As you can see, Zoe had a fabulous birthday. This is the party room at the WOW Children's museum. After cake and presents, they spent the rest of the time running around like loons hopped up on sugar. I still can't believe my baby is 4! Happy Birthday, Zoe!

Where The Time Goes...

As a parent, I sometimes wonder where the time goes. Today I figured it out.

I set out an hour to devote to work. I set Zoe up with a movie (yeah, I know... kids should never watch movies or TV.... blah, blah, blah....), some fruit, and some juice, and a firm explanation that I needed to draw, and set to work with an eye on the clock.

Here's the breakdown of that hour:

8 mins: Searching for my eraser and .35mm archival ink pen (somehow, they were in the dollhouse.)
11 mins: Getting more juice, more snacks, cleaning fruit off the floor.
7 mins: Letting cats and dog in and out and in and out.
4 mins: Showing Zoe, on the calendar, how long until her birthday party.
10 mins: Removing towel from the toilet and cleaning up afterwards.
3 mins: Providing tissues and helping with nose blowing.
17 minutes: Actual work.

I did get some sketching done, in preparation for a drawing tomorrow. I should have been doing some cut-paper illustration, but have a nagging knot in my shoulder due to the last 3 days of cutting. So, back to the pen and ink for a day or so.

Also, I just watched the Presidential address. And I think Obama did a fine job. Why do people think he should have fixed things already? Did they think this was fixable in a month? Afraid not. It's going to be harder than that. But I very much approve of his take on healthcare, education, and growing the economy through green energies.

Not a Good Start

Woke up this morning to Zoe complaining that the toilet wouldn't stop. She'd thrown half a roll of toilet paper in before flushing.

But of course she doesn't admit it - she tried to blame it on her "Anty Friend." When I explained that you can't blame things on imaginary friends, she relented- halfway.

"You're right. Ants don't have hands. But I didn't do it!"

So we hopped out of bed to find a flooding bathroom and realize that - somehow- our plunger didn't move with us. (Plungers are things that you don't notice until you need them - especially if they're not there.) So we turned off the water and sent Danny to the store for a plunger - at 7:30 AM.

Then plunging, mopping, and the washing (with bleach) of many, many towels.

At 9, I called a friend to see if her daughter would like to come over and play with Zoe this afternoon. Alas, her Grandma is in town, and she's not available. Zoe's reaction? She burst into tears, and threatened another flood.

Not a great start to a Friday.

Now I'll get some work done - check back tomorrow for a new paper cut.

The Landscape of Dreams

One of my favorite writers has suggested that everyone has a dream landscape - the place that is so much a part of their soul that they often return there in their dreams.

Mine is the New England woods. Growing up, we were lucky to always have woods to explore - usually right behind our house. And my sister and I spent much of our free time exploring them. When I dream, I often return there. My woods are a mishmash of the woods I've known and loved - mostly the woods behind the house in Lunenburg, MA, but with bits of woods from New Hampshire thrown in.

Like many women, I have nightmares of being chased. (Though not so frequently now as when I was younger.) When these take place in a city or a house, I'm always just barely ahead of my pursuer, and terrified. But when they're set in the woods, my woods, I'm always pulling ahead, getting away. Enough so that I can stop to look at flowers, talk to an animal, or climb a tree. I confuse the pursuers, lay traps, etc.

When I'm in my dream landscape - my woods - I' in control.

What is the landscape of your dreams?

Badger

A friend asked for a badger watercolor to be turned into a pendant.

This is the resulting painting. The reason it's only a "portrait" was to avoid losing too much detail when it was reduced to 1" x 1" for the pendant.

I Need a Room

So much art, and so many art supplies. I need to get to work on transforming the camo and neon green guest room into something with white walls, that can function both as an art studio and a guest room. Working on the kitchen table just isn't cutting it any more.

But I do enjoy my mornings spent drawing at the table, while Zoe draws beside me. Her skills are improving by leaps and bounds, and jet-pack assisted flights. Give her 10 years, and she'll be outdoing me. (Which is a good thing. A very good thing.)

I won't have much spare time tomorrow, so I'll post a few pieces, basically studies in pen and ink, that I worked on tonight. I'm wanting to put together a mythologically based pen and ink series to try and jury into a few art shows this year. My fingers are crossed. Well, except for when they're holding a pen or a brush.

Different

We did Storytime at the library today. During a story about a pea who didn't want his candy for dinner, the librarian asked all the kids what their favorite foods are.

"Spaghetti!"
"Cheese pizza!"
"Mac n'cheese!"
"Hot dogs!"
"Chicken nuggets!"

All the usual. But when she got to Zoe...

"Clams and ciopinno!"