inspiration

when i get caught up in things and can't think right, when i feel like i am stuck, or in a mental rut, i get out and go for a car ride. i bring along a snack and the camera, tunes and try not to think about anything else, except for the open road and the sights around me. these pix are from a recent drive through the lake champlain islands. old buildings and cemeteries hold a special attraction for me. i think it's all that memories that are wrapped up in old places. cemeteries of the late 19th century feel so lost and forgotten. the tombstones are often covered with lichens and moss. it's a bittersweet feeling, life is so transitory. and all we have of the past is our memories, and of the future our hopes and dreams.

it must be me....

I'm in a moody kinda funk- not quite sure where it's coming from- could be a lot of things-

1-the holidays- they always put me back to being a 9 year old who did not have the happiest of childhoods.

2-the self imposed stress connected to Xmas- thinking everything has to be perfect- that I have to make the handmade cards, have to finish handmade gifts. that I don't have a lot of $$ right now to buy something for all the people that you are supposed to buy for, like the mailman, my sons daycare providers, my colleagues, my family, my friends, the mail man, teachers, etc.

3- lack of sleep

4-my dear husband working on a project over 60 miles away. i won't see him until tuesday of next week.

5-the crummy economy 

6-the unpredictable winter weather

7- hormones-

8-my oven is BUSTED and I can't bake my usual xmas cookies.

who knows

I'm trying to break out of it- I took some Emergen-C. I've been active- with our new dog, Mickey, there's no choice there. He has to go out for his walks. I've been listening to positive upbeat music. but, it's still there. Maybe, i should go to the store and buy a case of PIMs. That usually can give me a lift. ( But who needs all those calories?)

I need to take a step back and just count all my blessings- See the pain points and know the possibilities. (there's the coaching center of VT getting into my head. again.) It all just feels a little overwhelming right now. I wish my days had about three extra hours in them, so I could catch up with my sleep. I wish the economy would just get a little better, so I could sell something on my Etsy site that was over $20.  I wish I didn't get so emotionally tied to one day of the year- I wish that everyone I loved wasn't so far away right now. I wish this moody feeling would pass right now, so I could get on with all the other things in life, that I really want to enjoy.  Maybe it's just me... but I think other people, must feel this way sometimes.

I know this will go away- it will just take a little bit of time....

 

do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark

in the hopeless swamps of the approximate

the not quite, the not-yet.

DO not let the hero of your soul perish in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, 

but have never been able to reach.

Check your road and the nature of your battle.

The world your desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it's yours.

ayn rand- atlas shrugged

i remember you- WIP

it's 12:32am and i'm just finishing up for the night- this collage, my latest WIP- "i remember you"

7" by 10" is mounted on the cover of an old book. i've used a photo copy of one of the cabinet photos i bought earlier in the year. the tear of the state troopers is from an old national geographic.  the man is a figure that has been haunting me for a while. i knew i needed to us him- and all the other pieces that are in the collage- strangely assembled themselves on the work table.  

it still needs some blending and added color/texture. an embellishment or two. and a hanger on the back?  or set into a larger frame.

i've got a series of larger pieces in my head. this is the first of a set group.  more to come in the weeks ahead- i'm sure.  laura tells me that nectar's has a new art space and they would be interested in hanging my work- plus there is the SPA show deadline coming up.

this one was guided my something other than my conscious mind.  it was a little spooky in the studio tonight. enough with the ghost stories... time for bed.