Pencil Shavings

ASCII Art and Stranger Things

     Well another week of classes has gone by without much to show you in the way of art.

I did finish my ASCII art assignment, about 5 days later than I wanted, but hey, at least it's done. Superman (the Christopher Reeve version) was my inspiration for this, and let me tell you, ASCII art is way harder than you might expect! (and clearly I have an issue with symmetry)

This is what happens when your kids bring home the back to school plague and insist on sharing with you.  I didn't miss any classes but I was way too tired when I got home to do any extra work.  On the plus side that whole being a idiot and not actually laying down when you are sick managed to lose me a few pounds.  So, you know, yay plague as a diet plan. (OK not really)

Next week involves a lot of painting and trying to get a few pieces entered into a show for the middle of the month.

I'll be sure to let you know how things go on that front.

Sundays

Sunday Mornings.  That's another thing to add to my gratitude list.

We've changed the way we work weekends around here, well I changed them.  Sundays used to be the chore day and I would be doing laundry from dawn to dusk then I would wake up on Monday feeling completely ripped off and even more tired than I was on Friday night.

So now Saturday is the “up and at ‘em” day around here.  Do chores, run errands, get the clothes clean.  Then Sunday mornings I wake up with very little on my plate to accomplish.  Get some groceries, go out for coffee, make a nice dinner (that will hopefully have leftovers for Monday) and get a handle on what has to be done for the upcoming week.  I also work on homework projects that might be coming due.

It’s still not a day of rest, but the mountain of housework and laundry are behind me so it feels like an easier ramp up to the activity of the week.  I think that making my headspace feel better helps the rest of me feel better too.  

Now if I could just get rid of the back to school plague my kids gave me this week everything would be great.

 

Her Master's Bidding

I am in that state between sleep and wakefulness, that time when I want to reach out to my dreams and pull them closer to me so I can stay sleeping a little longer.  But I know that can’t happen.

Intruding into my dream has been the rumbling sound of the morning in the form of my cat pacing around my sleeping body purring hopefully.  And now it must almost be time for the alarm to go off.  How she tells time is a mystery to me.  She has braced her front paws on my hip as if ready to shove me into the day as soon as the alarm sounds.  Her purr is mixed with barely audible chirps as if she is muttering to herself about this lazy chimp she has to rouse everyday to do her bidding.

And then there it is, music streaming from the tiny box on my dresser, calling me to my duties and yanking the last veils of sleep from over my eyes, and magnetically pulling my feet out from under the covers and setting them on the floor.

Still groggy I shuffle through the house.  The cat, though desperate for breakfast, seemingly has no qualms about tripping me, and potentially breaking me, as she winds her way between my ankles now demanding with loud meows.  Another reason to shuffle the feet.  

Coffee is ready in the kitchen, and my husband watches as I pour my first cup, ignoring the howling at my feet and the paws reaching up to try and open the cupboard herself.  One sip, a selfish act I suppose in the eyes of the furry. Then to work.  Fresh water and the opening of the can that sends her into agonized circles, turning around and around with the occasional paw poking up as if willing the food dish down by use of the force.

The plate is on the floor now and she gobbles the food down without so much as an acknowledgement for the creature that has delivered it for her.

Now, I turn slowly around the kitchen and start to make a plan for lunches for the rest of the family, and plan my day, while reaching for my coffee cup.  

And I notice the cat curling up on her cushion ready for sleep.... I place a toe on her hip and give her a nudge.

The End of the First Week

The first week of school nearly always comes as a shock to my system.

Getting up early and making lunches for the whole family.  Attending classes and thinking about new things.  Walking a lot more with a nice heavy pack on my back.

It all wears me out.

I take comfort in knowing that I will be fully adjusted in the next couple of weeks and won't think twice about all of this.

This weekend I didn't have to do homework becuase I worked hard this week, and got everything done by the end of the day on Friday.  So instead we did domestic things around the house, did some shopping for art supplies (which is a constant thing in this house) and harvested the rest of the veggies in the garden and cleaned up the planting beds.

My plan is that cleaning up now means a lot less cleaning up in the spring before planting.

My mom and step-dad are coming over for supper tonight.  We are having a family dinner, with the ulterior motive being to have leftovers for suppers during the week next week and easing off the cooking burden a bit for myself as well.

So really the end of the week was pretty great.

I also cleaned out my ArtFire Store this weekend and got rid of a lot of stuff that just wasn't selling.  Clearly you can make some fun things, but if they only appeal to you then leaving them in a store for 3 years to sell is just taking up space.

I'm going to recycle, or reuse those pieces for something else - probably at school.

I have started to list some of the really beautiful prints that I made last year for sale.  They are very limited editions (either of 5 or of 10) and I love them, but I can't house a hundred prints in my space.  So I'm selling them in the hopes that they will find a new home, and that I can buy some more art supplies with the proceeds.

One of the first ones that I have listed is this really fun print called "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" that is an etching using two processes and a collaged piece from the book of the same name by Robert Heinlein that I found about to be thrown out because the binding had given out.  So I made space ships out of it.  It seemed fitting.

This piece was made for my husband, but once again, how many can he hang in his office?

So, week one is done.  Week two starts in 15 hours.

Naturally I'll be keeping you posted.

Back to School

It's been a great week.

I love being at school.  I really am a life-long learner, but being at university really gets me exctied about experimenting with new things and challenging old ideas.

This term I am taking New Media Art, which is basically things you make with computers, as well as Drawing and Painting.

Yesterday I spent three hours doing perspective studies.  Which was actually a lot of fun.  But I did make the mistake of choosing some of my perspectives to be from a sitting position on the hard concrete floor.  That wasn't so much fun.  And my hips yelled at me for the rest of the day after that.

Then we were mixing promary colours in an effort to get a neutral black.  Which is pretty challeneging of you have ever done it.  I managed that in a reasonable time, but wound up not mixing enough... trying to mix more to match that exact black is even more challenging than trying to make the original.

Another nice thing about returning to school is that I am also commuting again, which means the return of the commuter sketches.  This girl had a really refreshing (although disconcerting) way of looking directly at people on the train.  I'm sure she knew I was drawing her.  Every time I looked up she was looking directly at me.  She had an amazing face.  I kept thinking that she should be a comic book heroine.