I HATE HOUSEWORK!!!!!!!!!!

I AM DETERMINED TO GET MY HOUSE IN ORDER .... so there is no time for art. (I hate that and it frustrates me greatly. Is that why there are so few notable women artists of the past?)

Therefore, cleaning and tossing like a mad woman.....it is beginning to feel really good.

I've done so much lately .... that the other night, I had a dream .... I was living in this enormous house with all these rooms full of closets and cubbies and storage areas everywhere .... so I sorted and organized ALL NIGHT .... At one point, I had gathered all of the shoe shine stuff...little cans of cordovon, boot black, hospital/baby shoe white, brushes, rags, buffers all loaded up in my arms and I was happily marching to the spot to tuck this stuff all away in one neat spot when ....I woke up. Normally, this would be a nightmare of great enormity for me (I detest housework and never considered myself a "suzie homemaker") .... but ..... for once in my whole life I had a place for everything and everything going into place nicely...in my dreams.
Addendum: It is amazing how much duplication I am finding all over my house. You know, you go out and buy a bunch of "stuff" and then you tuck "this stuff" away ..... and when you need "this stuff" you can't find it. So you go out and buy more of "this stuff".....and it gets stowed somewhere else and so "this stuff" is scattered all over the house with all "this other stuff."

have a lot of "this stuff" if any one wants it.....

For example...every winter, and the first ice storm is coming, we go out and buy winter "stuff" ... new gloves, wool socks, ice scrapers, cans of de-icer, and cat litter (to get traction. And then ...it freezes for about six hours. Result: I have 8 pairs of gloves, 8 pairs of wool socks, 4 ice scrapers, 3 cans of half used de-icers, and two bags of cat litter ---we have no cats .... just two dogs. OR ..... I have found three staple pullers, three phone extension cords, four staplers (one doesn't work), six spools of white thread and three spools of black thread, 8 scissors, four bottle openers, four half boxes of plastic spoons, 1 box plastic knives and no forks....all different colors ...... and ......... 7 bottles of expired sun block (yes it does expire). I found a box of birthday, mother's day, father's day, valentine, sympathy cards .... that I couldn't find to give to the person I had intended ..... Not only does not it fit now, they look like they were designed 20 years ago. WHY DO I KEEP THIS STUFF? SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!


When this is done by vacation time, and I get back from Taos NM from two weeks R&R, I will hire maid service and escape to my studio!!!! I will go without food and clothing to have someone else clean up this house regularly. Meaning I would rather go naked and starve that clean a toilet....if you get my drift. (Is that why I am fixated on nudes....just kidding:O)

More Life Drawing....

What the heck am I going to do with all these nudes no one wants?

Yet, that is what I have to do to learn the structure of the body. Here are the latest. With all the distractions at home, there is no way that I would get into painting. So I am thankful for the life drawing session each week. I can't wait until summer is over. TOO MUCH DERN WORK FOR ME. TOO MUCH DISTRACTIONS.

Life Drawing Class - Session I

This is the second time that I have taken this life drawing class with Glenn Thomas at the City Arts Studio. I can tell that my gestures are getting much much better. This is the last exercise of the session last night. The model (who was fantastic) struck three poses that she held for about three minutes. Our task was to draw the figures in an inter-related way quickly. The model went in a round robin way, for about 20 minutes changing every few minutes. I was stunned that she was able to remember the pose. It was koowel.

Life Drawing Every Tuesday Night.

This drawing "Floating Nude in Contemplation" ... is one of my better ones, so I signed it.

I can't image anyone wanting to frame this nude study but...hey who knows. The Tuesday night drawing sessions are giving me the practice I need. I am seriously thinking of drawing on newsprint in the future ... my frugal nature .... although I love the feel and warm pale cream color of Strathmore 400 series drawing paper. It's expensive though and seems a waste of beautiful paper if the drawing is never framed and thrown in a drawer.

I do love the paper though rather extravagant for practice. Maybe next time I will just draw only the face.

April Life Drawing

In spite of it all...
I managed to get to life drawing and these are the result. It has been a distracting few months but I had to have a couple of hours to get my mind off of the traumatic experiences of the day. It didn't work but I'm glad I forced myself to go.



These two were 20 minutes.

It began with a family crisis that went from business, to medical, to bereavement, and silence. I can see my feelings in my drawings.



Now this drawing is really out of proportion. I posted because it reminds me to check things out. For instance the knee to foot is too short. Though the model had a broad face...it way too exaggerated in width. Oh...if only I'd lengthened the legs a bit.


Conté Crayon on Strathmore 400 series cream.




What now? I still have many duties sabotaging my need and desire to get back to work in the studio. I yearn to be away to work in solitude but that is not possible. The grief of the loss of my sister, recent angry exchanges over the authority of the Bible with a person I care about deeply, family business matters and a feeling of being pulled in directions away from my artistic goals that I set and failed to meet...all have given me not so good a feeling and I am fighting discouragement.

The experience of being with Diane when she took her last breath is still in my constant memory. It was a moment of great faith and honor but the memory hovers with me day and night.

Then there is the anger of a person I was led to witness to, and the sadness I still feel for him lingers yet I know that I was used of the Lord greatly. The scripture rings comfort in my ears ... "Blessed are ye, when [men] shall revile you, and persecute [you], and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great [is] your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." -- Matt 5:11-12 This is what is meant by the saying..."taking up your cross." I have done that many times over my lifetime but it is still a cross and difficult. Yet, I am compelled for the love of the Lord and His Word.

How perfect and beautiful is the Word of God and how great is the slander coming against His Word today ... mostly done in ignorance; often done in human arrogance. "But thou, O LORD, shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision (contemptuous ridicule)." Psalms 59:8

Then there are financial matters, lawyers, accounting ... mostly things that really do not benefit me but duties to the family. Yet, I remind myself that I am a servant and that this is a season.

Art will have its time.

On a Personal Level...

My beloved sister, Diane went to be with the Lord at 8:30 AM this Saturday morning. I was alone with her through the night and at her moment of passing; it was a precious time.

It is said that if you are not ready for death you are not ready to live.

There are two scriptures that comforted me greatly.

II Cor. 2:5 "For while we are still in this tent, we sigh with anxiety; not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage; we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. "

Psalms 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." (Who is a saint? .... Phil 4:24 "Salute every saint in Christ Jesus, the brethren which are with me greet you."

(Thank for all the kind words of great encouragement. This is the reason I have not updated my post in a while.)

Patti

Life Drawing Class - is over...

Wash drawings...







After two months, I'm feeling really good about what I have learned in this class. Things are beginning to click but I have no illusions, I have miles to go. I plan to take this class again and really get these concepts down. Many thank yous to Glenn Thomas whose great teaching ability helped me to progress.

Unique Images

These are albino deer. Isn't this a handsome image?

Crisis kills creativity...

When a crisis comes it causes every thing in your life to come to a screeching halt. The focus turns to the life threatening moment at hand and all energy moves toward its resolution.

That is what has happened to me. After Christmas and the New Year, for me it has been one family crisis after another.

I tried hard to overcome all of this and return to Life Drawing Class. Last night, the fatigue just swallowed me. I could not think. This experience only proves that an artist has to be able to fully concentrate to accomplish anything. I simply could not get the cobwebs out of my brain to do anything at the easel.

Good things come from crisis but I'm finding art is not one of them. Maybe next week.

Life Drawing

On this session, I did not like the pose of the model so I chose to draw the upper portion of her torso. Conte Crayon



In class the assignment was to do a wash drawing with contour defining the body with as few strokes as possible.



This Conte crayon (below) sketch was a long session.