letter from the road...

Despite my prolonged neglect of this blog I'm still holding on to it. Since I started my new job this past March, my life has changed and this little journal has become that neglected lone sock that got lost on the floor in the back corner of your closet. Do you know that sock? By the time you find it again, it has become half-sock, half-dusty bunny? I didn't mean for my blog to turn into a dust bunny.
Probably now would be a good time for me to bring it back, so I can feel more normal again.

A week from now, I will be heading back home to Chicago, and will be in town for three weeks - the longest stretch of time I will have been home since this past April. In the meantime, I am in Studio City, California. I'm enjoying California while I can, but it will be good to be back home for so much of October.

This past weekend, I went to the Melrose Trading Post in LA, where I found these typewriters. I also found some old photos and print blocks that I am going to try to incorporate into the 30 day sketch I am currently doing. Here is some of what has unfolded so far:

diorama...

This is a scene from my kitchen table this afternoon. I have the sniffles (hence the tissue) and I was finishing up my diorama project for MAKE (a little late!). After having some breakfast and some sudafed this morning, I put on a pot of tea, popped in Now Voyager, and set to work. I don't think I've done a diorama since elementary school, so it was kind of fun to do one. I used an old cigar box and modeled the diorama after a Jorge Castillo painting that I like. Now my diorama is hanging above my buzzer in my apartment. Here are a couple more pictures.

playing catch up...

The last two weeks have been FULL.  A wedding, a birthday, work, and now finally I've started posting some of my new jewelry to the shop.  Here are some shots of petals at the wedding, my henna (which has sadly washed away), and one of my new bracelets.

8 days in...

I'm eight days into my thirty day sketch project.  I've been cramming many of my sketches in right before I go to bed, which I've discovered is not a good idea (as you will probably notice!)  Even though I am not proud of those, I'm still posting everything here.  This morning I changed my ways and did this sketch of a shop window right after I got out of yoga.  The rest are listed newest to oldest.

30 days...

Towards the end of June, I decided to give myself a thirty day challenge to get certain areas of my life in order.  My goal: get through a laundry list of to-dos that had been out there so long I had just started ignoring them, and to rejuvenate my daily routine.  Specifics on the daily rejuvenation list: exercise, pack lunch for work, no coffee.  Laundry list: take car in to the shop, go to the dentist, explore the option of getting additional studio space, get renters insurance, etc.  The results: the laundry list is done!  As a result of checking these things off my list, starting this month, I will have additional studio space, which is perfect timing, because I'm having an open studio on the 23rd.  Also this month, I will be sending my car "out to pasture" (after having gotten the verdict from the mechanic) and signing up for I-Go, which I feel really good about.  My only shortcoming in the whole thirty days happened just four days from the end, when I decided I would exercise upon waking up from a nap - and ended up waking up a 6:30 the next morning!!  Argh.    

Despite missing that day, I feel like I've found the rhythm I'd been looking for, and accomplished some things that will have a big impact on the rest of my year.  So, as a follow up, I have a new 30 day challenge.  In the spirit of preparing for my open studio later this month, I will be doing a drawing a day for the next thirty days, starting tomorrow.  I have a fresh new sketch book and pencil that I'm really excited to start using!  Check back for the results.

not-so-instant gratification...

This is a cup of espresso I enjoyed when I took my mother out to lunch for her birthday recently.  I will not be having another cup of espresso for at least another 27 days.  This is because I am three days in to, what I call, my 30 day "Get it Together" plan.  You can laugh now.  It does sound like a bad infomercial, I know, but I reached a moment when all the mundane, life maintenance kind of "stuff" that I had been neglecting started building up around me like sludge.  This brought me to the thought, "What if I just took the next 30 days and focused on getting it together?"  So here we are.  What are some of the things on my list for the next 30 days?  *Taking my car in to the shop (seriously, anyone who knows me understands that this has been an area of MAJOR neglect for quite some time.  A good question might be, does surviving 3 Chicago winters in a row with no heat make you a stronger person or a stupider one?  Let's hope I get the AC going for the summer)  *Going to the dentist (confession: I can't exactly remember my last visit, but it's been at least 3 years.  What's that?  No, I don't floss).  *Bring my lunch to work every day (a yogurt parfait from Starbucks does not constitute a good midday meal).  There is a variety of other to do's, but the biggest challenge will be the next one: for thirty days in a row, workout every day.  It's not that I'm lazy, it's that I'm too busy doing other things.  Or that's the excuse anyway.  But now I'm going to attempt to build a new habit so it's no longer something I have to drag myself to do.

So... what does this have to do with espresso?  Well, the whole spirit of this goal is to energize my life; to feel fresh - not in a dehydrated caffeine hangover.  I really enjoy coffee and espresso, and I do not plan on eliminating them from my life - but I think I need to loosen my grip on them (or their grip on me) just ever so slightly and let the exercising do the energizing.  I'm already passed the withdraw headache stage, so I think I'm on my way!!

sunday morning in bed...

After a very long work day yesterday, I am spending this morning in bed.  Last night on the train home, I finished The Reader, so now I am looking for a new book to read.  If you have any suggestions, let me know.  On my plate for today (when I finally do get up!): painting my brother's nursery, hopefully breakfast, and if I'm lucky, a little antique market shopping.  Have a good weekend.

packages with string

Today I started my morning with 9 am yoga.  I don't think I should mention here how long it's been since I've shown up to a class - what counts is, I was there today.  After that, I picked up some wine for dinner tonight and treated myself to coffee and a pecan cinnamon roll - it's Christmas Eve, after all.  Now I'm adding a few final touches to some gifts.  I have to admit, every once in a while, I get more excited about the "final touches" more than the gifts themselves.  Okay, it's pretty often that this happens.  What can I say... I like wrapping.

Next, I'm headed to the studio for some painting and then I'm catching a train to go see my family.  Merry Christmas!

getting dumped by the cta...

Today I had a moment when I felt like I was in Russia.  I've never actually been to Russia, but I have watched Dr. Zhivago numerous times.  At it's best, Chicago was zero degrees today; 30 below with the wind chill.  How is it, that it is always a day like this that the green line train kicks you off at Pulaski because it has suddenly switched to an express train?  About 30 of us got off after the conductor announced that there would be no stops until Ridgeland and that there was another train right behind us.  The thing he didn't mention was that the train right behind us had also switched to an express train.  It whipped passed, seemingly faster than I've ever seen a CTA train move, horn blaring, kicking up snow and an icy gush of wind... leaving us on the platform like a bunch of suckers.  There was a collective groan as we all realized our fate.  

What I noticed during the wait for the next train, was that there really isn't anything tall around the Pulaski stop.  Which means that there are miles and miles of space for the wind to get revved up and then slice right through you.  This is when I felt like I was in Russia.  Or at least in my Dr. Zhivago version of Russia.  Thankfully, this didn't last too long.  And honestly, it made the arrival home to my toasty apartment that much sweeter.  I put the kettle on, got under a blanket and nestled in to read the next chapter in Eat Pray Love.

the good news and the bad news

I just posted a few new necklaces in my shop.  The one shown above is also appearing in a group ad in the Dec/Jan issue of BUST magazine.  

The last few days have been a major wake up call on exactly how attached I am to my computer.  For those of you with a MacBook, I hope you never see a little file folder with a question mark flashing on your screen like I did.  Bye-bye hard drive.  I lost everything on my computer.  Had I backed up any of my files, you ask?  Nope.  Lesson learned.

Along with backing up my files, I also learned that I need to back away from the computer a little more often too... and go down to my studio and create more work.  It was somewhat refreshing actually.  As a result of being unable to use my laptop, I got more painting done, and was able to post more necklaces to my shop.  

And sometimes, starting from scratch is a good thing...

laundry day

Yesterday was beautiful and somehow I found myself inside doing all my hand washing... trying not to create puddles in the bathroom as everything dripped dry.  The sun coming through the window made this dripping blouse look like a stained glass window.  Once I checked this chore off my list, I did get out into the sunshine and sat in the park working on jewelry sketches.  I'm excited to try out some of my new ideas.