I've been in a stall with my art since last I've posted. what I've posted is what I've created with paint. last entry in early September with a background and sketch of grandma and me for a class that I never finished, and some sketches hoping for a comeback of some creating. not so good. not so good.
I had been very busy organizing my sweeties 50th birthday bash that I held on November 3rd (a full month and a half before his actual birthday, hehehe). that took a ton of creative, mental and physical energy out of me! I was working on this 2-fold event for him for 5 months, and keeping something this huge from him was wearing me down. I tell him everything, and the stress and worry with no outlet and not getting comfort from my rock was a bit more than I could take. I was SO ready for it to be over and done with, but was getting pretty creative with finding lies at the drop of a hat.
the first surprise that got sweetie out of the house that morning so I could get the hall ready was one of our kids faking a car issue an hour away that needed his "help". in actuality it was the bunch of them getting together to play laser tag.
here are some photos of things I worked on to decorate the hall (I deleted my photos of works in progress, concerned he might find them);
50 years of memories collage. I cut out the numbers out of foam board and collaged the photos onto them, hot glued thin wood strips to the back of the collages to stabilize them, covered a plywood board in white fabric and stuck on the sticker letters to say 'years of memories'. my sister in law attached the collage to the board for me at the venue while I worked on getting the rest of the details delegated and finished what I could.
I had many old photos of him over his many, many years, so made two more collages on foam boards. one of them wasn't photographed.
I had 50 quartz crystals for party favors
a dr. Seuss book as a guest book
candy, quotes and photo centerpieces
"nothing better than an old nerd"
other candy/quotes;
- skittles; "marks 40's skittles away"
-chocorocks; "50 rocks!"
- smarties; "mr. smarty is 50"
- fun sized halloween candy; "marks humor is fun sized in a big way"
- jellybeans; "mark is full of beans"
- starburst; "happy 50th burst-day"
- hersheys kisses; "mark kisses his 40's goodbye"
- peanut m&ms; "celebrate the nutty guy"
- milk duds; "this dude is no dud"
we had a dessert table with cupcakes and a sundae bar which was a huge hit with about 30 toppings to choose from
and a "pin the 'stache on mark" game
everyone had a great time! sweetie was surprised twice in one day and will never trust me again. the only bummer was I was so stressed and swamped with too much to do and not enough time that I didn't eat from 5 am until 5 pm and by then I was in the middle of a hypoglycemic crash and didn't realize it. I went to the car to rest, as my head was pounding and felt nauseas, and thats when I realized it was going to end badly if I didn't get back inside and find some protein. I nibbled on a meatball and was able to enjoy a bit of the rest of the evening. we had a lot of help cleaning up, thank goodness, and then the kids all came back to chat about the laser tag event and how we 'got him good'. and I learned my lesson to never plan something that big as a surprise and by myself! and to eat, no matter how stressed for time I am!
shortly after this event I was planning for a small working vacation for hubby that he was bringing me along on, just to get me out of the house. he had a 3 day class to go to in Austin texas, and decided to drive there with me and Lucy pup, as he knew with the christmas season upon me I would not be good with him away. I started my list making for the 30 hour drive with pup in the car, and it all went without any issues (except for boredom and travel weariness from driving 12+ hours each of the 2 days there and back). our pup, who hates the car, was a trooper! she had anxiety meds in her, and needed them (we tried without), but was still 'with us' and conscious thru the drive. she amazed us with how well behaved she was!
pit stop somewhere on the drive home
we left for Austin from Massachusetts Saturday December 1st, at 3am and travelled two days, stopping only to gas up, pee breaks, and over night sleep. we had Monday 'off' (sweetie was still on call, though) to rest and get food for me for the few days at the hotel. we found a cool 'island' that day that is an off leash dog area, and Lucy enjoyed herself through allergy issues and anxiety meds.
Jerrys artarama was on the other side of the highway from the hotel, but I was too tired the one time we had free for me to explore it (alone, with mark in the van with Lucy. traveling with a dog is HARD!)
sweetie had class Tuesday-thursday, and pup and I rested at the hotel. it's a big city and I dont drive in our small town, so was fine staying and recovering, even though it felt strange being in Austin and not doing any sightseeing! we were up at 3am leaving for home on Friday, December 7th. the ride home was just exhausting, we were all ready to just be home already!
and, now we're home and it's cold. I'm itching to do some art but it's way too cold in the studio, even if I were to have the heat going. I'm also in the christmas depression, even while anticipating my son from California and his family visiting for the holidays. I'm trying to decorate the halls with boughs of holly and all that jazz, but I'm sad and anxious and cold.
so, in the spirit of wanting to art, and in between my lets face it 2018 class and 2019 class (which begins January 7th!) I've been watching some free art videos.
- Katrina koltes has several free tutorials on her site
- anything by flora bowley
- Michelle kral has this intuitive mixed media piece I love
- Betty krause has many mixed media videos on youtube
- Betty krause has many mixed media videos on youtube
hopefully I'll be able to get back to painting/drawing soon. I bet I'll be bringing my mess upstairs to the main house shortly after the holidays. if not, it could be a very long spell without any creativity for me!
in a much warmer texas
until later,
Jenny
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