paint party friday -- joining the party again

It's been ages since I took part in Paint Party Friday and before this week, a long time since I got out my paints.  I've been wanting to, but just not getting around to it.  Not finding inspiration and not finding the motivation to break free from my slump.  And then this week I did.  First I worked on a background and then I played with drips.  I started on this large canvas (the largest I've ever painted at 16"x20"):

I'm planning on lots more layers with this one.  So far there are three.  And while I was playing with that I took out a tiny canvas on which I'd already done a background and added some drips and smears.

Funny that this one looks bigger here than the large one when it's only 5"x5".  I think I want to add a bit more before it's done, but I'm letting it sit for now.

Finally, I became inspired to do another watercolor this week, too.  I hadn't really felt inspired to paint anything specific and then I was looking at one of my plants and started imagining painting it.  This morning I did the sketch (more nerve wracking than usual because I hadn't done any for a long time).

Of course I had to choose a complicated plant to paint.

So many overlapping leaves.  I simplified it quite a bit for my painting and plan on slowly layering the color.

So far I started with the lighter undersides of the leaves and the beginnings of the clay pot (I love this pot!).

It feels good to be painting again.

TIC TOCC -- only slightly cheating

I know that the point of the TIC TOCC exercises is to get the creative juices flowing and to make doing something creative a manageable task.  It's not about trying to fit a past creative endeavor into the parameters of the task, and yet, when I read this week's Wright Story Extra my mind immediately leaped to a photo I took a few weeks ago.  The task this week is to juxtapose opposites.

It's not an original idea; the arrangement brings to mind Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings.  And the photo quality is limited by the fact that I shot it with my phone and not my camera.  But the photo is meaningful for me.  It's a reminder of beauty in darkness and of life in death.  I found the bird skull in my backyard and then I found the perfectly opened rose a few steps away.  Laying them on the table, arranging them for the photograph, was a meditation for me.  And I've been wanting to write about it.  So, in reality, I'm not cheating with this week's TIC TOCC, but the creating is not the photo itself, it's my writing about it and it's my overcoming this blog block I've been feeling. 

What's even more interesting and serendipitous is that Kat's blog post for this week's challenge talks about life's redefinition and reorganization.  Right now, and for the past couple months, that's what I've been struggling with.  I've been redefining what my priorities are and reorganizing my life.  It is hard not to feel discouraged or overwhelmed.  It is hard not to feel as if I have no control.  It is hard to let go of my worries for others and focus on what it is that I truly want and what it is that I truly need.  It is scary and it is disheartening, but it is also beautiful and hopeful.

At the end of September I moved from the farm back to my house in Cleveland.  I had been at the farm for over a year, living apart from my husband during that time.  It was a year of many firsts and many learning experiences.  It was a year of discoveries and beauty.  It was also a very difficult year.  This past summer Matthias and I first lost one of our cats and then we lost our dog.  Their deaths and our living apart brought the precariousness of life into sharp focus.  Nothing in life is certain.  Nothing should be taken for granted.  The dream of us living in the country is a beautiful dream, but right now it's just not practical.  And what is most important to me?  Although all of this is very difficult, the answer to that question is easy for me.  The most important thing is my life with Matthias.  It's still amazing to me that out of all the souls in this world, his and mine were able to find one another.  He is my best friend and my true love.  Yes, we have our difficulties and yes, this year and especially these last few months have been hard, but I would much rather be with him and struggling than be apart from him and struggling.  I can create art and write and grow things wherever I'm living and I'd much rather be doing those things with him.  I am not giving up on my dreams, just reorganizing them.

Transition is hard.  Change is hard.  But there is beauty even in death.  There is beauty in endings because in every ending there is also a beginning.  So, yes, I am struggling, but I am striving to see that beauty and find a way to leap into that beginning.  Even in my darkest hour I've felt that glimmer of hope.  It may still take a while for all the bits and pieces of this life to fall into place, but I'm working on it.

and now for something completely different

I've been avoiding my blog because I've been avoiding writing the post that I think I should be writing.  But why should I write what I don't want to write? 

Instead, I'm going to share a simple how to that I've been wanting to share for months and months and months (I photographed this in March).  Those of you who blog might understand the way imagined blog entries pile up in your head and how some of them never make it into the blog.  You get carried away by circumstances and things fall to the side.  This post is one of those things.

I love silver jewelry.  Especially with cabochons of semi-precious stones.  Moonstones and labradorite are my favorite.  But my jewelry had become seriously tarnished.

I wanted to find an environmentally friendly and easy way to get it clean.  In the past I'd used a natural, baking soda-based toothpaste and gently scrubbed the silver with a toothbrush, but that was time consuming and a bit labor intensive, not to mention messy.  I kept putting off the task.  I read somewhere about cleaning silver with baking soda and an aluminum pan, did a little bit of research and then decided to try it.

You can use an aluminum pan, but not if you want to use the pan again for cooking.  What's easier is to simply line a glass dish with slightly crumpled aluminum foil.  Next, place the silver onto the foil and sprinkle liberally with baking soda.

Finally, pour boiling water over the whole thing.

The chemical reaction will bubble like crazy and in the process the tarnish will disappear.

I was really amazed by how well it worked and how easy it was to do.  I wish I'd been able to capture it better in photos, but I think you can get the idea.

bits of beauty

Just a few things that caught my eye in the last few weeks:

Beauty really is all around, everywhere you look.  But you have to look.

a frivolous post

One of the themes that weaves its way through my blog is noticing and enjoying (and creating) beauty.  In a way, it's what my blog's about.  Sharing that appreciation of beauty.  It's important in my life.  And it's all about perspective.  Noticing, appreciating, creating beauty brings peace and happiness.  Maybe that's simplistic, but I think it's true.  Even in my darkest moments something beautiful can soothe my soul, but only if I let it.

Rainbows seem, unfortunately, a bit cliched to me, but they are beautiful and seeing one lifts my spirits.  That a rainbow will appear during turbulent times, transitional times (at least, weatherwise) seems poignant to me.  It gives me hope.  This rainbow was the second of the day and it's a double.  I shot it with my phone, almost missing it because it didn't last.  Think about all the things like that we do miss.

I guess that's not all that frivolous, is it?  But it's all in introduction of something that is.  With all of this focus on beauty, one of my obsessions is beautiful things to make a cozy house.  I love scouring thrift stores, flea markets and antique stores to find interesting and pretty items.  And I love making things like quilts and blankets and pillows and paintings to add pretty and cozy in all my spaces.  One of my favorite finds is an embroidery that I spied at The Salvation Army when thrifting with my sister-in-law (who is the Queen of Thrifting).

I paid 99 cents for it. 

 

It caused a bit of controversy in my household when I first brought it home.  My husband and brother-in-law thought I was crazy.  It cracked me up when I spotted an identical embroidery on the Dottie Angel blog.  I had always been curious about this handmade piece and seeing it there made me even more curious.  I love imagining the stories of the person who did all of those stitches.  Looking back, at the photo of Tiff's version on Flickr, I see that someone else commented that they have the same embroidery (also thrifted, but for 50 cents!).  I love that we were all drawn to these once-loved and discarded pieces.  Although one of the joys of thrifting is finding unique items that you're not going to see in a magazine or catalog or your neighbor's house, there's something sweet about the joy that each of us found in these thrifted pieces.  So, I was excited when I found another example while reading a newly discovered blog (thank you, Kerry, for mentioning it on your blog.  I love it!).

I still don't feel like I've found my blogging rhythm again.  I miss it.  I miss the hope and joy and fearlessness I felt when I was blogging more.  But I'm working on it.