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We are finally in our new house! Moved in about 2 weeks ago, and the giant semi truck full of our stuff arrived 10 days ago. After a solid week of unpacking boxes on the main floor and working on getting the main living areas livable, yesterday I finally felt justified in heading downstairs and starting on tackling the basement - er, the studio. I need to get used to calling it that! I took some "before" pics, measured the space and all the shelving units, cabinets, etc., and drew up a floor plan. Today I started moving things around. It's definitely going to take some time but I can picture it coming together. It's really happening - I am going to have a studio!
(or, one person's party room is another person's dream studio) We found a house. Not the one I mentioned in my last post; that deal fell through. A better one. Well, better in some ways - less land and smaller pole barn and more money is not better, but this one is newer and needs far less work overall. And the best part for me: a beautifully finished walkout basement which I can turn into my all-creative-stuff-in-one-place studio! If you know me you know I already have a rough floor plan drawn up and am making decisions on what's going where. I'm so excited!
But first, packing. Oh so much packing. I sure have a lot of stuff, and now with the passing of my mom I have inherited more. After garage-sale-ing much of her yardage fabric and yarn and lace and trims away last weekend, I was left with 15 boxes of remnants to sort through that I didn't have time for before the garage sale. Yes, 15 boxes. I thought it would be fairly easy (although time-consuming) to go through them and throw a bunch of it out and keep only the "best" stuff. Silly me. There we so many treasures in those boxes ... remnants from clothes she made for me when I was a little girl, her own clothes that I remember her wearing, lots unique vintagey-looking stuff that I just can't part with. I did manage to get rid of some, and box some up for donation, but still ended up with 9 boxes that I am keeping. So yeah, I'm going to need that whole basement. One month ago today, my mother died. Many of you already know that. But there was more to that day, that I haven’t told too many people yet. To be honest, I don’t even remember exactly everyone I told and who I didn’t. Because my mom died and I had to deal with that first. But it’s been a month now so I might as well share the rest of the story. It was also the day I got a pacemaker.
On the Friday of Art on Nepessing St. weekend, Cliff and I set up my booth, and I proceeded to have a pretty darn good day. In addition to selling a few pieces, I had a lot of people express interest in the Mandala classes I plan to offer later in the summer by signing up for more information via email. When we shut down for the day at 9pm I left everything in my tent except one box that I didn’t need, which I was carrying to my car, when I got so winded that I had to stop and take a sit-down rest only a couple hundred feet from my car. Damn, I know I had gained weight and gotten out of shape the past couple years, but that was weird. I actually had been having some concerning symptoms for a while. An occasional fluttery feeling in my chest, as far back as last summer, was passed off as anxiety. My heart rate taking a bit long to calm back down after moderate exertion. And there was this nagging little cough, which started I think in mid-January sometime, that only happened when I was trying to relax or go to sleep. It was concerning enough that I had been to the doctor and had some test done: complete bloodwork, EKG, echocardiogram, chest x-rays. Nothing showed up, except my cholesterol was high and so was my weight. *sigh* Yeah I know, about 10 pounds a year over the past 3 years. Since my hysterectomy. So many women told me “you’ll feel better afterward”, but I really didn’t. It kinda kicked my ass and I got a whole slew of new issues afterward. But I digress … Ok, so if the main problem was that I just needed to lose weight and get back in shape, fine. I could do that. Wouldn’t be the first time. I started walking. Got back up to 3 miles relatively quickly – not my former pace, but still. I felt like I was on my way. Back to art fair weekend. The second day started well and I again had a fairly good day. Rain was coming so we all started tearing down a bit early, hustling to try to beat the rain … and I started to not feel well. I was getting way too easily winded, and kinda sick to my stomach. I just felt like I couldn’t do anything even moderately strenuous without hitting a wall. I even remarked to someone that day “I’m too old and fat for this shit” – which of course is not true; there are a lot of people older and fatter than me that seem to manage just fine. Something more was definitely wrong. Monday I called my doctor, explained how I felt, that things seem suddenly worse, and I am sure we are missing something. They set up an appointment for me to see a cardiologist on Thursday. I went about my normal Monday routine – visiting my mom, doing her shopping, bills and medications for the week. She told me she fell on Saturday, flat on her back. My brother was able to help her up. She has a history of falls due to balance problems, so this in itself wasn’t too alarming. She said she felt fine, and seemed fine, so we assumed she was fine. Wednesday morning my mom called me. She believed that something internal was wrong after her last fall. We went to the ER, and she was admitted with a bowel obstruction, likely a kink or a twist in the small intestine. Maybe from the fall, maybe not. She would be treated with “bowel rest” – nothing by mouth, close monitoring of vitals, and hope that the belly relaxes on its own and surgery could be avoided. Because at 90 you don’t want to do surgery if you don’t absolutely have to. Thursday, after a morning visit to the hospital to see mom who seemed to be improving, I went to the cardiologist. He did another EKG and saw a definite change from the one I had in April. It was clear to him – the signals being sent by the top part of my heart to the bottom part to create a normal rhythm were not getting through properly. I need a pacemaker. ASAP. Really? But my mom’s in the hospital (a different one than where I was headed) – really, now? Doc said, we don’t need to rush you there in an ambulance, just go home, pack a bag, and head to the hospital - but, “I wouldn’t go out to dinner on the way” - and be admitted that night for surgery in the morning. Well, shit. That was not at all expected. I’m 55, for pete’s sake – what the ?? Did I mention my mom’s in the hospital? After I stopped crying, I followed the doctor’s orders. Didn’t stop for dinner but did stop to see my mom and tell her … I had to – I would be out of commission for a few days. We switched her emergency contact info over to my brother John, I assured her we’d both be fine and she’d probably be home before me since she was showing signs of improvement, hugged her and told her I loved her, and off I went. The next morning as I was waiting to go into surgery, my brother called me. Mom had stopped breathing. They revived her and moved her to another unit for closer watch, and it happened again. She flatlined 3 times before they couldn’t bring her back any more. I keep picturing John dealing with all of this on his own – being there while she was dying (at least he got to hold her hand for a bit at some point during all of it), having to get funeral arrangements started without me, etc. He reminded me that I was there with mom handling things when dad died while he was in Chicago, so it was his turn, and everything would be ok. And I kept picturing my mom in her bed that night, worrying about me. She worried a lot about me and my brother. She worried that she was becoming an increasing burden on us, and we were getting to that age where we’re dealing with our own health problems. I pictured her laying there asking God - in German of course – "ach, Gott im Himmel! why am I still here? Please just take me." If it is possible for a person to will themselves to die, I honestly in my heart believe that’s what she did. I am crying as I type this. What a completely selfless person. I love you mom. Anyway ….. My surgery went well and I went home the next day. And then immediately to the funeral home to join John in finalizing arrangements. The next several days were of course filled with notifying people, condolences, visitation, flowers, funeral, burial … and then closing out retirement accounts here and in Europe (that was fun – glad I can still speak German well enough to get through that well enough!), bank stuff, cancelling medications, appointments … Oh, I didn’t yet mention that we are in the middle of selling our house. The inspection was the day of the funeral, we have a closing date set for later this month, and we have to be out 30 days after that. And we hadn’t found a new place yet, so that search was hastened. We found a place and if all goes well we’ll get the keys 2 days before we have to be out of this one. And also, have to get mom’s apartment cleaned out by the end of August. So now It’s full-steam ahead into sorting, purging, trying to sell furniture, give stuff away, whatever it takes, including having a garage sale next weekend. There is so much stuff! I need three garages! Or at least a tent on the front lawn, or two. We’ll see. I am bringing stuff home from mom’s place every day and rearranging and making room for more, and will be doing that until the night before the sale. At least I am now past the 4-week mark after my surgery and no longer have to “take it easy” (hah! What’s that?) I just keep telling myself that this will all be over soon. In September I will rest. And someday, get back to making art, and sewing. I will. I have to. I have a lot of emotions to get out, and that’s the best way. Make stuff. Not much art happening in my life the past few weeks. After Art on Nepessing Street, my mom died, I had surgery, and we're finally moving forward with the sale of our house. Which meant the search for a new one intensified, we found one and made an offer. It won't give me the *super-fabulous* studio I always wanted but it will do. Now awaiting closing dates on July 22 (sale) and August 10 (purchase). All I have time for now is sorting, purging and packing TWO households, ours and mom's, while wrapping up all the legal details related to her finances, including 2 pensions from Europe.
No time for art makes me sad. But making progress toward the next stage of our lives makes me happy. So it's all ok. One more quick note about my mom: The Winter Dirndl portrait I painted of her had been hanging in her apartment. She recently commented to a neighbor that when she dies, she wants that painting on display at her funeral. So of course we displayed it. (Along with about a million photos ... I was up til 3 am the night before the visitation finalizing the photo boards ... but I digress.) She was a beautiful lady inside and out, and will be missed by all who knew and loved her. The 3rd annual downtown Lapeer art fair known as Art on Nepessing St. has come to a close. By my estimation and feedback received from several people, it was a success. We had more artist booths than last year, and more food vendors. Attendance was up. A full entertainment lineup for both days helped draw people in. Many artists reported reasonable sales, and were impressed by the friendliness and helpfulness of event organizers and other artists. The kids art activities were a hit as usual, but with the added fun of being allowed to paint on a car.
We did it. We achieved our main goal of growing the event. Which means we can count on bringing the event back again next year, with a renewed commitment and energy to work our butts off to grow some more. In the coming weeks the event committee will be getting together to review all the details: what worked, what didn't, what could be improved, where our focus should be in going forward. I am exhausted but happy. Not only did the overall event go well, but I did well personally. I sold 4 items and had a LOT of interest in both versions of a class I'm hoping to offer soon at Gallery 194: a Mandala-focused Imagination Uncorked class, and a 3-week Meditative Drawing class that will include detailed mandala drawing along with other things. So those will be happening. An unexpected source of delight for me: kids seemed to be drawn to my art. I had several groups of kids come in - some on their own while parents browsed nearby, some pulled their parents in - and I had several conversations with kids who were old enough to be articulate and express what they liked in my work as well as share with me what kind of art they like to do. That was seriously the coolest part of the weekend for me. This post will be a work in progress, a place to save tips and links for future reference.
I came across this article today and need to save it. Then I remembered a few other sites and articles I've found helpful in the recent past, and wondered where I saved the links .... obviously I need a system to store them together for easy retrieval. A blog post may not be the best long-term solution; perhaps a new tab at the top of this website will eventually be warranted, but for now I'm going with this. How to choose a color palette for acrylic painting - on the Will Kemp Art School website The Public Domain Review - wonderful site for historical art-related information of all types Michigan Fairs and Festivals - self explanatory The Flemish Technique of oil painting One artist's (Mary Gilkerson) tips on using color effectively And a link about scammers pretending to want to buy your art: scammer names I can hardly believe it's already mid-May ... spring is whizzing by, although we did see snow today! Maybe that's why it doesn't quite feel like June is right around the corner. And there's less than 2 weeks to the Art on Nepessing St. art fair, which is later this year, thank goodness! - hopefully giving us a better chance of nice of nice weather.
Planning for this year's Art on Nepessing St. has been keeping the committee quite busy the past few months but especially the past few weeks. The Art Walk portion of the event is all set - I haven't heard of any more last, last, last minute changes in at least couple days, so the map (which i have been working on) should finally be ready to be printed. Artists and businesses have been notified of their matches and all art should be in place by tomorrow. A coordinated Evening Art Stroll is planned for Wednesday June 1st, the day before the art will be collected for display in the gallery tent and silent auction during the art fair. For the art fair itself, we have a full entertainment lineup scheduled. The community art project returns, as does the children's activities tent, with the addition of an actual car for the kids to paint! And of course there will be food vendors and artist booths. We've been working hard to recruit art vendors through every means we can think of - emailing and/or calling past artists and new prospects, contacting them through facebook and art websites, sharing info through other arts organizations, word-of-mouth, visiting art events and talking to artists in person, etc. The deadline for artist booth registration has been extended to Friday May 20th. I am hoping a few more will hop on board at the last minute, because the more art vendors the better! Here's what the schedule looks like at this point. I'm not certain on the times for the community art project reveal, and the children's art, they may change a bit but this is close. So have I mentioned I love online art groups? Not sure if I stated those exact words, but I do. And here's why:
So far this year I have completed these paintings for various monthly challenges in facebook art groups. Four of them are currently on display and for sale at Gallery 194 as part of the LAA annual Spring Show. The landscapes and trees are reasonably within my comfort zone, but I used a different medium with the trees - gouache on aquaboard - than my usual acrylic. The fruit with reflection was a bit of a stretch, and the garlic especially. The bridge tested my memory of perspective rules. I'm looking forward to learning what next month's topics are. Inspiration from looking at other artists' work and photos happens every day, more than I can ever hope to fulfill. But every once in a while a method or technique gets shared at just the right time for me to give it a shot. A couple days ago someone shared her method of drawing with rubber cement over a painted background, then painting over the whole thing in another color, and finally peeling off the rubber cement to reveal the design in the base color. I just finished the bridge painting and had paint left over on my palette, lots of white with bits of red, green, blue and yellow. I mixed them up and slopped them on a canvas panel without a plan ... it's very pastel, what the heck am I going to do with this? And then I remembered the rubber cement idea. Maybe this would make a good background to try that technique? I wonder how well it would work with the textured canvas surface, will some of the paint seep under the rubber cement? There's only one way to find out. Lastly, a note asking questions and learning from others. What I am learning is that many (most?) artists are plagued by self-doubt. Many struggle with time-management in juggling daily life responsibilities with creative time, and to be taken seriously first of all by themselves but also in some cases their families/significant others. Those that have found meaningful support in their local art communities, or in online groups, or both, recognize how blessed they are. I am blessed. And grateful. (final note: the "Blessed and Grateful" wording in the title is a takeoff of "Gutless and Grateful" by Amy Oestreicher Thetford, one of the most inspiring people I have encountered on line. Please read her story, it's worth your time.) This year will be the 3rd anniversary of the Art on Nepessing St. art walk and art fair in downtown Lapeer.
Art fairs and art walks in Lapeer have taken many forms over the years: since I've been here, we had an art fair downtown with a beer tent; then it combined with a History Festival and moved out to an open area next to & on school grounds; a downtown art walk & auction developed thru a partnership with 4H ... then the Art & History festival went away, and the 4H connection went away ... and for the last 3 years the Lapeer DDA and Center for the Arts have brought a combined event back downtown. I have participated in the past in various ways, both in my former role as City Planner and as an artist; this year as a retiree I'm on the planning committee and will again be a contributing artist. Our goal this year is to GROW the event. While both the art walk and art fair components have been well received by those in the community who have taken the time to comment, we feel we are still not reaching and engaging enough people, and definitely need to have more booths at the art fair. My specific role the past few weeks has been to contact artists far and wide via email, facebook, and through their website and invite them to participate. I sent out 155 messages and so far got 7 new ones interested - yay, we'll take it! I'm currently going back through the list and making a second contact attempt to all who didn't respond. The gallery and DDA staff have been following up with phone calls and personal contacts, trying to snag a few more. Even if we only get a few new artist booths, I am still very excited about the event this year! We have a committee that really seems to be gelling, with lots of new ideas and enthusiasm and willingness to step forward and take on chunks of the work. We have more entertainment planned this year, as well as interactive art projects and food vendors. I have a gut feeling this will be the best Art on Nepessing St. yet. |
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