Six Months Ago

Autumn Magic

acrylic on 200 lb paper
sold

This is a painting I did in 2003 and it was included in my first solo show (2004) in a local coffee shop. It was purchased by one of my oldest and dearest friends and her husband who have been extremely generous and supportive of my art since day one. I don't have the dimensions handy, but if memory serves it is somewhere around the 11x14 mark. Keep in mind that my memory often doesn't serve me well, so I could be wrong. I never have fully recovered from "baby brain". How long is one considered post par-tum anyway? My guess is I can't ride that train almost eight years later. Nuts.

I have not been to the studio for almost two weeks and therefore have nothing new to share, hence the trip into the archives. The kids have had no school this week and the week before was riddled with stress and "goings-on" that threw me for a bit of a loop... so no creative moments for me. I've been happy to be on holidays with the kids this week and decompress a bit from the week before. It would have been nice to get away, but after our accident last fall our holiday fund quickly became the new(er) car fund! Oh well, there is always next year. We made our own fun in this great city of ours and so it still feels like we got a break.

Today is a milestone which is why, despite having no new artwork to show, I wanted to make a post. Exactly six months ago today I gave myself this blog for my birthday. I had been thinking about starting one for ages and even begun the process on Blogger before, but always backed out after a few steps. Well, six months ago I stopped thinking about it and I just did it! I kept on typing and filling in boxes until the next thing I knew I had a blog. I am so pleased I didn't let those negative voices interfere that day. Maybe you know the ones I mean... the voices in your head saying things like: "You are computer illiterate, how can you start a blog all by yourself" or "You aren't good enough to be posting your art on the web! Are you kidding me?" or maybe the one that says "Who will ever leave a comment for you? You aren't interesting. Nothing you say or show will be worthy of comment". The voices also say other things like: "Did you really need to eat that bag of chips in one sitting?" or "You have no business putting on a bathing suit, lady", but that is another story for another post! Where does that negative self-talk come from and how soon does it start? I certainly don't know, but I am profoundly happy that on that evening in August when the kids were in bed and my husband was reading his paper, I was able to quiet the voices of self- doubt and go for it!