Another Day Off

Gees, it's not been months since I last wrote!

Actually, I'm going a bit bonkers. I have today off and probably tomorrow too. I do know that I'll be working on Friday, although I'm not too thrilled over that. My husband is coming home tomorrow night and I'd rather spend the day with him rather than 6 classes of 7th-graders. But we need the money and I don't mind the school, so I felt I should.

For those that don't know how substitute teaching works, once you are hired, you gain access to a website where you sign up for assignments. What the site tells you is the date, the school, the teacher, and the general topic. So, for Friday, I know where and when and for whom I'll be subbing, but I only know the class is "social studies". At this school, I'm not even sure of the grade. Some school districts have teachers put the lesson online, so I could see if the "social studies" was history about the Reformation or geography of South America. This mystery factor can be interesting! (And sometimes not in a positive way.)

Anyway, I spent today working on some calculus and on my new pink skirt, along with some housework. Again, I thought about working on a painting, but I took a nap instead. My excuse today was I am using my art studio for a sewing room and getting out all the paints will only add to the mess in here. I really do need to rearrange this room so I can do both. I think there's room, if things were better layed out. I doubt that I'll get to that until after school is out -- it's something that will take 5-7 days to do.

Well, the cat herd is complaining. It only took them 2 days to get used to being fed at 5am and 5pm, so now I'm late!

No Wind in My Sails

Well, I've set a new record for not blogging -- almost 5 months. I've kind of missed it, then again, there's a lot about my former life that I really miss.

• Emily -- My cat of 18 years died in January and it's been tough without her. I've been meaning to write a few words about her but I've never gotten around to it. She was so much a part of my life, especially towards the end when she was very ill. One of these days I will have to write her eulogy.
• doing art -- Several times in the last few months, I've tried to do something like painting or sculpting. But I can't. It still hurts too much to do it for fun. Call it sour grapes if you will, but I don't think it's fair that certain 'artists' are still making a fine living while I had to get a normal job. So, I've channelled my artistic drives into making my own clothes. It's not as creative in some sense (I'm too much a novice that I find commercial patterns a challenge), but it is satisfying.
• time -- With this new career of teaching (substitute teaching right now), I have very little time to do anything. I get up at 5am and get home at 3pm exhausted, but having to do all the housework. I do know that once I get thinks settled (such as getting a full-time teaching position), things will be less stressful. But even then, I won't have the time to relax and putter around like I did.

Right now, however, I do have a few days on my hands. This is the time of standardized testing in California and the schools prefer not to have substitute teachers during this time. So, it looks like I'll be home for the next week or so. I have quite a list of things I need and want to do -- some such as filling out applications for college, and some such finishing another skirt -- so, I'll keep busy.

Not Really Back

Well, I see it's been several months since I last wrote anything. The fact of the matter is that I haven't exactly felt like writing much of anything. Plus I haven't had much time, either.

Sometime this summer, it became apparent to me that this making a living at art was burning me out on art, not producing the income I need (in the next year or so), and not likely to improve at anytime in the future. So, I decided, gulp, to give up on being a full-time artist and go be a math teacher. Yep, math. I do have that degree in math/stat and I have taught before (at college level) and they need math teachers, so it fit. It also will give me the freedom to do my art for at least 3 months in the summer.

The bad part of this math idea is that I had to review 4 years of math in 2-3 months so that I could take competency exams. This is college level math with such fun topics as calculus, abstract algebra, and number theory. I will admit it, I haven't had some of the topics and I haven't thought about math in years, so this was a shock to my brain. While I was always good at math, trying to learning abstract algebra on my own after 15 years of not thinking about math as ... well, interesting. Anyway, since about August, I have done 5-10 hours a day of math.

This didn't leave any time or energy to do art, so I ended up refunding commissions and closing my eBay store. Both of these things were difficult to do because I had to admit that my life as an artist (only) was over. I know I'm not suppose to say this, but I felt (and still do) like I failed at 'art'. In my more rational moments (i.e., when I'm not wallowing in self-pity), I understand that I was good at the 'doing art' part, but because of my stubbornness, lack of knowledge, and lack of luck, I failed at the 'selling art' part. (I'll write more on this in a later post.)

Lately, things have calmed down a bit and I'm thinking about painting a bit. (I've passed the hardest exam, feel confident I passed the second exam, and now just waiting for results so I can fill out the actually paperwork to get an internship.) I'm also working on finishing up a couple of stone sculptures -- just so I can have more things to dust in my house!!!

Oh, and in all this mess, Emily, my cranking old cat, is dying from chronic renal failure. Some days she acts fine, and some days I think it's time to make the final trip to the vet. Today has been a good day so far.

Someone recently said to me the Universe doesn't give you more than you can handle. I sometimes wonder about that -- then again, I am still here and it is been fun reviewing/learning all that math, so I guess it's true.

Excessive Heat Warning!

It's official -- it's hot. Only 109 today. Tomorrow is suppose to be over 112! In fact, I'm in an area with an excessive heat warning. This is what I get for living in a desert. So, no strenuous outdoor activity, lots of water, and a big bowl of ice cream. Okay, the last one is my own idea, but I'm willing to see if it works to make me cooler.

Actually, 109 isn't so bad with a breeze and no humidity. Well, there's a breeze, but.... Unlike normal heat waves, this one came with clouds. Not the big thunderstorms but high wispy clouds. Well, clouds means humidity otherwise the clouds evaporate over the mountains. So, this 109 is like walking out into a sauna. I doubt that this humidity is enough to lower the fire danger, so all it's doing is making life miserable outside. (Hey, even the cactus wrens are walking around with their mouths open.)

While my house does have air-conditioning, my studio still gets plenty warm. If I turned the a/c to cooler, it would be better in here, but then the rest of the house would be too cool. (I keep it about 82-85, so I'm not sweating but I still adjust to the heat.) So, I adjust my schedule. I now am painting in the morning, knitting or reading in the afternoon (in a cooler room), and then back in here at night to work on my web site or draw (doing colors under artificial light is frustrating to me). I can work with this, except for one minor annoyance. There's nothing interesting on the radio at night. (Hey, I said it was minor!) Flexibility is key to an artistic life.

So, what am I working on? There's a dog portrait, a short-eared owl, a warbler, and an alpaca print. The last item I have done, but I just need time to print it. If it ever gets cooler outside, I'll get back to working on a couple of sculptures, but not when it's 105+! If I can get my web site updated, then I'll have even more time to do art.

And now, I think it's time for that bowl of ice cream.

Too much???

Yes, I know it's been literally weeks since I last wrote anything. The fact of the matter is that I'm just too tired to do everything I want to do so some things, such as this blog, get left behind.

So here's a few of the things I've been upto lately:

• I've been dealing with a sick cat and 2 cats with food-issues. This means special food and medication at various times throughout the day. I never realised how nice it was when I had 3 cats and they all ate the same food without any other problems.


• I've had to deal with various troubles with my husband's truck and his business. While this doesn't take up much time, it's an emotional nightmare. A few hours in the shop and he racks up a bill for $3000! There's only so much money, so I have to juggle bills to pay everything.


• I'm revamping my web site thanks to a friend talking to a big-name decorator. She wants to show him my work, but I'm insisting that she hold off for a week so I can redo some of my web site. (Like this blog, updating my web site is one of those things that I keep putting off.) I probably have 10 portraits and a dozen botanicals to put up!


• I've just finished a couple of portraits, but I still have 3 or 4 more to do! Every time I think maybe I've caught up, I get further behind.


• I decided that come Sept, I will get rid of the garbage service, so I've had to work on starting a compost pile. A compost pile in the desert requires almost daily maintenance.


• I'm trying to get some bookcases built in my studio so I can actually find books. One thing about doing wildlife art is that you need reference material -- books and photos. But if the reference material is hidden away in boxes or piles, it's really frustrating.


• I am now back to 'professionally' knitting for 2 different people. One contacted me and we settled on terms. Then another lady contacted me and, since we have had a long-term working relationship, I agreed to do some for her. (If I didn't need the money to cover the vet bills, I'd say 'no'.) I guess I will have something useful to do while sitting in front of the fan when it's 106F outside!


• And finally, I'm desperately trying to get new work done both to sell now and to have ready for the fall.

I know I'm a bit unrealistic, expecting to be able to do everything, but I don't know what to cut. I keep thinking if I could just work a bit longer or figure out how to do something faster, then it all would fit in a day. Maybe, maybe not. I'm just glad that most of my clients understand and are patient with me!

My Dear Stupid Neighbors

I decided that I needed a day off from doing art, so I took one. Part of the reason had to do with finishing up one portrait, trying to get new stuff done for eBay, and getting ready to start on a new portrait. I basically just needed a break from it all.

And the other part of the reason is my stupid neighbors. Yes, stupid, stupid, and stupid. At about 9:30pm I looked out my window and saw flames shooting up about 20 feet. I looked again and saw no one around. So, I called 911 (as did 5-7 other people). As soon you could hear the sirens on the fire trucks, my dear neighbors rushed out to put out the fire and then turned off all their house lights. As it happened, there was also a house fire about that time so the fire department was diverted.

So, once the fire trucks were gone, they were back out with a roaring fire going. So, I (and several other neighbors) called 911 again. The trucks stopped on their way back from the other fire. According to one neighbor with a scanner, the stupid neighbors had no permit for open burning and were told to have a smaller fire.

And a bit after the firemen left, they were building the fire up again. Since I was told on the previous call to call back if the fire restarted, I called 911 again. And then I got a visit from the fire chief, who was now stationed out here to watch the fire. According to him, they had a valid permit and were cooperative, so nothing would happened to them.

Well, being the paranoid person that I am, I stayed up until 1:30am and watched the goings on, just to be sure. (Hey, I have too many pets to evacuate with 2 minutes notice!) I also spent the time talking to the neighbor with the scanner. According to her, on the next call to 911, the sheriff was to be sent out and the stupid neighbors were to be cited.

This is where the story gets interesting. This morning, scanner-lady talks to a couple of firemen and they say there was no valid burning permit, a permit would allow them to burn things from 11am to 2pm (not 11:30 pm!), and the permit required them to call the fire department before they started any fire.

So, the question I and several others have is why weren't these people cited last night? Why were they allowed to continue until 1:30am?! Who's lying -- the firemen or the fire chief?

To people who live outside the West, this may seem to be blown out of proportion. And if I still lived in Iowa, I probably would never have called the fire department. But, here, things are very different. We have not had measurable rain since about March 2006. The vegetation is VERY dry. One tiny ember can start a huge fire in no time. For those that have read this blog last year, you will recall the huge fire (37,000 acres) and my evacuation which started from a few embers. And since my dear neighbors have a record of stupidity (scrape their yard and then complain about the blowing dirt?!), I do not trust them with any fire.

So, after staying up until 1:30am and then getting up at 5:30am (thanks to my cats), I'm not at my best. Even the nap I took doesn't seem to have helped all that much. I just hope I'll be able to get to sleep tonight and we won't have round 2 of stupidity!!! After all, I have lots of art to do tomorrow.

Father's Day Portrait

Well, here it is -- the portrait for Father's Day that I was working. I'm actually pretty proud of me. Not only did it come out quite well, but I got it done in record time and ahead of schedule. YEAH for me!

As I said, the portrait is one of my better ones. Part of the appeal is the photo -- it's so loving. People sometimes don't think about how a photo really looks -- instead they think only that it is a picture of Uncle Bob. Well, not every photo makes a great portrait. For example, a 3/4 view is better than head on and not using a flash is preferable.

I also think I did a pretty job with it. The photo was lightly blurred since it was digital -- that is, when I got out my hand-lens to see the detail, all I saw was pixels. The hands were especially problematic, but after doing some hand studies in front of the mirror, I think I got them right. I also had to carefully balance the girl's light pink sweater with her father's dark blue shirt. I ended up darkening the former and lightening the latter.

One of the things I recently announced in my newsletter is that I'm only going to work on 1-2 commissions each month. (This will allow me time to do my art and still do some portraits.) I had two lined up for June, but when I saw the photos for one, I told the client I needed better ones. This worked out well, since I got an 'emergency' commission. So, now, I'm taking a day or two off from portraits before I start on the next commission. The next one up is a horse, cowboy, and cow in pastel. This should be quite fun!!!

New Postal Rates

As everyone knows, the USPS raised their rates recently. Even I knew that. What I didn't know was how screwy they made all the other rates. For example, in March, I mailed an artcard in a padded envelope with a piece of cardboard in it (to prevent them from bending it) for $0.54. I mailed the same thing yesterday for....$1.13. Why? Two reasons. First, any padded envelope is a 'chunky' piece of mail (over 1/4" thick) and so is a parcel. Second, any envelope, padded or not, which contains something rigid, such as heavy cardboard, is a parcel. Thus, a 5x7 padded envelope which weighed 1 oz is now a parcel and ships for $1.13.

But that's not all. The same envelope mailed to Europe or Australia costs.... $0.90. Overseas, it goes as an airmail letter and not a parcel. You don't know how much a relief that is because they have now virtually eliminated air parcels, so parcels mainly have to go by Priority which starts at $20 or so.

Can someone explain this to me???

I have a couple of items to mail and I'll seem how much they cost. I'm really worried about sending cnavses since they are light weight but bulk so there's some new rate just for big, light items. If it starts getting ridiculous (or more so), I'll start shipping things by DHL or UPS.

What I find really interesting is that the USPS recently sponsored a 'class' on how to sell things on eBay at the local community center. I have known there is some connections between USPS and eBay since there are special eBay Priority boxes, but this is getting a bit too cozy for me. I can only imagine how much money eBay sells generate in terms of postage for USPS and now they want more? If they keep raising their rates (just like eBay does), the USPS may be surprised by the number of sellers switching to other shippers.

It's 100!

The first time each year when the temperature hits 100 is always a bit of a surprise. 100 is hot, even in the shade, and especially when the highs had been 85-90. But give me a month, when it's 110, and I'll be saying how cool 100 is. It's just a matter of getting used to the heat.

While I was a bit hot at times today, I did manage to get a fair amount of work done. I made a few corrections to the dog portrait. I am about half done with the Father's Day portrait. And I finished an oil artcard. I do kind of wish I had time to work on my sculpture, but I've decided to be a bit more disciplined and get all portraits done ASAP. Besides, I'm not used to the heat yet and I would die if I went out and worked in a respirator at 2 pm.

One nice thing about the heat is that oils dry faster! Here's my latest artcard:

This bald eagle has good points and bad points. First the bad. The pose looks awkward eventhough it's really how the bird looked. Then I don't like the white feathers under the beak -- they look off, but I never could figure out why so I couldn't correct them. Now the good. I like the bright sunshiny white head. I did a great job on the eye and beak. I like the textured surface. Overall, it's fine -- not one of my best, but pretty good. It was, afterall, an experiment on using thin 'washes' of oil paints. I usually like a nice thick paint layer, but this was done almost like a watercolor. It came out well enough that I do plan on doing this technique with some larger pieces!

Show and Tell

Well, I finished a couple more things, including the one portrait commission from way back when, and I actually got them all scanned in. So, tonight we are having show and tell!

First up, is the portrait commission:

This dog was done in oil on canvas as part of a demonstration for my website. I don't know whether it was that or just the problems of doing a black dog, but I had a hard time getting it done. I know I wanted it to be perfect, so I probably was trying too hard. At last, I just to hell with it and finished it off. As you can see, I don't think it turned out too badly. I still have to send it to owner and hope she's not totally pissed off at me!

Next is a pink waterlily:

This is just a small 5x7 oil on canvas of a pink waterlily. What I was more interested in was the water, the highlights on the water, and the lily leaves, but I didn't figure anyone would be interested in just leaves and water. So, I also included a flower. Why did I have to pick a pink flower??? Here's a little secret -- getting certain pink flowers to look realistic is tough, very tough. Normally, you have to mix white, permanent rose, and a bit of yellow to get the light areas. And then to get the dark, ... well, I've never figured that out for sure. If you add blue, you get a dirty purple. If you add black, it turns brownish. If you add purple, it turns brownish. I usually just keep adding layer upon layer until it's right. One of these days, I will figure out pink shadows!

Then a ruddy duck art card:

This is just a quick watercolor painting of a ruddy duck. Again, I was looking more to learn about the water and it's reflection than the duck. Although, I am rather fond of ruddies. The are just so perky. One of these days, when I have nothing else to do, I will do a larger version of this and I may even carve a ruddy duck decoy. (For those that want to see either of these, come back in about a year!)

That's it for now.

Tree Dreams

Today was a pretty good day -- did an artcard, almost finished a portrait, and transplanted trees -- but I'm tired. I usually take a break now and then for a cup of tea or to read a bit, but not today. As soon as I finished one thing, I moved on to the next. That worked well, except now I'm too tired to scan in the 'just finished' pieces. Oh well, everyone can wait for tomorrow!

Now about these trees. I got the idea to plant some tree seeds from the Chilopsis we have, so that I can have more. Well, of the 12 seeds planted, 11 came up. Today was the day I potted them up in individual pots, so they can grow. They really have healthy roots -- as any good desert tree does -- so they should do well in larger pots. My only problem is where will I eventually plant them? I wanted 2-3 new trees, but 11?! Course, I'll probably kill off one or two before they are big enough to plant in my yard. (Right now they are about 1-1.5 inches tall.)

There's a number of other trees I'd like either more of or some of. So much to the amusement of my husband, when we go places (such as the grocery store or to Palm Springs), I run around picking up seed pods. Okay, I'm a giant bald squirrel! Anyway, I'll be planting mimosa seeds, 3 kinds of mesquite, and if I can figure out how to reach them, sweet gum seeds.

I may plant only 3 or 4 seeds of each, so I don't end up with tons more trees. Then again, I have toyed with the idea of growing larger numbers of these trees and then selling them to the local nurseries. I don't know if they would buy them or what I would get for them. I suppose I should check into it before I plant 100 pots! Hmm, I wonder if they would trade for trees I don't have?

One Down, One to Go

So far this weekend, I've been very productive. Ignoring all the household tasks I've caught up on, I actually finished one of the two older commissions and I just finished (maybe) a small painting.

Let's start with the latter. It's a small oil (5x7) on canvas of a pink waterlily. It's basically done, except... and this is where I get into trouble... I want to make a few corrections. I've done what I can today and am letting it dry a bit over night. Maybe then I'll decide there's nothing to be done or maybe I'll make the corrections. In any case, I can show folks a scan of it now because it's wet!

The one I can show you is this:

It's a western bluebird sitting on a fence post. I think the painting is terrific, but there's a tiny problem. The person wanted a mountain bluebird and had sent me this photo. Well, the more I worked on the piece, the more I realized that (1) the bird in the photo was a juvenile and (2) a mountain bluebird with it's pale blue breast wouldn't look as good as a western bluebird. So, it'll be interesting to see what happens -- either I'll keep this one (to sell on eBay) and paint a new bluebird or not. (Actually, I wouldn't mind doing an actual mountain bluebird, but it won't be on a fence post!)

Speaking of eBay, things sure are slow there. I guess I should email my former buyers and let them know I'm back to listing things. That reminds me, I just put up this art card:

It's a ram's head lady slipper orchid in watercolor. I really like the lady slipper orchids (or lady's slipper, or ladyslipper -- take your pick on the spelling) and am planning on doing a set of 8 small botanicals of them and then 2 or 3 larger paintings of them.

Anyway, since it's a holiday, I'm giving myself the night off and watching a DVD. After I medicate Emily, clean the litter boxes, do the dishes, call hubby, ...

Memorial Day Weekend Plans

It's a holiday weekend. I'm not sure what that exactly means for me, because I'll do my normal weekend thing.

Okay, one minor thing is the lack of lookers on eBay. I posted my heron last night and so far there's been 2 -- count them, 1, 2 -- total views. I suppose everyone is getting ready for the weekend. Or everyone is saving money to buy gas. Or ... well, there's a whole lot of possibilities. I'm not terribly concerned because if it doesn't sell, then I'll put it in my store which really needs the inventory.

So, other than post another auction on Sunday, the only other thing I have planned is to actually finish the 2 commissions by Tuesday. I have been working on them, off and on -- actually more off than on -- so they are both about 75% done. It really should only take me a few hours each to get them done. I really need to get them done so I can work on another pencil portrait which I recently received.

That's it for my big holiday plans. While some people have suggested that I should get out more or something, I'm rather happy with sitting around my house, doing art, gardening, housework, etc. Years ago, I was more social and used to go to parties, but I guess as I got older I didn't find the drinking and parties so fun. I'd rather sit around discussing philosophy or politics than getting drunk. And since I have yet to find the intelligencia in Yucca Valley, I'll sip my whisky and read my philosopy all by my self.

Heron Done!

As I said yesterday, I thought I would finish the night heron today. And I did. Heck, I even got it matted and framed. Yah, right. (Looks like I can't even cut electronic mats straight on the left side.)

I think this painting came out pretty good. The bird is very well done. The stump and grass are fine. The only problem I have is with the water -- it's a bit too dark among the grass, but I don't want to try to fix it. (Last time I got a brilliant idea to do something like that, I basically repainted the entire painting!) I really like the composition and am planning on trying this general idea on other pieces.

Over the years, I have resisted using acrylics, because I associate them with plastic. And while it's true that acrylic paint is plastic, if I take the time to build up layers, the finished piece doesn't look like plastic. They also have a distinct advantage over watercolors and over oils. With regards to watercolor, acrylics come with white paint, so any mistake is easily covered up and repainted. And with regards to oils, acrylics just dry so much faster. I think I prefer oils, but I did enjoy working with acrylics enough to use them again.

Working on a Heron

Well, I finally go back to work. And it feels pretty good.

I'm working on a 12x16 acrylic painting of a black-capped night heron. I have the bird and the stump it's sitting on done, so tomorrow I only have the background and the water to do. I should be able to finish it tomorrow, but I'm sometimes surprised about how long it takes me to do backgrounds. (It's all the individual leaves of grass which take time.)

I must confess that I'm enjoying working on something a bit larger. I usually tend towards the small sizes, but there's only so many small birds plus the details are easier on a larger scale. Right now, I'm contemplating doing some larger birds, such as an eagle or an owl. These still won't be life-sized, but 20x30 or 18x24 is still a decent size for me. There's 2 problems with anything larger -- shipping and my ability to reach the top of the painting. Yes, it's sounds silly, but when you are short, trying to paint large paintings not on an easel is a challenge. I end up doing a lot of the painting upside down!

I think it's time to check on the fire again (large wildfire about 1 mile away) and then relax and watch a DVD.

What's Next

With a bit of luck, I should be back to 'normal' in a day or two, assuming that I remember what that means!

After I wrote my last installment, Emily has a crisis on Friday night. She went blind and she started to pee every half hour. Then on Saturday, she was very lethargic and still couldn't see. Needless to say, I was a wreck, not just because it was my grumpy old lady cat, but because my vet was gone until Tuesday. Thankfully, by Sunday she was better and then started eating on her own. This blindness was due to high blood pressure, which cats with chronic renal failure often get. She's on medication now, but other than restore a bit of large shape vision, she's blind. She is getting around okay, including jumping up on the bed, so that's good.

Also, last week, hubby came home -- at the time we thought to maybe bury Emily. We had a good time which meant I didn't get much work done. One fun thing we did was go get some more alabaster.

Anyway, with Emily now stable and hubby on the road, I can get back to work. I did yesterday -- I got to work on the stone sculpture I had been working on. Today was more of a problem. My back and arms were a bit sore from working on the rock yesterday, so I didn't want to stress them today. Which meant I should do something else, but what? (Yes, I know I need to get back to those 2 commissions, but I'd rather do something less critical to get my creative juices flowing again.)

I know I have written about doing my own art, but it's been so long since I've done anything for me that I really didn't have a clue as to what I wanted to do. I know I'm more than a bit emotionally tired, but I still wanted to work. But I have so many things I want to do, I don't know which one to start with. Part of the problem is my perfectionism -- I feel like I have to pick the perfect project.

Well, I did decide to get to work on a new woodblock print of alpacas. Maybe while I'm carving the block, I'll be able to figure out what's next.

Well, I might be back and then again, I might not.

Since I last wrote anything, my life has been one mess after another, and yes, I will admit it that I created some of them. When I last wrote, Sammy had just died. Hubby then came home and his dog upset my older cat so she stopped eating. Then I adopted 2 more cats. Then my older cat started pawing at her mouth so there was an emergency trip to the vet for dental surgery -- she lost 6 teeth. Now she's still not eating and has a cold -- another trip to the vet. She's doing a bit better today, but I'm still having to force feed. These are the messes I admit to creating. Somewhere in all this, we got our $7000(!) IRS bill, hubby's big rig developed a new electrical problem, and diesel fuel is $3/gallon in many location, which really hurts since he fills his 300-gallon tanks about everyday. Those are hubby's messes which I have to deal with. And the final group of messes is the general stuff -- rabbits eating everything green, gas $3.55/gal, I'm getting fat, etc. Oh, and the gallery where I had some sculptures called and asked me to remove them, so now I'm gallery-less!

The one bright spot in this is I'm back to stone sculpting. Love working with stone. It's dusty, dirty, heavy, and somewhat dangerous with the power tools, but it's fun. Right now, it's what I need to do -- I can't think about cat problems while working unless I want to lose a finger or two. I actually finished one piece to the polishing stage and am working on a second, which I should get down in the next day or two. And then I'll probably start another one. I'm on a roll.

I'm also back, somewhat more tentatively, to painting. I'm working on two commissions right now -- a blue bird and a dog portrait. Both in oil and both should be done by Monday, barring anymore cat problems! I'm 'forcing' myself to get these done before launching off on some major projects.

And I'm also hoping to be back to listing pieces on eBay this weekend. I don't know for sure because I'm still not clear on the new postal regulations. I think I'll have to go to a calculated postage rather than a set postage because it really is going to depend on the distance. This also means I'll need to change a lot of my store items too!

Anyway, I'm sort of back. I'm definitely not back to where I was before Sammy got really sick, but I'm happy to have moved on a bit.

Sammy, 1994-2007

Sammy, my beloved tuxedo cat, died on 21 Apr in my arms. As my last post indicated, we were winning the battle against his skin cancer. Unfortunately, his kidneys could not take the strain and they gave out. Thankfully, the end came quickly (about 24 hours from okay to dead) and he was not in pain at any point.

I adopted Sammy from an animal rescue. He had been turned in to them at about age 8 and had been there for 2 years, so he was about 10 when I took him home. I had him for 2 1/2 years and in that time he blossomed into a marvelous cat. When he came home with me, he weighed 20+ pounds, his coat was a dull grey with dandruff, and he didn't like being held. Worst of all, his weight kept him from being a cat. He couldn't walk more than 20 feet without a rest. He couldn't sleep on his side because he couldn't breath. And he couldn't stretch because his back was so sore. Well, after a month of convincing him that raw meat was actually edible, he lost weight, his coat became glossy, and he could do all kinds of cat things!

Then after a few more months, he started to truly trust me and became a love sponge. He learned that hugs were fun, a warm lap was better than even the sofa, and being groomed was pretty darn good! To say he returned my love for him is an understatement -- he returned a whole lot more!

I have a lot of good memories of him, which I will cherish. My top 5 are:

1. He wagged his tail like a dog. Rarely would he lift his tail above his back, but instead he held his tail low and when he was happy or expecting a treat, he would wagged it slowly back and forth just like a dog. I've never seen another cat do this on such a consistent basis.
2. He used to "help" me cut up the meat for his food. Whenever I would be standing at the kitchen counter, cutting up meat, he would come and sit next to my feet. Then he started reaching up to the edge of the counter. Then he found if he bumped my hand with his paw, I might drop a piece, accidentally of course. It was a fun game we would play.
3. He was a great snuggler. If I would take a break from painting and go lay down on the sofa for a nap, he would appear and lay on top of me. If I let him into the bedroom at night, he would lay right next to me, under the covers. And anytime he heard me get out a DVD, he was ready to snuggle some more. All this from a cat who originally wouldn't let me hold him or pet him more than once.
4. He loved scratching his back on the floor. Once he lost the extra weight, he discovered that he could roll over onto his back and squiggle across the floor, thus scratching his back. It was also a good laugh to see this large (he was 13lbs), distinguished (tuxedo cats look so formal) cat acting so silly!
5. He used to like me to chase him around and then would hide in the shower. Again, once he lost weight, he became very playful. Sometimes he would follow me to the garage door and wait for me to come back in. When I did, I would reach down to pet him and he would take off running. I, of course, would follow him. His favorite 'hiding' place was the shower. (Black cat in a white tile shower stall -- not the best of hiding places!) What was truly funny was when he would do this right after I had taken a shower. Then he would rocket out of the bathroom, almost knocking me over sometimes, and get to living room to clean himself off! (Sammy wasn't a big water fan!)

I could go on and on about this special cat. He never complained (unless his dinner was late), always was there to give me a hug, and stole my heart. He was truly a wonderful friend who taught me, among many things, that older kitties have a whole lot of love to give.

Sammy, my dear friend, you will be missed beyond words.

Sammy, Art, and Chaos

I thought I should post an update on Sammy and to let everyone know I'm still alive.

As for Sammy, the new herbal remedies seem to be working. That's good and bad. The good part is the tumors are shrinking and he's feeling a bit better. I'm even beginning to move from hoping this will work to expecting it to work. I'm not sure that's a good idea because he has a long recovery ahead of him, but at least I think the cancer is on it's way out. He still has a number of small and medium tumors, but at least the one in his mouth is now 1/2 the size it was.

The bad part of all this is the damage the cancer has done to his jaw and neck area. I won't go into details, but it's not pretty. This area will never be normal but it should be functional. He stopped eating on his own last weekend, so I've been feeding him with a syringe, but he can eat cat treats on his own. It's just the tumor in his mouth and on his throat has made him hesitant to eat enough to keep him going, hence the forced feeding. I do feel bad about doing it, and if the herbs weren't shrinking the tumors, I wouldn't force feed him -- it's not something I enjoy. But he his acting better and barring complications, he should start healing soon.

Now, all this chaos has meant I haven't done any artwork for a while. Nor have I listed anything on eBay. Nor have I worked on my website. I must have very limited capacity as I can only concentrate on Sammy. I know some artists claim to thrive on chaos and do their best work when their lives are a mess. Maybe they can, but I can't. This doesn't mean that I want to live a boring life -- doing the same thing day after day. No, I like a bit of chaos to spice my life up. I just don't want chaos to be the dominant theme of the month!

Anyway, I am hoping that I'll get back to work tomorrow. (I should be able to get a bit done between feedings and medication.) It won't be easy getting back into doing art after almost a month off, but I do have some paintings that I really want to do, so that's where I'll start. And maybe by the first of May, I'll get back to listing on eBay. And updating my website. And emailing clients. And.... well, all the other art business stuff I have to do. But I need to get working on the art first, before moving onto other things.

Retooling my Life

I just thought I should check in and let people know that I'm still alive.

So is Sammy, my cat. He's getting his new herbal medicine every 3-4 hours day and night which means I'm exhausted. I don't know how he's doing because it's too soon, but I have my fingers crossed.

One nice thing about taking this time off from doing paintings for eBay is that I've been able to see things better. Fact of the matter is I hate my life. I hate doing quick paintings for eBay just to have things up daily -- there's no time to plan, craft and carefully painting a painting. I hate doing paintings without meaning -- there's no time to put 'soul' into a piece if one is suppose to do a painting a day. I hate having no time to doing anything else except thing about what's next for eBay -- there's little time to take care of my fruit trees, cook nice meals, or just relax. And I hate selling my art for ridiculously low prices -- one recenly sold piece netted me $2/hr.

So, thanks to Sammy, I quit. And I'm rebuilding my life into something I can enjoy and live with. This means I have lots of flowers planted outside and I eat most of my meals outside. This means I'll be doing larger paintings that may take me 3-6 days to complete, plus additional time to do the prep work. And this means that these larger pieces will have larger prices. While I still will be doing some smaller pieces, most will be larger. And I'll be only be listing 2-3 pieces a week -- 1-2 larger ones and then smaller ones.

And now, it's time for a nap.