Animal Wednesday - Just been feeling slow....

Hi there friends.   I haven't posted.  I've forgotten my Animal Wednesday for weeks now.  I/we are slowly coming back up for air from that dreadful health scare a few weeks ago, which was followed by another - possibly unrelated issue which necessitated a trip to the ER late last week.  Up until that point I was feeling rather giddy and free, but that has left me - to the point of worn out and tired and rather scared.

And what do I usually do when feeling out of control?  I find something to organize!  Which is why I found myself on Saturday morning with every bit of clothing in my closet on the bed, and having a rollicking good time sorting thru it all.  What have I worn this year? What haven't I worn?  Does that fit? Two giant bags are going to Goodwill, mostly very gently used stuff. I still have too much but it's getting more under control.   It felt good to work on something that I had control over, and could see tangible results at the end.

I am treating myself to a Florida trip this weekend, to bask in the sun, play with Scruffy and see mom...not necessarily in that order.  I've scheduled a massage and facial and will go to my favorite street fair on Saturday morning.  I'll stop by my Favorite knitting store.  I am hoping for a recovery weekend, and next weekend is Passover and I'm going to my Grandma's old house, which now belongs to a cousin, for a weekend by the beach.  The thought is soothing.

Be well. 

Art of the Week

I've had a most extraordinary week, very very stressful and unsettling for the most part, but with a good outcome.

My DH has been in the hospital all week, with a "-itis" brought on by a procedure that he had to have.  No gory details here but suffice it to say that I lost a nights sleep, have been driving back and forth to the city 45mins away,  have been worrying myself sick, but it's all coming out OK in the end.   DH is coming home tomorrow, with a new diet, a new approach to some of his meds, and hopefully a charmed future (from my mouth to gods' ears please).  I've had to cancel a trip to Florida with my BFF and my nephews, but they are going anyway and my mom is thrilled to be having them.

I spent a bit of time wandering the halls of this behemoth hospital and was amazed to find some very decent artwork hung on the walls in some places.  Sure, there were a lot of posters, and drab posters at that, but I also saw some good art work like this quilt below - a lovely work of hand dyed fabric for shells and with wonderful waves and sand images.

The Sea-Shell art quilt.

Opposite one of the elevators (SLOW elevators, lots of time to review art) was a watercolor dyptich of Boston Common - it was wonderful!  Detailed but loose, and sorry....I didn't copy the artists name.

 

A detail below

The watercolor below was so detailed it was amazing.  This is Rowes Wharf in Boston as seen from the water.  I loved it but just imagined the time it took to do all those windows! 

 

In the lobby were three paintings above mundane waiting room/lobby furniture.  These are almost too pastel colored but I thought they were beautiful and soothing. 

 

What I found amazing is that the hospitals approach to helping the "whole person" and appreciation for how artwork can help make you feel less institutionalized.   You never forget that you are in a hospital, but it helped both of us to discuss the paintings and look at technique and details.  Also interesting was the soothing subject matter and technique - I didn't see anything avant guarde or modern.  I also didn't have time to wander the multiple buildings looking for new artwork. 

Speaking of new artwork - I did this BIG painting last week in class.  The assignment was to paint big - the portrait below was about 3' by 5'.   My instructors were so helpful as to how far to go with the painting, and working from big loose brushes to smaller detailed ones.  The part I like the least is his upper lip - and the highlight there, it sort of looks like he has a milk mustache.  In the photo I copied, he had such a bright highlight there that I tried to capture it.   Anyway, painting big was fun, fun, fun. 

That's my art week report.  Crazy crazy week, good in the end which is all one can ask for right?

Animal Wednesday - one of my favorite sounds - spring Redwing Blackbird

Another Museum

This was another odd, out of the way museum that we've been meaning to go to. Today was the perfect day, being cold and rainy and snowy all at the same time. Unfortunately when we got to the museum it was closing, but we spent about 1/2 hour wandering around.


This museum is in Clinton, MA - another one of those towns that you wouldn't expect to house a museum like this. Clinton is an old mill town, like so many in New England, that is not really a terrific town right now. Right across the street from this museum is a lovely wide common, which was surrounded by very old beautiful trees and some beautiful examples of houses - from about the 1700's thru about 1909 - I'll go back in better weather and take pictures.

This is the house that the museum is in - this photo is from the 1800's some time - I didn't have a chance to get the history of the house.


This is a more current photo of the front. I'm used to walking into houses like this and seeing a front stair case, with a study on one side and a dining room on the other, with the kitchen in the back. That's what I expected to see when we walked in today and instead we saw.....


this amazing inside - wow - it was so striking! There is a huge extension off the back of the building - all steel and glass.


We didn't get to spend too much time there but it looks like an absolutely astounding collection of Russian icons - gorgeous works of art from as far back as the 1500's.

I snuck in these two photos - they didn't say that you couldn't take pictures but the guard was glaring at me...so I stopped.


They also had a lovely little gift shop, you can see me peering into this case holding modern icons - trying to decide if DH's aunt would like anything from this case.


By the time we got out of the museum, the sun was starting to come out so we walked around the common and looked at the monuments and fountain, then drove to a bookstore and whiled away another hour or so before coming home to sit in front of the file.


Today was a relaxing day - a good day

Animal Wednesday - MUMMIES

We went to the Fitchburg Art Museum last weekend on a whim. Those of you who know Fitchburg know that it's not a real "up and coming" little city, but they have this little funny gem of a museum. Very small, wonderful traveling art section, and a great permanent selection of portraits, landscapes, and this awesome sketch by Sargent - which I coveted and coveted the talent to do this painting. (gad - this is a sketch! - to me it would be a finished masterpiece)


Anyway - that's not what I brought you here for. They have an interesting Egyptian exhibit with real honest to goodness mummies - including this cat and alligator mummy.



As well as this reproduction chair with lions heads on the ends of the arms.



They have their own little fake Rosetta stone, which was easier to get close to than the real one in the British museum
and this lovely bas relief sculpture of either two sisters, or Mother and daughter or who knows what. I loved it, probably because of the blue paint.

The 85 year old guard was head over heels in love with me for the day (or bored out of his gourd) and followed me around leering and asking if he could take my picture. It was kinda cute but also very odd.....

So happy Animal Wednesday !!!

Things I've been making/doing

Thank you for all your kind words on my panic post. I've calmed down, turned off the darn word verification and after sleeping most of Saturday - am feeling a bit more human.

So, onto fun things.

I've wanted to try felting and got a great book on felted purses. I went to Michaels, and for very few dollars - got 100% wool in two green colors. I ended up with two pieces of knitting - took no time to do

The problem with this book is that it gives very little instruction on how to assemble this purse. It says 'sew them together"...huh? Anyway, I finally figured it out, sewed them together and felted in the washing machine. In the end they weren't perfect, but good enough for a first try. The two pieces have to be exactly the same size (which they weren't) , and the two colors felted differently. If I was doing this again, I think I'd sew them together after the felting. Doesn't matter, I'm happy with the one I did.

One of the things I've always loved to do is to refinish furniture. When I was with some friends a few weeks ago, I bought a little ratty old table - it's small - almost child sized, that could be used as a side table or any little handy table.
It was easy to refinish - only took me an afternoon. I also didn't obsess about the tiny little areas in the legs, so they stayed a bit dark. But it came out nice, I think it's maple. I'm just buffing it with wax, and then am not sure what I'll do with it.

But it's so cute, I'll find a place for it somewhere. I love the little side things that fold up - it's like a miniature dining room table. I could just see 4 mini kid sized chairs, and fancy little place settings on this table.

I hope you had a lovely weekend, got caught up on sleep and good times.

Minor Panic Attack

Despite my highfaluting ideas about not relying on my computer, or checking my blog stats...I've suddenly gone into a minor panic about this word verification thing and the problem that people have been having with it.

What if my friends couldn't comment anymore? What if my friends weren't here to tell me they like my latest creation, or thoughts and writing, or weren't there to sympathize or celebrate along with me. What if my (blogging) friends simply DISAPPEARED FROM MY LIFE.

Egad - panic has set in.

Its a symptom of stress, I know that. My shoulders are hunched up around my ears these days, my neck aches, and I often feel teary. I've been checking email and blogs incessantly for days. I want to post every 10 minutes to simply reach out to people. The weather has been cold enough to not get in regular exercise outdoors, but warm enough so that there isn't snow for snowshoeing - so no exercise means more stress.

I certainly believe that I need a break.

Solutions:

Tomorrow I head out for an early morning walk, the first one in months. I will banish this stress as much as I can. I am going to CUT BACK ON WORK (for goodness sakes...do I have to have it hit me in the head??) and get some balance back.

I bought tickets for my BFF, my neffies and me to go to Florida for a few days in March. That'll help.

I going to sign up for an oil painting class and another comic class in the spring session. I do plan to publish this year.

I will not panic!

(this is a purple blow up gorilla we saw in florida last time we were there. I couldn't get a good shot from the car, but I feel like him right now with my arms up in the air)



My friends are still out there...I know that. Smooches!