Monday again

I am pleased to say that my quilties arrived at Lenna’s house last week. If you’d like to see them, visit her site at Shades of Spring swap. They look better online than I thought they would!

Feeling a little more like my usual delightful self today. Slept a lot this weekend, which is just what I need. I also think I am going to take this Friday off from work. I just need some extra time to relax and not have to rush around as usual. 

Met with my book group last night, which was something we hadn’t done in months. Last time they met, everyone had a cold and I think two people showed up (and I wasn’t one of them). It was great to get together and share some laughs and stories. 

A short post today; back to work!

Hope your Monday is a good one.

Oh well oh well oh well

But now my mind is filled with rubber tires

And forest fires

And whether I’m a liar

And lots of other situations where I don’t know

What to do at which time God screams to me

“there’s nothing left for Me to tell you.”

Oh well, oh well, oh well 

—Jack White, “Little Cream Soda” (from “Icky Thump”)

Today I feel like I have nothing left to tell you, to paraphrase Mr. White. Once again, I’m tired, and feel like complaining. Maybe I should have called this blog “Bitch Bitch Bitch.” 

One valuable lesson I’ve learned this week is: If you enter a swap, don’t procrastinate on preparing the swap materials. Way back in the spring, I signed up for a swap with Lenna Andrews, my former instructor at joggles. It was for a “quiltie” swap with the theme “Shades of Spring.” Well, I waited and I waited to do the quilties. Bought the fabric and supplies, but didn’t actually start on them till a week or two ago. And of course, the inevitable glitches arose. Like, I couldn’t get to my sewing machine because of all the crap on my art table.  

And I needed labels for the backs of the quilties, which didn’t want to print out at the proper size on my computer at home. Not to mention that I’m short mailing envelopes/materials, can barely sew a straight line on a sewing machine, sewed buttons and trims on the quilties right where the presser foot needed to go on the quilties…

Oh, and did I mention I think they’re not my best work at all? I sure hope the recipients will like them. 

Speaking of recipients, at least two of my White Stripes postcards reached their destinations, and I’ve received thanks for them. That’s a relief, and a pleasure.

Anyway, if you’d like to see the quilties that Lenna’s received so far, go to http://creativeswaps.blogspot.com/ and take a peak. I’ll re-post when mine have arrived and been photographed by Lenna. 

Lately, I’ve been having trouble staying motivated to go to the gym. I just want to sit on my lunch hour and read a book, for cryin’ out loud. Last week, I missed two days of exercise because I fell on Tuesday in the parking garage at work, scraping my foot and knee and landing on my ass. My body hurt for a few days and I had trouble walking without pain. Friday I went to Nay Aug Park and walked down the trail to the bridge that crosses Roaring Brook. It took me longer than I would have liked to walk, but I enjoyed getting out and away from work. I’m afraid to take days off from working out because I know how that can go: You start working out 3 days a week; then it drops to 2; then nothing. But I really, really, really miss reading quietly, or taking my sketchbook out on campus and drawing the rose garden or some trees. 

I wonder if I should switch my workouts to after I’m done at the office. Besides, we heard our department might be moving off campus in the future, which will make it damn near impossible to climb the hill to the free gym here, work out, shower, and get back to my desk within an hour. 

Oh well oh well oh well…

 

 

New artwork

White Stripes2

Originally uploaded by ladyinblack1964.

This past weekend was a busy one! I took Friday off from work and we went to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. We visited the Pirates exhibit, which we both found fascinating. It is a display from the wreck of the Whydah, which had been a slave ship in the early 18th century, but was hijacked by Captain Sam Bellamy and his crew of pirates. It sank off the coast of Cape Cod in 1717, and in 1984, was discovered. Beneath the ocean floor, myriads of artifacts lay in these huge blobs called concretions. We saw pistols, cannons, jewelry bits, and a wonderful stash of coins that were removed from the concretions and preserved. All I can say is AAAAAAARRRR, mateys! LOL

We also viewed a planetarium program on the night sky at this time of year. I had never been to a planetarium before and it was great!

Then we saw the Rolling Stones/Martin Scorscese film, “Shine a Light,” in the IMAX dome theater. That was definitely worth seeing! Jack White was in it, looking just beautiful and so happy, like a little kid. I’m sure it was one of the high points of his career to play with the Stones. But for my money, Buddy Guy stole the show! We were lucky enough to see the Budman about 10 years ago at Bethlehem’s Musikfest.

Saturday, we watched the White Stripes bootleg film, “Nobody Knows How to Talk to Children.” The copy I got was unfortunately pretty much unwatchable, with huge jumps in the action, gaps, etc. What can you expect from a bootleg, right? It was still entertaining. Alcohol helps. In some ways we liked it better than “Under Blackpool Lights,” the official WS vid.

Sunday I worked on three White Stripes postcards, one of which you can see above. So far they’ve elicited few comments on flickr. I hope the recipients like them. They’re all WS fans, so they hopefully will!

Ordered a few art supplies from Traci Bunkers’ site and some paints called Color Mists. They’re sprayable and should work with stencils and all kinds of techniques. Art supply porn! Like I need more supplies!

Hangin’ in there…

Jack and Meg are tired

Originally uploaded by ladyinblack1964.

Not a whole lotta new stuff to report, I’m afraid. I am kind of feeling like Jack and Meg in this photo…tired. I’m taking Friday off this week and we’re going to Philadelphia for the day, to the Franklin Institute. I don’t know if I’m going to have a “real vacation” or not. I think that Art & Soul counted as my vacation this year. I guess I fit right in with all the other Americans who aren’t taking vacations because of the high price of gasoline. Still…I can’t see myself taking a “staycation” (the term makes me want to be sick). Have tried that, and it never works out the way I think it will. My house is really not somewhere I want to hang around as a vacation spot. It’s a mess, for starters, and everywhere I look there’s something reminding me of a task left undone.

I’m still feeling rather down, for one reason or another. Changes at work, lack of time for my artwork, unrequited love….just kidding on that last one. Well, not really. Last night I got a look at myself in the mirror sans habillement and thought I looked like a Big Fat Pig, as Homer Simpson would say. Today I made it worse by eating three doughnuts. If I were single, no one would even take a second look at me. That’s how I’m feeling. Honestly. And like an artistic failure. It makes me unable to pick up a paintbrush or a pen when I see others’ beautiful artwork and I just don’t have the energy to do anything sometimes. If only I didn’t have to work.

Yeah, if only I didn’t have to eat, too, to quote our friend Ron.

Sigh. Here’s to better days!

My heart hurts

PMC hearts1

Originally uploaded by ladyinblack1964.

I’m feeling rather down today, after weeks of really, really trying to be up.

I can’t go into many specifics here, but my best friend at work was let go last week. There had been problems, and they had not been corrected. There were issues on both her side and management’s side, and they had not been resolved. At times, she drove me bananas and I wished she’d just go away. Now I feel guilty. And sad. And confused. And angry.

As many of you know, my job has not turned out to be the perfect job I thought it would be when I finished college and started this odyssey. I know there’s no such thing as a perfect job. My friend wasn’t happy either, and perhaps this decision was for the best. But it does put pressure on the rest of us in the department to cover the work she would have done until she’s replaced. Also, having been fired from several jobs myself, I remember all too well the terrible feelings: the abandonment and rejection, the sense of no longer belonging in the world, the fears of “what if I don’t find another job,” the anxious watching of the telephone that won’t ring with new job offers. I don’t really want to go there; I want to ignore her and pretend I don’t know her; at the same time, I want to reach out and hug her.

In this blog, I try to be cheerful. No one really wants to hear my problems, do they? They want to see artwork and read chipper posts about the good things in my life. And let’s face it: I don’t want to write downer posts much either. I know I’m a big complainer, so I try to keep it to a dull roar inside my head.

Sometimes, though, you just can’t keep it inside any longer. And so, today, I admit it: I feel sad and depressed.

Here’s some artwork, though, despite my mood: Some Precious Metal Clay (PMC) hearts I made at Art & Soul in Sherri Haab’s class. I’m going to put them on a bracelet. There is another set too. Working with PMC was more difficult than I had thought it would be! I don’t know if I’ll do it ever again. Maybe I’ll start with polymer clay and work my way up.

Have a good Tuesday!

Art & Soul paintings

Art & Soul painting 1

Originally uploaded by ladyinblack1964.

While at Art & Soul this year, I took an acrylic glazes class with Diana Trout. At the end of the class, we displayed our paintings, and everyone talked about what they’d learned in class. I commented that I was using colors I don’t ordinarily use, and that I liked them. I tend to stick with pastels, and these are very bright colors! I even used orange, a color I shy away from.
This was the first time I’d used my new Golden Fluid Acrylics, and I must say I really like them. A little goes a long way, and the intensity is great!

Diana taught us a little trick: drawing in gesso with a charcoal pencil to get rid of that “fear of the blank page.” So the sections you see here are actually areas penciled in, and I drew the eggs as well. The bird is a “wallie.”

 

My other painting is shown here too. This has much more orange than anything I’ve ever painted before.

In other news: Hot and humid weather is headed our way this weekend. I hope DH can get our air conditioner installed today. I swear, I have a phobia about heat and humidity. I literally dread it.

Tonight is our niece’s dance recital. She takes ballet, tap and jazz lessons from the same school I attended as a child. After work, DH and I will have a nice dinner and head for the local cultural center for the recital.

I also want to go out this weekend and find some plants/flowers for the window boxes and urn in front of our house. The prices don’t seem to be dropping on the flowers at all, so I may have to just bite the bullet and buy.
Have a happy Friday!

Moving into Summer

Spring Iris

Originally uploaded by ladyinblack1964.

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day. Not too hot, not humid, just right. DH went out to a local car show, while I stayed home and played with the scary digital camera. I took this shot, and the one of the bee in my front yard. He was rather fat and fuzzy, but hard to photograph, as I didn’t really want to annoy him!

Spent some of the day making a background for a collage I want to do, and working on some journal pages. These things always go far more slowly than I want them too. I feel guilty about the amount of money I spend on art supplies versus the artwork I actually produce. I should just be enjoying myself, but somehow I always have to turn everything into a source of anxiety.

I wish I could find a solid block of time each day, or even each week, to work on my art. I feel guilty about spending time on it, and not with my husband. Also, my workroom is the kitchen, and that’s the hub of activity in our household. It’s hard for me to have access to the sink when he’s trying to cook. It’s not that he’s hovering over me, either, but I feel shy about having someone around when I’m working.

In other news, saw the White Stripes’ video “Under Blackpool Lights.” Shot in Super 8 graininess, it showcases the band over two nights at the Empress Theater in Blackpool, England, the summer resort town. What energy! I wondered when they were going to stop and take a break, or say something. Jack’s voice on “Jolene” was heartbreaking. He reminded me in some ways of Janis Joplin. Meg played barefoot and had the cutest red (of course) painted toenails. I now have four of their albums, three in my iPod.

Also saw “The Darjeeling Limited,” which I thought was pretty good and very funny. I wonder if India is as colorful as the movie was! 

Have a Happy Monday!

It was 20 years ago today…

Kiss

Originally uploaded by ladyinblack1964.

DH and I are celebrating 20 years of wedded bliss today. Yes, 20!

We can hardly believe it, and neither can anyone else. Not that we fight publicly or anything, but when I sat down to take a count one time, most of my friends have been divorced at least once (some from one another, and some more than once). The funniest thing is, when we took the leap, I remember looking at two of my friends and saying, “Well, it’s working for them, so maybe it’ll work for us.” Sadly, both of them are divorced now.

I remember the day so well. It was beautiful and sunny. I was so scared until I got to the church, and at the altar, he whispered, “Everything is going to be fine.” Except for a slight wax drip onto my hand during the Unity Candle ceremony, it was fine. The service was dreamlike, surreal. Surrounded by our family and friends, I felt very, very lucky.

I still do. I have my life partner, someone who shares many of my views on life, the universe, and everything; who supports and applauds my artwork and my paid employment; who puts up with my silly obsessions and fads; who makes 3 meals a day for me; who shares my love of animals (except snakes); and who has been my best friend since we met in 1984.

Sometimes I think marriage is an impossible endeavor. I wonder how two people can go through life together, forsaking all others, for better or for worse. At times, it’s been better, and sometimes, worse. We’ve had our rollercoaster rides.

Overall, though, I know he is a good person, probably the best person I know, and I’m glad we’ve been able to share this journey together.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart! I hope we have many more.

More from Art & Soul

art journal cover

Originally uploaded by ladyinblack1964.

I promised I’d post more about Art & Soul, and so here it is. This is the cover of my Prepared Journal or Artists’ Book that I did in Traci Bunkers’ class. I guess you could call it an altered book as well. I took an old Stephen King novel and ripped out about every third or fourth page, then glued images down. Then, we gessoed the page, and went over the gessoed areas with acrylic paints, glitter glue, oil pastels, Caran D’Ache Neocolor crayons, and rubber stamps–you name it.

Unlike other collages I’ve done, I didn’t think too too carefully about how to make the images all work with one another. We worked very quickly, some standing up and some listening to music, and some of us sitting. It was a very freeing exercise. I already filled in one of my pages on the way home, when I stopped in a diner after my Rockville visit. If you click on my flickr stuff on the right side of this page, you will see several of my new pages.

And on other topics…over the weekend, we saw “Coffee and Cigarettes,” the 2003 Jim Jarmusch movie that consists of a number of vignettes of people (you guessed it) drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. One of them was called “Jack Shows Meg His Tesla Coil” and it starred the White Stripes. It was really quite funny. I took it as a riff on today’s plugged-in generation and the “let me know you my new iPod” scene. There was definitely some smoldering sexuality between those two. They used to tell people they were siblings but they are really divorced. Siblings my ass. LOL

We also saw “The Mist.” It’s based on a Stephen King novella that was far more entertaining than the movie. The film was just plain disgusting with cheap special effects and too much gore. What a waste of time.

We still have “There Will Be Blood” to watch. So I won’t be the only person on the planet who doesn’t get the “I drink your milkshake” reference going around these days.

More tomorrow! Have a wonderful day!

Discovering the White Stripes

White Stripes - Icky Thump

Originally uploaded by em0rix.

OK, I admit I am terribly unhip. I wasn’t always. In my late teens, I had several pen pals from England who made music tapes for me of the latest New Wave/punk (now called alternative) music and mailed them to me. I liked U2 back in the October days. And I was the only kid in my high school who listened to the Velvet Underground. I had turquoise hair for a brief time.

Somehow, though, it all fell away as I grew older. I started broadening my musical horizons, and I listen to stuff today that, had anyone told me I’d be listening to now (i.e., the Grateful Dead, John Prine, Greg Brown) I would have said, “You’re nuts, man!” I don’t watch TV anymore, and I hardly ever listen to commercial radio. 

Which brings me to the White Stripes. I must be the only person on the planet who hasn’t heard them till recently. I’d heard of them, but hadn’t experienced their music. This past fall, one of the DJs on our local PBS station played a few tracks from their latest album, Icky Thump , and I really liked them. So, recently I went out and bought the album. And I’m getting quite hooked on it.

DH heard that Elephant was the album to get, after it made a 100 Best Albums list in one of the audio magazines he reads. We own that one, too.

And, I took White Blood Cells from the library and am listening to that as well.

Where have I been lo these many years while the White Stripes were getting famous?

Being depressed, I’m sure…but I sure am glad I found them. Better late than never, as the cliche goes.

I love Meg White’s drumming, which I think rivals that of the late John Bonham and Ginger Baker, the olive-tree-growing drummer from Cream. Jack White’s screeching guitars remind me of my punk days. Just when I think I can’t take anymore, he switches gears. His lyrics are cleverly reminiscent of the Beat Generation. I also find it intriguing that a divorced couple can stand each other enough to be in the same band. (Shades of Fleetwood Mac, I guess). And they’re kind of cute in a fun Goth way. 

I love finding someone new to listen to who, unlike Syd Barrett, is alive and well and producing great music. I hope we have the Stripes for many more years, and that they continue to make a lot of delightful noise.

Listening to them, I feel just a wee bit less unhip. 

Thanks to em0rix on flickr.com for the photo!