Well Hello. I am alive. For now. My paranoia about the 2nd shingles shot notwithstanding (the boychild has been notified that if I pass out or collapse, he is to call 911, but while he’s waiting, grab my iPad, the charger, and my stitching, in case I’m in the hospital for any length of time). Yeah, my body doesn’t respond well to these crazy vaccinations. I’m hoping it’s better this time. Just in case, my to-do list for today is 10 miles long. Windshield fix is scheduled, oil change is scheduled. All good.
Why so quiet? I survived the colonoscopy (no cancer! no polyps! Yeah because I eat all the Brussels sprouts in the world) and more importantly, the prep for it. Diabetics on no solid food…fun! Not. The plus is that I read 17 chapters of my book that’s due any day now in the middle of the night. Plus I don’t have to go back for 10 more years, and maybe by then, they’ll have figured out how to do this better. Seems unlikely though.
So what else have I been doing? Some holiday shopping. Some drawing. Some trimming of the Wonder Under. Lots of animal cuddling.
Christmas shopping at the Liberty Station Public Market, with murals by Hugo Crosthwaite…
Hey those weren’t there the last time I was there…
Nice.
I also got this clipping and a letter…which is most undoubtedly some sort of Christmas mystery thing…
No Professor Sherman Nida in this family. Yes, I Googled it. I know it’s a thing. I don’t want details. Let me experience it as if I did not know how to Google. (I stopped reading about it online as soon as I figured out it was a thing.) Exciting!
So I have this goal over Winter Break to do a drawing a day. They don’t all have to be big and fancy, but this one was, because we were watching a movie. This is the big sketchbook, 14×17″. Saturday night’s drawing.
I’m not aiming for stuff that needs to be a quilt. I’m just drawing. I do have two big drawings I need to do over break, but I haven’t started yet, and one of them, I won’t be able to show anywhere for a while. Which is hard for me. But Imma gonna do it anyway (in the words of my students).
When I was done drawing, I cut this stuff out for an hour or two…this is two yards of Wonder Under done.
Doesn’t look like much. Trash on the left.
Sunday was no food day. I picked this piece up. So I mentioned before that I’m doing this as a collaboration with a prisoner at Donovan State Prison with Project Paint. I picked a word (relationships…trying to keep it no-nudity for the prison crew) and they started the piece on canvas paper.
So this is the first layer, he says. He is Steve. He says this is the conscious relationship of playing the game a Barrel of Monkeys and the subconscious relationship of picking one’s nose. At the same time. Multiple relationships…hmmm. Not where I thought this was going, but the organizer matched me with Steve for a reason, she said. Uh huh. So he’s left space on the right (presumably for my part? He doesn’t know I don’t paint.). I could also add a strip or border, but nothing bigger than 6″ square, because they could use it as a disguise. Huh. OK. But a border is OK.
My collaborator states that he “will not be held liable for any detriment, ill effect or monetary damages to [my] career as an artist by [my] collaboration with [his] project and or so called art.” Also good. No worries, Steve. We’re good. He likes out-of-the-box abstract, he says. Me not so abstract. So I have a few weeks to put my part together and then it goes back to him to finish. I think I need to go buy some canvas paper because he’s gonna need more space. I think. Letting it percolate.
Sunday afternoon’s drawing (evening?) while experiencing the first of the colonoscopy prep liquid. Blech.
This is part of another idea. You’ll probably see stuff like this again.
Our tree grew…it’s a good thing it’s bent over, because it wouldn’t fit otherwise.
I predicted it might be too tall this year. Next year, it will need to go on the floor. I might have to plant it out after next year, but maybe a 4th year in the house? We’ll see. That was the original plan.
After the prep was fully ingested, my body calmed down enough for me to cut out two more yards of Wonder Under…
I was freezing, hence blanket. No food equals cold body.
This is after 4 yards is cut out. Does it look any different?
Not really. What about sideways?
A little.
Maybe.
Monday, after the procedure, I tried to grade some stuff, but fell asleep for 3 hours instead. Then I got up and graded one period of the largest assignment. Start with the big stuff! The dogs were oh so helpful.
Mostly. My driver conked out at 8:30 AM. This was even earlier, I think.
He had animal support.
After grading, I drew…faster this time.
Combining some older ideas with a newer one that’s been rolling around in my head.
Then I started cutting out Wonder Under again. My cat never comes out, but that Christmas tree lured her out. And then she stayed! She doesn’t usually…
She’s on my right side. And the other one is on my left side…
Understand they do not like each other. They do not like to share space or humans at all. When I got up to pee, I put the box of trash between them so they wouldn’t freak out over the other’s presence.
Strange animals.
Six yards cut out, only three to go.
Side view? Should have taken one. I only have 3 yards left. I’ve cut out for almost 8 hours. It takes 2-3 1/2 hours to cut out two yards, so I probably have 3-4 1/2 hours left. Tonight? Maybe. I’m trying to grade one period of that huge ugly assignment every day. If I do that, I’ll be done by Friday, maybe earlier. Then finish cutting these out by tomorrow…sort tomorrow night. I need to go buy background fabric, but I’m sitting here now, waiting for a quilt to be delivered that needs a signature. Then walking the dogs. Tomorrow morning is replacing the cracked windshield…then haircut in the afternoon. I need cash for that. I need to cut some matts for Christmas gifts today, so I can ship this silly box. I set up the oil change for the car. I ordered a French press for the girlchild. Not sure if there’s coffee, but WTF. AND a drawing a day, every day. Plus hiking. Plus yard work. Plus clean house. Plus wrap shit. Plus sleep more. That’s a crazy thing. Suck at that, even on vacation. But I want to be ironing to fabric by Thursday. That sounds reasonable, yeah? Probably going to be about 20 hours of that…so I could be done by Christmas and then cutting stuff out then? Maybe? We’ll see. I love being able to see whole days of maybe getting art done. Maybe.
*The Sundays, Wild Horses
Kathy Nida 