to make corrections. No problem to get them done. So on Monday, I get this call and she says the deadline is really Thursday morning for the ad layout, so she would need the cards by Tuesday afternoon. So much for my timeline! I ended up working most of Sunday and Monday on them -- even made hubby make my lunches so I could work on the cards. But I got them done.

And in the middle of all this, I've been trying to run some auctions, update my website, and finish of some portrait commissions. All with husband and d-o-g in tow. (Sorry to say this, but dogs are a real nuisance, what with their trips outside. With cats, just give them a litter box and they are set for the entire day!)

And to complete my annoyance theme, today my website seems to be down. No wonder I'm not getting any views on my auctions -- the pictures are gone!

So, here are photos of what I'm selling on eBay right now:

Trout Lily Art Card

Wild Roses Print

Anemones in Crock

Anyway, I'm now trying to get my life back into some order and get back to work. I've sorted out what I want to do and how I'm going to try doing it. I still haven't exactly figured out how to get it all done, especially when I have these interruptions such as hubby's truck and the website problem to deal with!

Getting Back to Work

Gees, I know I haven't written much lately, but I didn't realize it was 9 days ago.

Well, I wish I could say I had a good break from things, but I can't. I've been feeling blah lately. I'm fighting against myself when it comes to doing an oil portrait. The IRS and my former auto insurance company are creating problems. I've spend days tracking down a few parts for hubby's truck. It's been hot and humid here..... On and on my list of whiny complaints.

Yes, I know I'm whining. And yes, I hate whiners. So I'm not happy with myself.

The basic problem is that all these little "problems" nibble away at my energy. Enough little bites, and then I feel sapped. So, like the terribly mature person I am (irony here), I just shut down. So, while I finished a couple of small paintings this week, none of then where on my list of commissions to do.

But now I had better get my act together fast!

Next weekend (16 Sept), I have a one day show to do in Montrose, CA. This wouldn't be a big thing, except I sold a number of my unframed botanicals during my "Best Offer" sale, I haven't done any extra florals/botanicals, and now my husband wants me to take my sculpture to the show. (He thinks sculpture would look good with the botanicals.) I also need to come up with something to take to "demo".

Then the following weekend (22 Sept), the alpaca farmer who used to handle my alpaca artwork will be doing a show in Monterey, CA and they want a couple of pieces. Well, they actually only want one pastel, but I would also like to do a small sculpture. They also want a set of Christmas cards, but not by the show. Again, this wouldn't be a big deal, but I'd like a bit more than a 10 day notice. (10 days because they need to take it to a framer.)

And then the eBay season is coming up. I had planned to start listing on the 15th or 17th actually (after the show). I have a few new things to list. But then there's the problem of letting the new oils dry long enough to be able to varnish them before I sell them.

So, in some ways, things are going pretty well for selling art. I just need to get busy and get back to producing a lot of art and soon!

Off the Bookshelf

With having my husband home for a week, I really haven't read a whole lot. I would like to read about a book a week, because I have a lot of books on my to-read list. And like any bibliophile, I keep adding more.

One thing I'm going to try for September is to really limit my television time to about 1 hour a day. The only exceptions will be when PBS has 2 hour shows or a good movie on the weekend. (Hey, I deserve a break once in a while.) Actually, I haven't been watching too much more than an hour per day as it is. I don't like most reality shows. I don't watch most sports, with college basketball tournement being an exception. And I don't have cable/satellite tv so I'm limited to 5 snowy channels. I'm actually threatening not to get a digital converter if and when the US does go 100% digital tv.

Anyway, with only 1 hour of tv, that should give me 1-2 hours a night to read. So, I may get my pile of books down to only a dozen or so!

Here's what I've finished lately:

• The Hours, by Michael Cunningham -- I'm not sure what I think of this novel. The basic outline is there are 3 women, Virginia Wolf, a 1950s housewife, and a contemporary lesbian. The book follows each woman in alternating chapters and then ties all three women together in the final chapter. While the characters were well-rounded, the plot rather surprising at times, and the writing clear and often poetic, the book left me feeling less than pleased that I had read it. (I have a lot of interesting books to read, so I don't want to waste my time on less than oustanding books.) Why it won a Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award I don't know. I don't think my less-than-positive reaction to the book had to do with the depression/suicide theme which runs thru the book -- it was more that the book was too contrived. Linking the three women together was a stretch. I probably won't ever reread this book and I definitely won't see the movie based on this book.
• Boomer, by Charles Taylor -- One blurb on the cover said something about better than Tom Clancy. And I have to agree, especially when compared to Clancy's Op-Center and Net Force novels. The basic story is a rogue submarine captain seizes a nuclear submarine with the intention of destroying U.S. subs and how the U.S. Navy tries to stop him. The writing was clear with enough detail to make it authentic, but not too much to become boring. The characters were interesting and multidimensional. And the plot had some extremely interesting twists and turns. While not a "great" novel, it was entertaining and very much worth my time to read.
• Regarding the Pain of Others, by Susan Sontag -- This collection of essays was outstanding. Basically, Sontag discusses how television and photography have influenced how we view the inhumanities of war. The chapters were short and basically independent of each other, which was good -- this is not a book which one reads in one sitting. My favorite part of this book is that she made me think about a lot of things related to the media and the U.S.'s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (And time an author can make me think, I love it!) On the down-side, her writing can be fairly complex in terms of syntax and rheotic. For example, she will hang a number of dependent clauses on one sentence, and then make reference to something she said three pages earlier. The writing is clear if one takes the time to read carefully, but as I was reading this while reading the above easy-to-read novels and in 'speed reading' mode, Sontag's writing occasionally confused me. I definitely will reread this book again as I think I can get more out of it each time I read it.

Presently, I'm reading these two books:

• Snow, by Orhan Pamuk-- Yet another novel I found at the library book sale. (Hey, I can get a lot of books in a bag on their "Buck-A-Bag" sale!) This was a New York Times Best Book of the Year and a novel based in and from Turkey, an area that I wouldn't mind learning more about.
• The Voyage of H.M.S Beagle: The Journal of Charles Darwin, by Charles Darwin -- Yep, another library find! Some years ago, I read Darwin's Origin of Species, and was left wondering what he saw on the voyage. So, when I saw this for sale (I didn't even know it was ever published), I knew I had to read it.

Both of these books are very interesting, at least as far as I am right now. Unfortunately, both are rather long, so it'll be a while before I get done with either. And in the meantime, I really need to get those bookshelves built so I can buy a number of books on my wish list!

Post Hubby Blues

Okay, I took last week off to spend time with my husband because it was our 20th anniversary. We had a great time doing not much of anything but being together. It was a wonderful week.

But now,....

Well, I should get back to work. Unfortunately, I'm having some mental and physical issues.

First, I like having my hubby around and doing things together. I know that's a bit unusual as most of my married acquaintances would rather have not spend time with their husbands. So, when he heads back on the road (he's an over-the-road trucker), I feel very lonely for a few days.

I'm also fighting against doing some portraits. I need to get these done so that I can do more of my personal art and just to get them off my mind. The problem stems from my fear of screwing them up. They are in oil and I haven't done a lot of oil portraits, especially lately. Add to this stress that one of them is to be a demo, so it's like having people watching me.

And just for kicks, I injured something in my back. It's the muscle under my right shoulder blade. I about screamed when I had to take my t-shirt off last night. It's a bit better this morning -- after 3 ibuprofens -- but all I have to do is reach out for a cup or look down too far to be strongly reminded that it's still there. This makes it hard to both write this blog, paint, do the dishes, etc.

So, after spending most of yesterday reading, I'm bored and frustrated. I really want to get back to work. So, I'm going to pick a portrait and do something on it for 30 minutes. (I think my back can handle that.) Maybe once I get working on something, I'll get motivated.

Or maybe I'll just finish the book.

Works in Progress and Completed

I decided that Monday's just didn't work for an update on what I'm working on. Since I scan things in on Sunday, both for eBay and for my website, I might as well do this update blog at the same time.

While I have several things planned for this week, I know that I'll be lucky to get anything done. This week my husband (and his d-o-g) will be home for a week for our anniversary. I now people may not consider this professional behaviour, but I'm giving him most of my attention and time and not sitting in my studio and working. But in case I have time to do stuff, such as when he's working on his truck, here are my plans.

Works in Progress and Planned

• portrait of Pancake -- I have the drawing done, but I'm waiting to hear back from the client about the background. I'm also struggling with getting enough courage up to start the painting -- it's not so much the painting that's the problem, but the fact that I'm doing this as a demo and everyone is watching.
• portrait of Paca -- I'm still waiting on new photos.
• a botanical watercolor of an iris -- This was going to be a hybrid Phragmipedium but I decided that this orchid would be better on a larger scale, so I've started on an iris. The reason I didn't just do the orchid larger now is (a) I only have 1 sheet of 7x10 paper left and want to use it and (b) I need to buy another block of 9x12 paper.
• an artcard of a squash -- This is just going to be a fun little art card with lots of textures.
• a floral oil painting of an orchid -- Another 5x7 orchard painting in oil. This one will be a purple vanda hybrid.
• Irises in a Square Vase -- I have this planned out, but it's just a matter of getting started on it.

I would have liked to get more done this last week, but I (stupidly) decided to do this Best Offer Sale on eBay. That has taken most of my time. Well, the problems with the IRS, my auto insurance, and a part for my husband's truck all ate up huge amounts of time. But while I didn't get a lot of stuff done, I'm very pleased with the quality of the 3 pieces I did finish.

Recently Completed Works

Zorro Bunny -- This is an artcard in oil of a domestic rabbit, which I named Zorro because of his mask. I only had one small picture of this bunny, so I used the wild rabbits in my yard for the details on the face.

Pink Passionflower Hybrid -- This is another artcard in oil. I had done a very similar artcard in colored pencil and ink, but I never liked it. So, I redid it in oils. And it came out a whole lot better in my opinion. I did have a little problem with the reddish-pink. At first, it was too pink and too bright, but one of the nice think about oils is that one can correct minor problems easily. So, I glazed a bit of reddish-pink paint over the bright pink and it was exactly the right color. The glazing also added an incredible amount of depth to the flower, so I had to do a bit of glazing on the leaves to make it look right.

Red Miltonia Hybrid -- This is a 5x7 oil painting of a red hybrid miltonia orchid. I really enjoyed doing this little piece because it was simple to paint, was done in one day, and involved 'pretty' colors.

Best Offer Sale Update

Well, so far my Best Offer Sale is doing okay. I received 2 reasonable offers, which I accepted. Also, people are watching several items -- hopefully waiting to make an offer when I stop listing new items. I had envisioned a lot more activity but a little bit is still better than none.

The problem I'm having right now is that I said I was going to list 5 items per day. So far, I have basically listed items that I had in my store at one time or another. This means that the pictures and descriptions are already on my computer and/or web site, so I just have to cut and paste. Tomorrow, I'll be listing some new-to-eBay items, which means I'll have to scan them in, upload images, and write descriptions. So, something that I figured would take only an hour to do per day, will now be more like2-3 hours.

And that's not in my schedule!

What I need to figure out is what to put up. So far I've listed prints, animals, still lifes, and botanicals -- my normal mix of eBay stuff. But like I said, I'm running out of previously listed items. I have one more print I could list and a couple of animal pieces. I could list other botanicals, although I'm a bit hesitant because I don't want to give some of these away! I could also list some abstract pieces, but they are sooo different from the realistic stuff, I don't know. I did get one request to list some nudes, but I had planned on listing them when I started listing goddess artwork. And then there's the brand new stuff -- done in the last couple of months -- which I really hate to list now as I'm going to try to list a couple of items per week from Sept thru May. I want to make sure I have enough stuff!

What really annoys me is that I created this problem myself. Why did I say 5 per day?!

eBay Changes

Just when I think I have figured out eBay, they change the game.

One recent change is to the fees for eBay store items. Instead of 2-cents for a 30-day listing regardless of price, the listing fees will be $0.05 for items $0.01-24.99 and $0.10 for items $25.00 and over. Then the final value fees (fees after you sell something) also will increase from 8% to 10% for itmes under $25, and from 5% to 7% for items $25-100.

While these changes may seem minor, they do add up. For example, if I list 20 items in my store for a year, that used to cost $4.80. Now the listing fees will be $18.00 (if 10 items are under $25 and 10 are over) for the year. That's 375% increase!!! Now, multiply this times the number of eBay stores, say 200,000, and you can see we are talking some serious money for eBay. ($3.6 million/year) This is just the listing fees -- add the final value fees and it's really serious money!

So, rather than put a lot of items in my store and have them continually available, I'm going to have to be a bit more selective. (Okay, I can afford the $18.00/year, but I'm one of many artists who are very upset at eBay's greed!) I'm not sure what I will do -- list things related to what I'm putting on auction, list things that are too expensive to list at auction, list .... I don't know. I'll think about it.

Another possible change has to do with how things are found when one searches for items on eBay. eBay doesn't admit they are tweaking the search methods, but.... well a number of artists insist they are. Everytime they change how search results are found (all itmes listed by ending date, featured items first, no store items,...), it's a lottery as to whether it helps my items be found or not.

Anyway, I've decided not to list anything on auction until at least mid-September, so I can figure out what is going on. Also this will give me a chance to get caught up on portrait commissions. In the meantime, I will be listing about 5 items per day in my store (before 22 Aug when the new fees take effect), all with Best Offer options. Hopefully, I will sell a few items and clean out my store, so I'll have less store inventory.

Now, if eBay just leaves everything alone for a while, I might actually figure out how to make the new changes work for me!

Mental Yoga

Okay, I have a schedule of when I'm suppose to do stuff daily (so I can get everything done). I was enjoying it and getting things done right up until the time others found out about it and are doing their best to mess it up.

Yep, people have found out and now my schedule is a mess. First one was my neighbor who invited me out for breakfast, which then stretched into mid-morning coffee because she needed to talk. There went that morning's "portrait/eBay artwork" timeslot.

Then there was the problem with my auto insurance, which meant that I had to call during normal working hours. One simple call turned into 3-4 calls and 3-4 call backs, so there went that afternoon's "personal artwork" period.

Today's first mess was the IRS' turn. Seems you send them a check 8 days ago, for a deadline today, and it takes them 2 weeks to process the check before you can find out if the check arrived on time or not. (If not, one can do an electronic payment and avoid the penalty for late payment.) Hey, it only took 45 minutes to get to a person who could tell me,... well,.. nothing because they don't have a clue where my check is until it's fully processed next week.

And today's finally "let's get rid of the schedule" mess is brought to me by eBay. I listed a few items and it seems they can't find my gallery pictures. I checked my website, and the photos are there. I revised the items and eBay still says the photos are fine but they arn't appearing in the listings. So I resubmitted the gallery photos, and I got another notice that the photos weren't available from the host. So, there went the morning with no art done and no gallery photos either.

Just to prove to everyone that I have not gone nuts, here's the photo that according to eBay doesn't exist:

Vulture Pot, oil on canvas

I'm trying to remain calm and just say to myself that things crop up and I need to go with the flow. But it's not easy. I have my schedule planned so I get artwork done, I have time to read/relax, I exercise, and I keep the house clean. I don't have time to deal with the IRS for an hour or to deal with eBay's newest glitch!

So, I get to practice some mental yoga. I do need to learn to be more flexible, as I have a tendency for yes/no thinking. If I miss one or two periods of doing art or I don't take a morning walk, the world doesn't come to an end. I just need to pick up from where I am and go back to my schedule. There's really no point in trying to catch up -- it's really only a way to beat myself up.

Just relax, and go with the flow. Be flexible. Take a deep breath.

And if all else fails, go hug a cat or two!

Oh ****!!!

Okay, I know I'm not suppose to use certain words in public, so you'll just have to guess at what word I used.

Here's what happened to give you an idea of which section of the dictionary to look in. I was watering plants this morning and decided that I should move a couple of plants. I had these plants sitting in a 1/2 wine barrel, behind chicken wire, so that the rabbits couldn't eat them. When I picked one up, I noticed some small white grains of rice moving along in the moist soil where the pot had been sitting. I quickly picked up another pot, and more white critters. After removing the rest of the pots, I moved the barrel (not easy to do when it's full of soil) and there were more white critters.

One word -- TERMITES!!!

Next words -- Oh ****!!!

A couple of years ago we found them inside our house, so we had the house treated and trenched. In theory, the trenching chemicals should last 5 years, so in theory we have 3 years to go. But I don't like to push our luck. So, I moved that barrel and another one out by the retaining wall. The other one didn't have any termites, so I'm hoping the problem is in one area of the yard.

But this does give me a wake up call on moist soil and the nasty buggers. I was going to put in roses and other perennials up next to our house, but not now -- I'd just be attracting them closer. Instead, I'm going to put in a cactus and succulent bed, which will require less water, so it shouldn't be as attractive to termites.

I really wish that someone had given me a handbook for desert living when I moved in here. Who knew that a whiskey barrel with moist soil in would attract termites?!

Works in Progress and Completed

I thought I would use my Monday blog to let everyone know what I'm working on for the comming week and what I have finished the prior week. Not only will this assuage people's curiosity (one of the most common questions I get is what am I working on), but it will help me organize what I want to get done each week. Also, this will be a way for me to talk about individual pieces on a more personal level, rather than my "just the facts" descriptions on eBay and my web site.

Works in Progress and Planned

• Portrait of Pancake -- This is a portrait of a border collie in oil, which I'm using for a demo on my web site. Right now, I'm working on getting a good working drawing done. Once that's done and I get a few details cleared up from the owner, I'll start on the actual portrait.
• Portrait of Paca -- I had planned on working on this oil portrait of a cat, but I ran into difficulty due to the photos or an adequate model (Paca has a shortened face and none of my cats do), so the owner has agreed to take some more photos. I'm hoping that the photos will arrive soon so I can get back to work on this portrait also. (It's easier to do 2 oil portraits at once, since the brushes will only have to be cleaned once.)
• a botanical watercolor of a hybrid Phragmipedium (orchid) -- I have one sheet of 7x10 watercolor paper left on a watercolor block and I have one gorgeous photo of this orchid, so it seemed perfect to use both at once. Besides, I've been doing a series of small orchids and this will fit in nicely. I will be starting on the drawing for this painting in the next couple of days.
• an artcard of a bunny -- Once I start listing things on eBay again, I would like to list 2-3 items a week, so I'm planning on using artcards as fillers. This will be of a domestic rabbit and will be done in oil. It's sketched out and just waiting for me to get the oils out.
• a floral oil painting of an orchid -- This is just a little painting (5x7) of a red Miltonia hybrid. The main reason for this painting, other than the beauty of the flowers, is to give me some practice at working in oils before I start on a portrait. (I've haven't worked with oils since spring.)
• Irises in a Square Vase -- This will be the last of my floral boutique series.

Well, that should be enough for one week! Actually, I may get a bit more done, depending on how long it takes me to get the photos of Paca and how many distractions happen. If I run out of things to do, I'll just do a couple more small oil paintings.

Recently Completed Works

Pink Trout Lily -- This is an artcard done in watercolor. While it came out fine, I had hoped for a bit brighter look, so I may redo it in oils on a larger scale. The paper seemed to lack its sizing so the watercolor sunk into the paper more than it should have.

Calypso bulbosa -- This is one of our native orchids and a real gem to find. It's not the most spectacular orchid, but for people that collect paintings of native orchids, it should be appreciated. (It seems that the only native orchids one sees are ladyslipper orchids.) Overall, I think the leaves are too dark, but it's the way the plant looked, so I can't really get too upset. I would have liked to do a close-up of the flowers but this was painted life-sized, so the flowers are only 1.5 inches long.

Anemones in a Crock --This is one of my boutique series paintings. It was done in pastel and watercolor and came out fine. I had a terrible time trying to figure what color the background should be -- blue, yellow-green, or yellow-brown. After about a dozen small color sketches, I settled on the brown version. What was interesting was I put too much pink in one wash and that really perked the background up. My husband really likes this one, but I still prefer the sunflowers I did in this series.

Off the Bookshelf

One of the things I'm doing with my new life plan (yikes! I sound like Dr. Phil) is to read more and to read better quality books. And since several readers of my blog have asked what I am reading, I thought I'd write about what I'm reading and why and what I thought of the books when I'm done with them. The latter point is to perhaps help others out when it comes to picking out a good book to read.

Before I get to the books, I should explain one other thing. In the past, I have tried to read 2-3 novels, a couple of non-fiction books, and 1 or 2 self-help books all at once -- basically I had a nice pile of books next to the bed. I know I didn't do any of them justice so I now limit myself to 1 novel and 1 non-fiction book. It's not easy to do, since I'll be doing something and see a book and just want to start reading it. Instead, I now have a pile of books to read in the study, not beside my bed.

Here's what I've finished lately:

• A Sophisticate's Primer of Relativity, by P.W. Bridgman -- I bought this book on a whim, hoping it would help me begin to understand relativity (which is background to string theory which is what I really want to understand). Despite it's title, this is not a primer on relativity. In fact, the author does state he expects the reader to be familiar with relativity theory and its equations. (The book has 2 equations in it, so the math behind the theory wasn't a problem.) I found the book to be almost useless because it was a reprint of an older book (1962) and still talked about ether, because the author seemed a whole lot more interested in the philosophy of science than in discussing the theory of relativity, and because the author often referred to various experiments and papers which I have no knowledge of.
• Op-Center: State of Siege, by Tom Clancy and Steve Pieczenik -- I bought this at the library's book sale sometime ago because hubby was reading Clancy's novels and forced me to read them in self-defense. It was entertaining, but not challenging from a literary point of view. Basically, something bad happens, good guys fight to save the day, and there's a lot of technical jargon. This one , however, was more interesting than some of the Op-Center series because of the background given on the League of Nations and the founding of the UN.

Presently, I'm reading these two books:

• The Hours, by Michael Cunningham -- I found this novel at the library booksale and bought it because this book and it's author has won numerous awards, so it must be good. (So far as in I'm on chapt 2, it is good.) The basic outline is 3 women, with 3 diferent lives, and somehow they get connected by the end of the book.
• Regarding the Pain of Others, by Susan Sontag -- Years ago, I saw Sontag on Charlie Rose and thought she sounded interesting, so I bought several of her books. Lately I found this book, so, since the subject is photography and its influence on war perception, I thought it was very appropriate to read now.

I do wish I had a bit more time to read -- I used to take whole afternoons or days off to read a book -- but I have so many other things to do. So, my reading is confined to a half hour or so after lunch, at night (since I don't watch much tv), and on weekends when I'm having my days off. But I'm also finding it nice to be looking forward to reading a bit more everyday.

Focusing on the Important

I never knew that evacuating from a fire several weeks ago would totally change my way of looking at things, but it did. While it sounds dramatic, it was a life-changing event.

The key part was having a couple of hours (about 3) to pack everything I considered valuable into a small pickup. While this might sound difficult, it really wasn't -- I was on autopilot. First came the pets and their supplies. Then came the "important papers", such as current bills, social security card, passport, insurance policy, etc. After that I packed my CPU, my art business records, and some of the artwork. When it came to the artwork, I took those pieces that I had sold but were waiting to ship, some small "sellable" artwork, a number of sculptures, and a few pieces that I refuse to sell because I like them too much. Most of the latter were abstract pieces and still lifes with wonderful textures. And finally, a few household and personal items that I figured would be hard to replace or which I had strong attachments to. This included my Schaaf knives, a Gesswein, music CD's, an antique Tibetan prayer bowl, and a couple of trash bags full of stuffed animals.

The bottomline was, except for some of the artwork, everything I took was valuable to me. Notice I didn't take clothes, jewelry, books, furniture, a tv, ... or anything that most people take. I doubt that most others would have packed teddy bears instead of clothes, but that's what I did.

After the crisis was over, I unpacked and started to think about what I had taken. I was silently comparing it to how I live my life, what I do for art, and how I view possessions. It took a few weeks for this to soak in and then to blossom into a new insight into what I want in life. And slowly over these weeks I have re-arranged my life to reflect this new insight.

On a personal level, this has meant that I am back to spending time gardening, cleaning my house regularly, reading decent books, etc. All these things I have done sporadically, but now I'm finding time to do them regularly. This is accomplished by understanding for example I don't have to spend an entire afternoon reading (I can read for 30 minutes and then put down the book) -- a little everyday can accomplish a lot over time.

On a physical level, I am doing tai chi, cooking decent food, and trying to lose weight. One of the keys to the latter is a vow not to eat commercial deserts or sweet stuff -- if I'm too lazy to bake something, I don't get to eat it! So far, I've lost 2+ pounds and feel a whole lot better.

In terms of art, this will mean that I will divide my time between "sellable" art and "personal" art. Sellable art includes portraits and art that I intentionally do to sell on eBay. For example, I know irises are well liked, so if I do another botanical watercolor of one, it would be in this category. The personal art is stuff I want to do for me with no real expectation that it will ever sell. Most of my scultpures, abstracts, and "textured" still lifes are personal art. (This is the stuff I took because I wanted it and not because I should.) While this will mean I produce less stuff for eBay, I honestly think that in the long-run, I will end up selling more because I'll be happier.

I'm still working at trying to fit everything in that I want to do, while still having enough time for doing art. It's been an interesting exercise, though. And while I would have prefered not to have been evacuated, I'm glad something positive has come out of the experience.

Evacuating with Pets, Update

As I wrote earlier, when I evacuated with my pets due to a fire, I could not find a place to go. The Red Cross refuses to let anyone brings pets to a shelter. Since I like tilting at windmills, I thought I would see what could be done to change the situation.

First thing I did was call the local Red Cross chapter, the Morongo Basin Red Cross Chapter. I was told that pets couldn't be allowed in the shelters because it was the national Red Cross policy. The lady also said it was the job of animal control and the Humane Society to deal with the animals. She also denied that any pets were evacuated on buses during Hurricane Rita last year.

So, the next call was to the national Red Cross, after looking over their website. Their website said that it was state laws and regulations which prohibited allowing animals into shelters. The young lady who answered the phone told me that while the Red Cross people like animals they can't allow animals into the shelters because animals might carry disease, fleas, ticks, etc, and because some people have allergies to pets. When asked about what their website said, i.e., the laws, the young lady couldn't cite which laws they were refering to. Just a note: most of her replies were read from a script and when I asked to talked to someone who could directly answer my questions, I was told that was not possible.

The West Coast Office of the US Humane Society was my next call. There I asked what was their relationship to the Red Cross and what they could do to help the situation. The well informed man told me that they have been working with various chapters of the Red Cross to help with pets. The amount of success varies from state to state, chapter to chapter, with some California locations to be in the forefront and some lagging way behind. Also he told me about the two following pieces of legislation:

H.R. 3858: Pets Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act of 2005 (PETS Act) -- This bill would force authorities to make emergency plans which take into consideration household pets and service dogs. Last week, it passed the US House and now heads to the Senate. It's Senate bill S. 2548, so I hope everyone joins me in writing to their senators supporting this bill.

California Legislature AB 450 -- This piece of legislature would've forced California emergency planners to take into account household pets. California apparently has a program for dealing with animals in emergencies (CARES), but it is not actually a law, so the Office of Emergency Services does not have to follow it. Unfortunately, it was "shelved" by the Senate's Appropriation Committee.

Hopefully, California will wake-up and pass this before the next disaster hits here. I don't want to camp out in my truck with 4 cats and 6 parrots and no potty!!!

Weekly(?) Update

Hmm, this daily (or near daily) blog is turning into a weekly blog. I'm not too happy about that, so I'll try to fit it in more often. I do find the writing to be helpful -- not only do I enjoy writing, but I get my thoughts better organized.

So, since I last wrote, here's what's been happening. (Or another way to put it, here are my excuses for not writing, doing art, etc.)

It's been hot and humid. I live in a desert, so 110 in the summer isn't all that unusual. Lately, as you may have heard on the news, southern California has been having a heat wave. Palm Springs hit 121 on Sunday, I think it was. Here, it's been over 110 on several days, with most days in the 105-110 range. But what's really unusual is the humidity. Normal humidity is 10-20%. Thanks to the 'monsoon flow' from Arizona and Baja, the humidities have been over 40% and in fact yesterday was 65%. Combine the heat and the humidity and it's miserable to do anything. Stepping outside is like stepping into a sauna. Heck the other day I walked maybe 50 feet and my t-shirt smelled like it had just come out of the drier!

The electricity has been iffy. With all the heat, electricity demand has been at record levels. So, the power companies have asked people to conserve. Being a good person, I set my thermostat at 82. (I personally would like to know if I'm the only one who does this, because they are talking on the news about people getting $1000 electric bills. Mine is $60.) Throw into the fact that for the last week or so, our lights have been flicker several times a day. I don't know if it's due to the demand or to the repairs (from the fire), but I don't want to ruin this computer with some weird power-surge/power-drop. (Yes, I have a surge protector, but I don't really trust it.)

Then there's been the afternoon t-storms. It seems almost every afternoon we get at least the threat of t-storms. Most have been thunder, lightning, and very little rain. But the lightning is a concern, especially after our big fire (the Sawtooth Complex Fire).

And then there's the new fires. Since I last wrote, we have had 6 smaller fires within a 15 mile radius. Most have been 20 acres or less, but one did grow to over 1000 acres. All these were lightning started fires. I must confess, I'm more than a bit jumpy. Thankfully, most of these fires are out or contained.

Finally, I'm doing some deep thinking and re-arranging my life. There's nothing like an evacuation and major disaster to wake a person up and point out what's wrong with their life. This little fire has done that for me. I seem to have clearer idea of what's wrong with parts of my life, what I want to change, what I like, and what's important. I had been heading to re-arranging my life before the fire, but now I'm doing it. The problem this creates is trying to get things into an organized manner so I can get stuff done. (I'll write more on this later.)

So that's what I've been upto for the last week. As you can see, I haven't been doing much art, but I'm getting anxious to get to work and now the weather is beginning to cooperate.

Pets and the Fire

I know it's been some time since I last wrote anything, but I was feeling depressed and then there was a fire. The fire which is officially called the Sawtooth Complex Fire burnt over 61,000 acres and came within a mile (or less) of my house. In fact, it was burning so fiercely and was totally uncontained that this area, known as Flamingo Heights, was evacuated for sometime. So, I loaded up my pickup with my valuables, stuffed the critters in carriers, and left. I won't be brave here -- I was scared that I would never see my house again.

But the moment I left my house, I had another serious problem. I had no place to go.

Yes, the Red Cross had set up an evacuation center in town but there were 2 problems. First, the main road from here to there was closed due to the fire. Second, the Red Cross in this area at least does not allow animals in their shelters. In fact, in last weekend's local paper, there was a picture of an elderly man with his small dog in his arms standing in front of the shelter's doors which had "NO PETS" posted on them. What was he going to do? Abandon his dog, which may be the only 'thing' he has left after the fire?

I called the Red Cross and asked if they knew what I was suppose to do. They gave me the names (but not the phone numbers) of local animal shelters which were taking in pets. I called them. (Always take a local phone book with you when you evacuate.) The animal shelters were taking dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, emus, etc, but not parrots. "Parrots are too delicate for us to deal with." WHAT??? My parrots all were in cages, so the only thing anyone had to do was fill a dish with water and one with seed and they would have survived just fine. And I really wasn't planning on leaving them there alon except for a few potty breaks. In fact, I would rather deal with a cockatiel in a cage than a scared pitbull on a leash any day!!!

So, while sitting in the parking lot of a local grocery store, I called a couple of local people who weren't in evacuated areas. Basically, I was just asking to part my truck in their driveway and maybe to use their bathroom, but not to let my cats and parrots run thru their house. I called 3 people, and was turned down by 3 people. I finally got ahold of my vet in Big Bear City and she had no problem with me coming up there (50 miles away), and that's were I would have headed had not the mandatory evacuation been made voluntary.

As soon as the mandatory evacuation was made voluntary, I unvolunteered and went home. Not only would my animals be more comfortable at home, but I had to go to the bathroom!

It's been over a week since I had my little evacuation, but I'm still mad as hell at how I was treated by the Red Cross, by animal shelters, and by my acquaintances. Didn't the Red Cross learn anything from Katrina? Do they honestly expect anyone to leave a pet behind -- a pet the person has had for 10 or 15 years? What happened to pulling together in times of need? I talked to one animal controll officier who was picking up the neighbor's goats (hey, if you have large animals and no trailer, they will help!) and he was disgusted with the Red Cross over this "NO PETS" policy as it only made their jobs harder.

The local radio station had a call in show about the fire so I called in and voiced my concerns and problems with evacuating with pets. I was told that the Red Cross's concern was the people first. Fine, people probably should come first, but if people will not leave a cherished pet behind because there is no place to go, then what good has the Red Cross done?

Until the Red Cross changes its rules, I refuse to donate any money, artwork, or time to them. They were not there for me, so why should I be there for them? Yes, I'm bitter, but my pets are part of my family and what they did was to tell me I had to choose which members of my family would survive and which might burn to death. I'm also going to try to find out who sets this "NO PETS" policy and see if I can get it changed.

One ray of sunshine in all this was the Hi-Dez Kennel. The next day they set up an animal shelter and would accept ALL animals including parrots. And if I didn't mind sleeping on the floor, I was more than wlecome to stay with my animals. While it was a bit late for my excursion, it was wonderful to know that I did have a place to go if I had to evacuate again.

Here a a few pet evacuation tips that I learned:

1. Have enough carriers and small cages on hand for all the critters. I was one carrier short so my macaw rode on my shoulder the whole day. Since the fire, I have purchased another carrier or two.
2. Have the carriers handy. I had time, luckily, to find all the carriers and small cages which were 'hidden' in my garage. Now they are in 2 locations which are easy to get to.
3. Test fit the carriers in your car/truck. Since I have parrots and this was a fire with lots of smoke, I didn't want to put them in the back of my pickup, but fitting them in the cab as a challenge. I finally figured out how, but if I had had a carrier for the macaw, it wouldn't have worked. So, the new carriers are smaller and will fit much nicer.
4. Get the pet used to the carrier before the crunch time.
5. If there is a possibility of being evacuated, confine cats (and small dogs) to a spare bathroom, so they can't hide when it's time to go. One cat hid behind the bed, which I had to move to get to him.
6. Take any special food (or medication). Parrots tend to eat only the food they are used to, so make sure you take some of it -- say for a couple of days. And since my cats eat a raw food diet (Emily will get sick on commercial cat food), I packed a cooler with their food. I actually now have small tubs of the parrots normal food ready to go at a moment's notice, so I don't have to run around looking for containers.
7. Take water. Since my zoo was confined to my pickup cab and since it was hot, having some water for them to drink was especially needed. I had also brought a spray bottle which I used to mist the parrots and help cool them.
8. Take paper towels. We barely got moving when one of my cats had an accident.
9. Take a small litter box and some litter. I have an old, small litter box that is just big enough for a cat, but in case of emergency, it should work. (It's about the size of a large cake pan.) My only problem was since I had no place to go, I just could let the cats out of their carriers to use the box, lest they run off. I guess if I really had to live in my truck for a couple of days, I could have move the birds outside (in their cages), put the litter box on the floor of the cab, and then let the cats out to use it. Hmm, better not forget the pooper-scooper!
10. Find several places to go now, before the disaster is happening. I now have 2 people in nearby towns that will take my and my zoo, plus my vet. But quite honestly, I will be very hesitant to evacuate again.

The bottomline is this: if you have pets and you need to evacuate, chances are for the first day or so, you will be totally on your own, so you need to have food, water, and potty stuff covered for you and your pets.

The Monsoon Season

Today was pretty good -- better than most in the last week or so. I even dealt with the IRS mess and came out feeling okay. Well, I was a bit surprised. After being on hold for most of the afternoon ("Your call is very important to us" -- ah, right), the IRS dude was friendly, helpful, and everything seems resolved. We still owe money, but in theory the letters should stop (they admitted one was a mistake) and I'm not longer afraid that I'll wake up one morning with IRS agents standing over my bed!!!

Anyway, I did get some art done, despite the IRS and the monsoon.

Monsoon??? Yes, monsoon. Or rather the beginning of the monsoon season. And yes I still live in the desert. The monsoon season is the part of summer when high pressure systems stall out over southern California and this brings up hot, humid air from the Gulf of Baja (or even the Gulf of Mexico on occassion). This humid air meets the mountains and dry air and in theory we get rain. In practical terms, Arizona usually gets more rain than we do here. And Joshua Tree, CA (about 20 miles east of here) gets more rain than we do here in Flamingo Heights. But we still get the lightning and power outages!

The first couple of years we lived hear, there were no monsoon seasons. This year, we are getting extra humidity for some reason, so we might actually get rain. So far it's only been humidity which is not fun when it's 106 degrees out. Today, we had clouds and lightning (with power interruptions), plus I could see the rain over yonder.



The above picture is the beginning of the clouds coming over the mesas and hills to the west. The funny looking tree is a Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia). There's also the dead rose bushes (in the foreground), creosote, cholla cactus, and my jujuba tree. (Not a bad photo considering it was taken with my camera phone!)

A Rollercoaster Ride

I'm still hanging in here and am at least getting caught up on stuff so I can do art tomorrow. But it's not easy. I don't just wake up one morning and find that I'm over my depressiong. It's more like 2 steps forward and 1 step back. And the steps can be measured in minutes, hours, or days. Today they were measured in 2 hour chunks.

Here's the scenario. I get up and do my morning stuff (feed cats, do tai chi, water plants, eat,...) and things seem fine. Since it's going to be hot, I go in to town early to buy cat food. I get home, eat lunch, and then BLAH happens. Suddenly, my upbeat mood goes down the tube and I feel exhausted beyond belief. The question is what happened. And I don't have a clue. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was that I forgot a couple of things in the grocery store (forgot to take my shopping list), or maybe it was the position of Venus with respect to the 3 moon of Jupiter or something. So for the next couple of hours, I'm down again. Then I go get the mail and there's a small package for me. I called L.N. who sent me the present and we had a wonderful chat, so now I'm feeling better again.

What will tomorrow be like? I don't know. Probably some up's and fewer down's (hopefully).

The scary part is that I need to get back to doing art. I have missed doing it while I've been depressed, but I also know that if I do stuff while feeling like I did, that I would have just wasted time and supplies. So now I'm faced with the proposition of doing art. I know that sounds easy, and for some it is, but for me, when I have long breaks off from doing art, it's hard to get back into the rhythm of doing it. Thankfully, I have a couple cat sketches to do as a warm up and a botanical watercolor to paint which should be easier to do than a portrait.

Right now, I'll finish sketching out a balloonflower (the botanical watercolor) while listening to my new Dixie Chicks CD. I especially love the line "Can't bring myself to do what it is you think I should."

Almost Melted Away

I know, it's been a while since I last wrote anything. I could use the excuse that I'm too busy, or that it's been too hot, or that I've had to deal with the IRS. All these things are true, but the real reason is that I've been depressed and have not wanted to do much of anything.

Right now, I'm pulling myself up and trying to get back into the swing of things. Eventually, I'll get all the emails answered, and I'll get back to listing on eBay, and I'll get working on my newsletter, and.... Hold it -- that's why I got depressed in the first place. first I get exhausted from trying to do everything, then I get frustrated at not doing it all, and then finally I get depressed.

So, I'm going to try to do some fun, non-art stuff every day. If that means I do less art per day, then fine, because I think in the long run I'll produce more because I won't be taking whole weeks off. Besides, while I do art, I have lots of other interests. When I only do art, I feel lop-sided. If I do some other things, I feel more in balance.

And just in case anyone is curious, here's a short list of my other interests:

• gardening -- I really need to clear off dead brush (for fire protection). Once that is done, I want to plant some fruit trees, maybe a small vegie garden, and a nice flower bed by the patio.
• cooking -- Rather than make my supper a bowl of cereal, I'm going to try to cook balanced meals. It's hard when I'm cooking for just myself and when it's 106 degrees outside, but I do feel better when I spend the time to prepare a nice meal. And if it cools off some, I might even make some jelly or pickles.
• quilting -- While it's hard to think about quilting when it's over 100 outside, I do have 3 large quilts and 2 smaller projects in various stages of completion. I'm not sure what I will do with them when I'm done, but since I do the piecing and quilting all by hand, it will be a long time before I really have to face that question!
• reading -- I'm going to pick out two books -- a fiction and a non-fiction book -- and then read them. (Normally I try to read 4+ books at once and get no where.) The books I'm working on now are The Sophisticate's Primer on Relativity by P.W. Bridgman and Mysterious Cat Stories edited by John Richard Stephens and Kim Smith.
• mathematics -- I like doing math, but I haven't done much for about 10 years now. So, I got out the old calculus book and I'm slowly relearning it. While I can justify this because I might be substitute teaching this fall, the real reason is because I like to do it. And some day I will make my way thru partial differential equations!

Playing Well with Others -- Or Not

Okay, I totally admit it -- I don't play well with others!

Actually, I'm more of the opinion that it's the others who have the problems and not me. But since I have been thrown out of 4 groups online, I do accept the possiblity that I'm the problem. Afterall, how could so many wonderful and generous people get along and I don't seem to be able to??? Makes me laugh!

The latest group was an women's artist group called WWAO. It was really interesting or so I thought at first. Women artists getting together to discuss art, marketing, making art -- all from a woman's perspective. The honeymoon lasted about a month. Then the real nature of the group became apparent. Only a handful of members ever posted. Most of the posts had to do with whining about various things -- some art related and some just general whining. (Hence, my nickname of Whiny Women's Association Online!) Or the posts were links to new art work, so everyone would post how wonderful that piece was, no matter how bad it was. (All art was considered absolutely terrific and would surely sell for big bucks!)

I basically ignored most of these posts. I mean, if I actually told these people what I thought of some of their 'artwork' I would be hung! I know that my opinions would be considered harsh, so I kept them to myself in the name of group harmony. I would post to questions about techniques or websites or ideas for inspiration, and I think I had some very valuable things to contribute.

But then last fall came the 2 weeks of whining about how much a few artists were spending on promoting charity auctions. (It costs $10 plus listing fees to list a charity auction thru eBay.) One lady mentioned that she had spent over $200 in the last month on charity auctions with very few bids. For some reason, this really annoyed me. Partly because her husband is an airline pilot making $150,000+ so $200 is not a major problem to her. Partly because she's complaining that her bad reproductions of her paintings aren't selling for $50-90, which is more than my originals sell for. And partly, because this then brought out everyone else to complain about how much they spent on charity auctions. I finally sent a post and basically said that no one is forced to donate to a charity and that when one gives to a charity, it should be done with no expectations of getting anything back.

(Side note on charities and auctions: very few artists donate to charities without the idea that they will either get free publicity, further commissions, or some benefit beyond helping a charity. Some artists use charity auctions just for the publicity and will donate only 10% to the charity. Thus the charity will spend more on bookkeeping than they will receive in the donation.)

So, I get this email from one of the monitors saying how I had hurt so many people and she had received a number of complaints about my post. Thus, all my posts would need to be approved by her first before they would be sent out to the group. I personally took this as censorship and told her that I would refrain from posting. It was a bit confusing since only weeks before I had been told that this group was different because we were all free to speak our minds.

That was last fall, and I never did post anything further to the group, although I did email a few people privately. Today, I get this form letter saying I'm kicked out for not posting. The choice comes down to this -- have my posts censored or be kicked out.

Well, I can't say that I'm all that broke-up about getting thrown out. Once one eliminated all the whining posts, very few posts had anything helpful in it. Belonging to any group, has benefits and costs. This one was 50-50 as to whether the benefits outweighed the costs. My only complaints are that I'm still receiving their emails (if I'm out, then stop the posts!), and I now have to remove their logo from a number of auctions and eBay store items.

So, be warned -- I don't play well with others!

It's Winds-Day

One thing about living here is that it can get a bit windy at times. And this is one of those times. It started yesterday, kept up all night, and is still windy this morning. Now this is not a gentle breeze, but 15-20 mph with gusts upto 35+ mph. It makes being outside not too enjoyable, or at least that is my excuse for not working on the sprinkler system this morning. At least it's not as bad as it gets sometimes, when my square garbage can goes scooting across the yard!

And it's windy enough on my patio that reading a book there isn't easy. The pages keep flipping plus I keep worrying about the hanging baskets falling. If I take them down and I'm not out there, there's 50% chance that the bunnies will come up on the patio and eat the plants!

So, today is an "inside", which is probably good. I need to get some work done. I have an alpaca portrait to finish, 2 oil portrait demos to do, 2 other oil portraits to do, 1 pencil portrait to start, and whatever I need to do for eBay. And this is not counting a few other commissions which I need to do, but either haven't received the photos or the money. I'm not sure how I got so far behind?!

Anyway, I'm having a couple of problems with portrait commissions right now. First, I'm nervous about doing these oil demos. I found the drawing demo I did to be more difficult than I imagined it would be. It's the starting and stopping that is the problem. Plus the feeling that I'm being watched and I need to live up to people's expectations. The second problem is that I haven't done much in oils for quite a while -- since January. And the final issue is that I'm having decent luck on eBay with my own work (not portraits) and I would like to work on more such work. I'm especially anxious to try some oil paintings on eBay, as I know works on paper sell for less.

But if I get working on them -- working a 3-4 hours per day on this backlog -- I'll get them done fairly soon, so I can do more of my own work. Actually once I get working on them, they won't seem so bad or scary. And if I don't try to finish them off all at once, then I'll still be able to work on some of my other things, like the hummingbird or other still lifes.

So, I had better get to work!