Ratatouille without the rat

Ratatouille is peasant stew from France but it could be Italian too... except for the name. It is one of my favorite dishes because it is so easy and oh so tasty. My mother use to make it when I was a teenager but I make it differently.

She would layer the ingredients in a glass casserole dish (she came from the generation of casseroles... get your can of Campbell's soup & can opener). She didn't use Campbell's for this one though... she would saute the eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, onion in olive oil and then layer everything in the dish and bake it. I remember really liking it. It was very different for her.

After looking at a couple of recipes on-line, I started making my own version of ratatouille last winter. I make it in a big stock pot. The onion and garlic get sauteed in olive oil first then the vegetable stock and tomatoes get added. By that point the salted eggplant has sweated and the veggies have been cubed: eggplant, zucchini, green, red & yellow peppers all into the pot! Salt, pepper, oregano, basil & bay. Simmer for an hour or two and then let it sit overnight before serving then the flavors can really meld & blend.

I made some peasant stew yesterday for a party tonight. It has been pretty cold in our little California beach town and I thought a pot of warm tasty stew would be a nice treat. It also seemed like the perfect dish for a housewarming party.

This housewarming party was really quite lovely. So many people came to warm this new home for my friend Vonder. Everyone brought food and the table was overflowing. There was a gigantic Christmas tree standing in the corner of the studio apartment all sparkling with lights and ornaments.

There were groups of people standing, sitting, talking, laughing. At one moment I was really happy to realize I was part of this group of warm happy people during this time of year. I was surrounded by friends and it was heartfelt.

When I went to gather my items to leave I found that the ratatouille was nearly gone. It is always a happy sight when you find that everyone has enjoyed the food you prepared. It is for me anyway.

So that is the state of the world for me tonight. I am still radiating gratitude as we fast approach the New Year.

Collective Sigh of Relief

Christmas is done. The shopping is done. The massive cooking is done. Running to endless activities is done. The weekend is winding down and tomorrow is the last Monday of 2009. I hear a collective sigh of relief.

I am trying to stay in the beauty of the outward breath. Trying not to jump into "what's next?!". I am only doing Sunday night and I think that I will go take a long hot bath. Then curl up with a book and my cat and enjoy my warm comforter on this cold winters night.

Things are alright

Here I sit in my wicker chair & ottoman pulled up to the wall heater with my cat Noodle close by. My little 18" plastic Christmas tree is sparkling at me from across the room. And as usual when I sit down to write I am trying to figure out what exactly I want to say to the world.

I don't know why but this time of year is hard for a lot of people. Winter time, Christmas time, the New Year... why do we make it so hard? Expectations of what we think everything should be? Oh the good ol' days when we were kids. Oh the bad ol'days when we were kids. I don't have enough of this or that... I should have done this or that...

It's a lot of looking at what we don't have and not enough of looking at what we have right here right now. Where are we at this moment. Who is in our life right now that makes our hearts sing.

My current work situation could throw me into a hurricane of worry & frustration but I have been diligent especially the last week about staying in faith. The really good news is that I have work set up in January & February but right now-right now I am in between jobs. Being self employed means that I am constantly chasing the next job.

The next job always comes and my bills always get paid and I don't go hungry. That's not to say that my bank account doesn't get overdrawn and that I don't drive on empty and sometimes I eat once a day. But I am always taken care of...

I have a lot to be grateful for right now. In October I was given a huge gift: a place of my own. It's a perfect little house and I love it. I have my health. I have a car... with gas. I can read & write. I live in a society where women such as myself can live independently. I can vote. I have freedom of speech. I have food. I have family & friends that love me. I live in a cozy little beach town where there really isn't a lot of traffic. Things in my life are on the up and up.

So as I chase the next job, I am looking at what I do have and not what I don't have. And I guess I want to say to the world that things are alright.

One Month Later

One month later... I am sitting er working in a clothing shop on Main Street Ventura California on a warm November day. The sun is out and its a beautiful autumn SoCal day. We had 2 customers come through so far... lookie-loos. Touched everything in the shop. Bought nothing.


So as I sit here with time on my hands I ponder this last month and type in the rhythm of the Latin tunes on the ipod. (If my high school typing teacher had played Latin music in class I would have been a primo typist... but I digress)


So I sit and ponder this last month of November. It is not anything I expected. What did I expect... the same ol' thang. But when is it ever the same ol' thing...


As of November 1 I had already spent 6 days in my new home. I found the perfect little Hobbit House on October 20 & moved October 24-25. That happened so fast my head was spinning. Meanwhile I was coordinating costumes on two large cast shows- one to open mid-November and the other mid-December.


Then one day I was checking Face Book to see what everyone was doing and I saw a posting from a cousin... her dad (my first cousin) had just been admitted to the James Cancer Hospital in Columbus Ohio. Last I heard in June her dad was recovering from surgery that had to do with cancer. Major surgery but he made it through.


10 days later I was flying to Columbus to say good-bye to my dear cousin. The crazy thing is that I had not seen him in 12 years. How could he be so dear. But he was that dear. My sister who lives on the east coast was able to make the 7 hour drive to Ohio. She called me after seeing him a week after the FB note and said "If you want to say good-bye you better get here fast."


You know how we always say to our dear friends & family "When life gets really bad I'll be there for you." Well this was that time. This is the time when you have to be a braveheart and face the reality of mortality. It's one thing to bury your grandparents and parents- which I have done. But this is different. Now it's a contemporary relation. It's my cousin that I grew up with and shared a lot of great memories with.


Could I not go see him one last time? What am I suppose to say to someone who is dieing? Could I look him in the eye while he laid in a hospital bed hooked up to numerous machines? Could I hold his hand & make him chuckle one last time? Could I afford it? Did I have time? He's so far away.


This was the time when nothing else matters- you drop everything and go. Because really what is this whole crazy Life about? Honestly it baffles me most of the time but I believe that the bottom line is not money, success, or material objects. It's not how many college degrees you have or what kind of car you drive. I believe it is all about love and our relationship to each other. How do we care for each other? Do we forgive each other? Do we communicate our true feelings to the ones that matter?


My flight left Tuesday morning out of LAX and I connected to another flight in St. Louis to Milwaukee and finally Columbus. I'm not even sure how long it took me to get there but it was a long ass day.


I spent Wednesday & Thursday with my dear cuz. Mostly I sat in the room with him. I didn't have to say much just be there. I was able to look him in the eye and tell him I loved him and I was glad that I came to visit him.

The following week he died, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I was home baking pies with a friend. We were watching movies while we whirled around my small kitchen. My cell phone beeped and it was a text. It was from another cousin, my sick cousin's sister and it said he was gone.

While I was sad to see him go, I was mostly relieved. He was a happy, funny, animated guy and to see him incapacitated was not right.

I cried when I had to tell one of my aunts but other than that I cried mostly before I went to Columbus. I cried after I said good-bye to him in the hospital. And I am misty right now as I write because I miss him.

After going through many deaths of close relations I have learned that the tears come when they come and I let them come when ever they show up. Sometimes its hard because I am working or I am in line at the grocery store and people get uncomfortable. At some point I figured out that it didn't matter that I had to cry when I needed to.

As I move forward I am re-newed with a sense of the NOW. Trying to keep fresh the idea of what is important. When I received the text regarding my cousin's passing I was watching Moulin Rouge. And the big statement that the bohemians were striving for in "Spectacular Spectacular" was that it is more important to love than to be loved. And I want to keep that in mind for this beautiful Sunday.

Seven Year Itch Revisited

This last weekend I participated in the second annual Wearable Art Fashion Show at the Museum of Ventura County. It took a while to come up with a concept for my design. After flipping through the September Vogue with all of the Fall fashions, I was inspired by Vera Wang's 50 style polka dot dresses. I took it a step further and made a tribute to Marilyn Monroe's Seven Year Itch dress in white plastic grocery bags from Vons. The bodice & skirt are lined with a red plastic table cloth. Instead of stitching the dress together I used packing tape.

The museum coordinator connected me with a young woman from Los Angeles. Her name is Dizzy and I could not have asked for anyone better. She was wonderful on the runway and truely brought my dress to life.

damn every thing but the circus

Today, being Thursday I am trying to stay in the moment. It is a challenge when I have many projects. I am a multi-tasker. It's one of my giftings. But some days it feels like one of my burdens. There have been moments lately when it feels like I'm juggling bowling balls.

The truth of the matter is that Life is good. It seems like a three ring circus but it's good none the less. I have plenty of work right now. And the projects are good projects. They are creative, I am able to work independently and I am making a living as an artist. I am living my dream.

When did the projects change from juggling nerf balls to juggling bowling balls? I believe it's my perspective... am I focused on the positive or the negative? am I in the moment? am I present... right here right now? Or am I looking ahead at all my deadlines wondering how I going to do it all??!!!

So I have to stop myself (often) and do the next indicated action and pay attention right here right now. Eating something doesn't hurt either.

I try to show up and do the best I can each day. Some days my best is better than others. And that's okay for me.

Bumrolls and Corsets and Petticoats Oh My!

Well my summer job has kicked in. For the past 4 or 5 years (I can't remember which) I have had the privilege of working for the Music Academy of the West as the costumer for the vocal dept (opera). Working in a very creative environment is a lot of fun. I also get to meet and work with some fabulous people.

Last year we did an opera set in the 1970's. We're talking tuxedo shirts with ruffles... reminded me of my senior prom. This year we're doing Mignon set in the mid 1700. Now we're talking bum rolls, corsets & petticoats. And actually ruffles for the guys again!

There are so many aspects that need to come together for the performance to happen. Just in the costume dept we have almost 50 cast members to costume. And 36 of them have 2 costumes. Never mind the music and orchestra and lights and sets and crew!!! whew.

The designer and I have run to The Theater Company in Upland, downtown LA to the fabric district and to Chapman College in Orange County to rent costumes. We still have to hit Western Costume in North Hollywood. That place is really cool because the costumes are from the old old movies. I get nostalgic when I go there. I think I might see Scarlet O'Hara's green drape dress! We are trying to find costumes to match the designer's vision and fit the bodies of the singers. I have a shout out to my friends at the Salt Lake City Opera to see what they have in stock. Then at the end after all the singing is finished, I get to remember where everything came from!

With all of this coordinating I truly appreciate a day off. And this weekend because of the holiday I get a break. I was able to get over to the ceramic studio yesterday to play with clay while my clay buddies fired up the raku kiln. Next time I'll have something to put in the firing. Raku is an awesome experience and the results are beautiful.

Today was another good day full of fun, fellowship, and the Santa Maria Kennel dog show! As my day comes to a close my friend Christian gave me a sparkler he found on the beach. And I thought how fabulous is that!

whew

Boy life can get busy fast.

Tuesday

Another June, another summer program at the Music Academy of the West. More vocal students, more costumes, more coordinating.

Today's adventure was driving down to Upland to pull costumes. This year I am coordinating with a local SoCal costume designer. We decided to meet at a logical point since we were coming from different home bases. Hers is in Long Beach, mine is in Ventura.

The logical meeting point ended up to be Irwindale, where the 210 & 605 freeways intersect. Irwindale. There are 2 landmarks that I know of in Irwindale: The Miller's Brewery and the gravel pits. Neither one seemed like a good place to leave a car. I found a Costco in Azusa, not Irwindale but just over the city limits. Lots of parking, safe and $1.99 pizza.

What a trek- 90 miles one way. through the San Fernando Valley... through the Other Valley: San Gabriel... and keep on going!

I took an alternative route home because there was an accident in The Valley somewhere. I stayed on the 210 and wound my way up around the foothills and through the Santa Susana Pass into Simi Valley. I love the Santa Susana Pass. It looks like a perfect backdrop to a Hollywood Western.

Tomorrow we meet in Downtown LA. We are shopping for fabric. There are gypsy costumes to be made!

Details

I'm working on the details of setting up a shop on etsy.com. I'm calling it Noodleville. For those of you who haven't heard of the website: it's a website dedicated to the handmade item. There are all sorts of things from jewelry, photography, clothing, handbags, ceramics for sale. The key is that everything has to be made by the artist/artisan. Nothing manufactured or mass produced.

One of my friends here at Sea Breeze Art Studios turned me on to it. I was looking for a venue for my newly created line of hand built ceramic bowls. I finally found something I enjoy creating that seems to sell. Each bowl or plate is an original. No two are the same, they might be similar but not exactly.

The texturing of the clay is intriguing me. I have burlap, block prints & letters that I am embossing with. Some of the bowls have positive messages on the bottom. I have made a couple of "batches" of bowls and friends and family have snatched them up. A good sign.

Create with Abandon

Exhibiting your artwork is an interesting experience. Getting use to putting your artwork on display takes awhile to get comfortable with. For me the creative process is so personal that hearing opinions and comments can be uncomfortable to difficult.

When I am painting, I go in to the "Creative Zone". You know when you get so engrossed in what you are doing that time & place disappear? That's what I'm talking about. I believe that there is a connection to the Divine that happens in the zone.


It is similar to meditation. In meditation you sit in silence and listen to the Divine. There is a channeling of energy that happens. Creating is a channeling of energy from the Divine into this world.

Displaying artwork that comes from such a place exposes a vulnerability. It takes some practice getting use to showing publicly. But I believe it is important to get your artwork out there. It is how visual artists communicate. It is how we connect with others. And after all isn't it all about connection and relationship?

In the Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz one of the agreements is "Don't take anything personally". Obviously negative or unsolicited comments are best not taken personally. But Ruiz also talks about doing the same with positive comments. That we need to stand on our own opinion of ourselves, be confident of our own value. Know that you did your best with no regrets.

The more artwork I create with abandon, the more confident I get. The more exhibits I do the easier it gets.

Opening the Window

Tonight my exhibit Through the Window, my first solo exhibit opened at Sea Breeze Art Gallery in Ventura. For a holiday weekend, it was well attended. More people turned out than I expected. I was very pleased. People from out of town came by. People who collect my work came by. There were even new people who came by.

I made 2 sales in the gallery and 2 sales in my studio. I think that the opening was a success. I have 3 more receptions and I hope they are equal or better than this one.

It takes a village

Today the plan was to install my art exhibit at Sea Breeze Art Gallery. Being my first solo show it would be appropriate for me to be excited. But on the contrary I awoke apathetic. I was slow to get up and on the road. I did manage to get out of the house and run the necessary errands required to hang the show: Office Depot for tacks & clips; Lowes for brackets & screws. These were needed to install the artwork.

In order to get me where I am suppose to be I make arrangements to meet people at specific times... so I show up. This works 99% of the time. Nobody's perfect. Anyway, I arranged for two friends: Monteve, a mutual resident artist at Sea Breeze & Sonya, owner of Art & Soul Studios to help me with the exhibit.

The concept needed more than two hands. Instead of framing my paintings in conventional frames I used windows demo'd from old houses. This required some rigging in the hanging of the windows so that they didn't fall or tear out the wall with their weight. I was apprehensive about how this was going to happen. But Sonya was able to figure out how to hang the windows with L-brackets.

So Monteve and Sonya showed. Vonder another resident artist wandered in a little later and Monica also a resident artist stopped by even though she was exhausted from work. Sonya's husband Pat came by too... because we needed muscle to drill into the cement wall.

All these people showed up to help me. It makes me a little misty to think about it. I was feeling rather blue when I was alone but once I got in to the process of coordinating the images with the windows with the energy of my friends swirling around, my mood picked up. Sometimes it takes a village.

Everything came together without too many problems. There were a couple of broken screws, a few large holes in the walls and one of the drill bits broke in the cement wall. Everything fixable. I am very pleased with the way the show ended up. There is one window I need to re-arrange but other than that it is all ready for viewing. I did not think I would have everything up in one day. I gave myself 3 days.

And on goes the life of an exhibit...

Solo Mio

Monday afternoon I start the installation of my next art exhibit. It just really hit me: this is my first solo show. I have been invited, juried and showcased in many different exhibits but this is my first solo. Hmmm.

It's not a large gallery but it's large enough to make your teeth clench when pondering if you have enough paintings to fill the space. I have about 25-30 paintings but the pieces average between 5x7 & 6x12.

A couple of weeks ago I calculated the layout and realized I didn't have enough work. That's when my teeth clenched and my upper lip curled slightly with dismay. So last weekend I painted 5 more pieces to fill the gaps.

This has been a challenging show. My past showcase exhibits I have had a clear vision of what the concept was and exactly how to hang the pieces in the available space. This show has come together but it wasn't immediate.

One challenge to work with: my budget is presently limited so I can't frame the work. So I'm using recycled windows to hang in front of my work. The next challenge was how to hang the windows so they don't fall off the wall. Now I'm obsessing on how I will get the actual images in the right position so they show through the window properly.

One thing I have figured out: that I will figure it out on Monday.

Living the Dream

Some say that it is good to know people in high places. Well in my case its good to know people who know people. My friend's niece is a dolphin trainer at Sea World. My friend invited me to celebrate her birthday by swimming with the dolphins. So Tuesday I had the incredible treat of bringing one of my life's dreams in to reality.

It almost feels like it didn't happen. Have you ever gone on a trip & come home and wondered if it ever really happened? That is how I feel. But it did happen and it was wonderful.

I am not a great swimmer and being by the water is great but I am not fond of being in water. So why one of my dreams was to swim with dolphins is a little weird.

(Other than dolphins are really cool!!) So when my friend said she wanted me to come with her I was flooded with questions... Do we go under water? Do we wear wetsuits? Is the water cold? Are we snorkling? Face masks? Fins? How deep is the water???



I like to get ALL the details before I "dive in" to something I am unfamiliar with. But on this occasion I had to let go of a lot... including my fear of water. Bogging my friend down with endless questions she couldn't answer was useless, so I let go. I put it out of my mind or put it into another section of my mind so I wouldn't obsess. I went in to this experience with an open mind.


We arrived at Sea World in the morning and were very lucky to be alone with the trainer. The water was very cold: 60 degrees. The wetsuits & booties helped keep us somewhat warm but the cold water does seep in and takes awhile to warm up.


The dolphins were so playful & friendly. We could feel their open hearts. Even though the trainer was giving them commands, nothing felt forced and the dolphins were open to sharing their playfulness with us. We interacted with 3 different dolphins: Sandy, Ridley & Chow. Sandy was the oldest. She was 30 years. There was another dolphin that was 40 years old that we saw in the other holding tank.




Each dolphin was brought over to us separately at first. We were able to pet them & hold their faces in our hands & kiss their noses. Their skin is slick & soft. The trainer said they like to be touched. They each had individual noises they made through their blow holes. We encouraged them with our giggles & strokes.


At the end of our session each one of us got to swim around the pool with one of the dolphins. This was truely a test for me. Deep cold water... with an animal... a large animal... a large powerful animal... but I trusted the animal. The entire time with them there was not a malicious vibe in any of these dolphins. So I held on to the dorcel fin and let Chow take me for a ride around the pool. I screamed & laughed the whole time! Cold water splashing my face! It was amazing! I loved it!


We went on to have a full & fabulous day with private tours of the sea lions & otters. We sat pool side watching the trainers try different tricks with the dolphins. When they got the trick right the dolphins would squeal with delight as they came up out of the water. The trainer in the pool said the dolphins were squealing with excitement underwater. There is so much joy in them!


I could sit and watch them swim for hours. Even when they were just hanging out in their tanks, they swam around and played with each other, jumping out of the water.

Living at the beach allows me to sit on the sand and watch dolphins in the wild. I can see that they are equally playful. I have seen wild dolphins jump and flip out of the ocean.

So much joy! I hope to hold this joy in my heart for a long time.

Who's yer Mama

I hear that its Mother's Day today. The television ads tell me so. My mother passed away 27 years ago so I haven't had to remember to buy cards or flowers for quite sometime. Nor am I a mother so I am neither a giver or a getter today.

I had a step mother for a while after my mother died when I was in my 20's. But she was more like my father's wife then a mother. She was more like the step mother in Cinderella... I used to call her my step-monster... but I'm not bitter about it. really. She disappeared after my dad died 14 years ago. So I don't have to worry about cards for her either.

I'm not quite sure where this blog is taking me or why I even signed in. I guess I just wanted to comment how Mothers Day is for me. I'm not sad like I was early after my mother's death. My sadness probably lasted a good 8 years. Then the emotions started to let up and I don't cry much.

Although I did cry a couple of weeks a go when I told a friend how my dad sobbed at my mother's memroial. I never even saw him shed a tear before that time. There he sat in my aunt's backyard on a short wall sobbing into his hands. It was funny how the tears were right there when I pictured him. Even now I'm getting a bit misty.

As far as my loss of my mother, I have done the majority of the grieving. I say majority because I don't think the grieving is ever done. It just gets different. And my life has been quite different without her as it would have been with her. But life is what it is. It is my journey.

The Long & The Short of it

Today I went shopping. Part of my job is shopping. I work as a costumer. I call myself a costumer rather than a costume designer out of respect for all of those designers who have gone to school and received their degrees in theater and paid their dues. I fell into costuming because my skill set crosses into many arenas. I adapt. My degree is in fine art with an emphasis in ceramics. Go figure.



But really, when I was in junior high the girls had to take sewing while the boys took wood shop. In sewing I made an apron & a gym bag out of gingham (that checkered material, usually white & another color.) Moving on to high school I continued to take sewing because I could make my own clothes. Fabric and patterns were cheap then... The rest is history.



Anyway I went shopping today. The local theater called me in to coordinate the costumes for their next show: a one woman play. They gave me a wad of money and sent me out to find a professional pant suit for the second act. Did I mention they wanted the suit in the color teal? or green. Oh and the actor is tall with an inseam of 34".



My inseam is 28". I'm 5' tall. I can't even reach the top shelf of the kitchen cubbards. What do I know about the Tall section. Well, today I found out how hard it is to shop for a tall woman. Even if there isn't a Petite section I can buy a Regular size pant & cut 12" off the leg and they'll fit. It's not so easy the other way around. Off the rack pants only have about 1.5 inches in the hem to let out.



I started my search at "Avenue", a store over in the "Ross Dress for Less" shopping center. Everything there is casual, nothing professional. Next the"Old Target": nada. Not even jackets. Lots for me but no professional wear. Then "JC Penney" in the Pacific Mall. Here I found a lot of things. There was an actual suit section but nothing in the right size. Oh I did find a jacket in the right size but the pants were missing.



Now I should say I knew perfectly well that I would not find a teal or even a green suit so I was going for something in the ball park. I'm creative not crazy. Maybe a turquoise or green jacket paired with black pant. But almost all the suits were black or navy. The suits with a color jacket were mostly pink or red with a skirt. And most of the suits were petites. Did I mention I'm shopping for a redhead...



JC Penney had the largest selection of blazer jackets and pretty short sleeve or sleeveless blouses. Did I mention that the actress doesn't like to wear short sleeve or sleeveless?



So I ended up with a gray blazer, gray pants that don't match the jacket, black pants both 32". 4 blouses in the blue green range. All short sleeve. It was a start.



I moved on to Sears: nothing. Macy's: this is the land of the petite suit set in nothing over size 10. I found a pair of black pants in a Tall at Lane Bryant. And a tan blazer at Ann Taylor. Both stores had very good customer service. (Having worked in customer service for 6 years in a previous life, I like to give credit where credit is due.)



I want to know where Hilary Clinton gets all those colorful suits!



I had a meeting in Santa Barbara in the evening so I went early so I could stop by Nordstroms. Nordie's has everything! They are so sophisticated. Surely I will find what I need there! They had the smallest suit section and the only colors were black & brown. (FYI: They did have the classic button up blouses with 3/4 length sleeve in white & colors. I couldn't find a one in Ventura)



Then I had a moment of inspiration: Talbots! There's a Talbots at La Cumbre Plaza right on my way to my meeting. Surely they would have professional wear. Appropriate garments!!



It's been a while since I have been up to La Cumbre Plaza and they have seriously upgraded the place. There is even a Louis Vitton store?! At "Talbots" I found a lovely selection of clothes: talls & petites. And much to my surprise when I asked the salesclerk (who was very helpful) if they had any blazers in turquoise she said yes! I was able to find a pair of green pants too.


Tomorrow we have our fitting session. I have a slew of garments to try on the actor. We'll see what fits, what matches the director's vision and what I get to return!

Night Hawk Time Zone

Here it is late in the evening or early in the morning... depending on how you look at things. Whatever the case it's 1:15 am. This seems to be the way it's going for me lately. Because I have no work obligations in the morning my body's natural time clock has switched to Night Hawk Time.

This is something I have had to learn to accept, being a Night Hawk. When most people operate on a 9-5 mentality its hard to fit in. AND God knows we all want to fit in and not be judged even if we have a rebellious nature. When your body's natural operating time is more like 12 noon to 12 midnight it can be hard to function early in the day.

Oh you might say what's the big deal? You are probably an Early Bird... but anyway... Sometimes its hard coordinating with the rest of the world. Especially if you have friends that are Early Birds. They are glazing over & making face plants right about the time I'm hitting a good pace! They also tend to call me around 9am and wonder why I'm groggy... "Oh were you sleeping??!" I have one friend who will sometime call me at 7am (!!!) yikes!

Actually being a Night Hawk can be a big deal if you have to take a job with hours like 8am - 5pm. I have had to do that in the past and I just was not very happy. My body rebelled and I was not really clear & functional until after lunch which limits the time of productivity... some thing the boss keeps track of.

Now I am self employed and my hours are more flexible. I can get up slowly and get out of the house at a humane pace. I can work on projects during hours that I am at my peak. I'm happy because my body is happy. It has taken me a while to understand that my body clock ticks to a different time zone AND be okay with it.

That's all for now. I am actually getting tired. It is after all my bedtime: 2am.

In the Beginning

This is my first entry. And it's way too late to be setting up a blog. But none the less here I sit with my laptop in bed. Legends of the Fall is playing in the background and its just so damn tragic. Everyone has died and Brad Pitt is about to dance with the grizzly bear.

Today I put together my marketing plan for my upcoming exhibit before going in to my studio to work. I maintain an art studio in a building where other artists also have studio space. It's a wonderful creative environment. The layout is open concept: no doors on the studios so it promotes community among us.

My upcoming exhibit is called " Through the Window". I'm using old wood framed windows to "frame" my work. Instead of using conventional frames, I'm hanging my paintings on the wall with clips. Then the window will be mounted on the wall in front of the paintings so the viewer will be looking through the window.

So I had to wash the windows outside to get all of the dirt off. I was able to get 6 more windows from a fellow artist at the studio. She's an assemblage artist and collects... everything. I also figured out the arrangement of the paintings and the layout of the window. It worked out that I need to paint 3 more paintings to fill the gallery. (The gallery is in the same building as the studios)

I also worked on painting a bedsheet I bought at a thrift store. I'm prepping it so I can use it as a canvas. The paint I picked up for free from Fuller Paint. They have a big bin in the back of their store full of peoples discards. I think the paint would end up in a toxic landfill. I grabbed a gallon can of primer and i assumed it would be white. But when I opened the can it turned out to be a dark red brown color. This will make an interesting background to work on.

It's 2;30 & I think I'm ready to go to sleep now.