Various ramblings

Today I baked banana nut bread. I have a dream kitchen with gadgets to do most anything, my favorite being my pink KitchenAid mixer. I haven't been in much of a cooking mood lately so playing in my kitchen got me excited about all my tools. Good tools really do make a difference.








My favorite contemporary painter is Brian Rutenberg. Here is a link to his paintings: http://www.forumgallery.com/2005/e_rutenberg.html

Check them out and let me know what you think.
















Years ago my friend Andy gave me a custom pink radio flyer. I would pull it a block from my home to my gallery with odd contents and wearing 4" heels. When I moved back to CA I did not have a need to pull a wagon so I decided to plant in it. It was over a month ago that I planted and now this rain and never ending winter makes it hard to remember the actual planting.














Yesterday my parents and another couple left for Europe. They travel a lot so it was no big deal but today I felt their absence. This has never happened before so it was a bit eerie. Could just be that I am a lot more sensitive since Gary got sick. They actually were adorable, all dressed up, pulling their own luggage. They are 80 ish but look and act a lot younger. Yesterday they seemed like a combo of 70 and 5. I hope they are having a great time.



Tomorrow is chemo day. Say a prayer for Gary. He is excited to go kill some more cancer cells.



I am done with my crochet lessons. I have been knitting for about 35 years but never learned to crochet so typical of Laurie I pick a very hard first project. I have mastered the pattern so now it is practice time. Practice is something I rarely do, I am more of a jump in without much thought and GO. It will take practice to practice.

Warm, Wonderful Sunday

Today has been a special day for me. I got to hang out with a friend I have known most of my life but don't see too often. I realize we have even more in common now in our 50's than we did at 7, 13, 40. It warms my heart like today's 80 degree sun. Also, someone new to show off my wonderful husband to.

Even though I have been absent from my blog for a while, I am still creating. I had a lot of real life things to do this week like support Gary through a bone scan and meet his new Oncologist. (Yuck.) I thought that when I started my blog, admitted I has painting etc. that I would be able to create away to my heart's content. I dislike being an adult at times and yet I am proud of myself for having a positive impact on someone else's life.

Wednesday was so cold and rainy that it really affected me. Hard to believe I lived in Seattle for so long. I have had enough winter so I really appreciate the summer like weather, being outside, getting some exercise. I've had a pot of spaghetti sauce cooking for 24 hours. My timing looks a little off.

I mentioned that my current painting looks like my old knitting. These are examples of both. Knitting needles in my hands feel so natural, surrounding myself with paint uplifts me in a way that my other creative outlets do not. I am looking forward to finishing this painting and seeing what comes next.

April 20th

This sweater on my handsome husband Gary is a finished project! It is knitted in a yarn called Lima that I heard and read about but had no idea how amazing it felt until I worked with it. It is

leaving to go to my father tomorrow before it is too late as someone is already attached to it. (He will get his own soon.)

Today I spent a lot of time painting. I even left for a meeting in my paint clothes and a bit of yellow paint in my hair. Gary told me just to put on a few diamonds and I would look fine.

He likes me messy from paint.

My signature color has been pink for as long as I can remember. Wake up in a pink room sometime and you will understand it's beauty. My 50th birthday theme was pink poodles, our wedding was pretty much planned around a pair of hot pink Christian Louboutin shoes. We were married on the beach so it took some planning. Lately I have been very attracted to green. (I apologize for the fuzzy photo.) I have more tubes of green paint than any other color. We painted our living room a wonderful shade of green.

A little knitting and crocheting and I am done for the day.

Day Two

In being honest about my projects yesterday, I came across a few more. One is an ongoing illustration book I started writing to show my husband exactly what I love about him. I move it from my desk to his when I have made an entry in it. I draw with my favorite watercolor pencils. Probably not often enough considering what a wonder guy he is.


The other is the children's book I wrote about 10 years ago. After I finished the story,I decided to do the illustrating myself (see below). I got about 75% of the drawings finished and then on the shelf it went with it's group of unfinished friends.


Our friend Alexis from LA (we have two) was even kind enough to send me information on how to publish a children's book. Both of them are super creative and an inspiration to me. Add the blog, which my friend Bob lovingly pointed out was a project and I think that makes six major projects. One thing I can say about this is I am never bored.



This morning I painted for about three hours. It felt great. I also realized that my current painting looks like my old knitting. (I will upload a picture of both as my painting gets closer to being finished). I was feeling great and afterwards I was getting adult things done ,then we went to met the new Oncologist. I am not too happy about him and all my creative energy went away. I didn't even want to write and it's only day two. I feel better already.


In 1998 I did Julia Cameron's "The Artist Way". I would recommend this to anyone whether you think you are creative or not. It was a life changing experience even though I took it too far and went into the Art business. Lesson learned. I wasn't a fan of abstract painting until I came to realize that painting abstracts is much harder than representational. When Gary went through his first round of radiation, I was devastated and decided to take an abstraction class to do something for myself. It was frustrating and challenging and when the class was over I quit painting but I am up on the horse again.



I plan to work on a few things each day. I am looking forward to some knitting tonight and then seeing what I am passionate about tomorrow. One thing I am not passionate about is discovering more projects but I doubt there are too many hiding in there now.

Day One

Last week my husband and my father were having lunch together. My husband was talking about how I was getting ready to paint again and it was discussed that I was good at starting projects but not great at finishing, they gave me a 95%. I was not too happy about this and on that day only had two main projects in the works (that I was aware of) a sweater I was knitting for my father and a necklace I started about a month ago. Since then I have finished the sweater, started a knitting/crochet project that involve lessons and started a painting.

Today I took a break from my painting to go to the art supply store. I love color and it is apparent in everything I wear or create. I always believe that GOD or whomever runs the Universe will add more colors for me and they will be waiting at the paint store when I get there. What I discovered instead (still bought 6 tubes of paint) was that if I was to go through my cupboards and supply boxes, I would find a lot of unfinished projects and that I only finish the ones I love. The a 95% would be too generous of a score but don't tell them that. I am a compulsive knitter. Over the years my knitting has changed from textile art to comfort, compulsive knitting and I realize I knit so I don't have to do anything that pushes me creatively. Hence the blog. If I share with others what I am doing and hold myself accountable, I will hopefully stay in this creative state of mind, finish the three projects you see here and then who knows what else. As my friends, I am asking for you to help nudge me.

XOXO

Laurie