Figuring out the year to come

Happy March to you all! Plus a Happy Anniversary to the blog. They say I’ve been going for 14 years?! How can that be? Sooooo…..

I’ve been letting the blog languish for far too long. Life keeps moving along and I never seem to make time in my schedule to sit an write. Yes, I should just put it on my weekly calendar…. but the brain/body has been challenged enough of late. The hip pain has finally forced me back into the pool for strengthening and it seems to be working. Swimming now takes up 4 days a week for my exercise. Daily dog walks help to round things out a bit if the hip can take it. On the plus side, nightly doses of pain relievers are on the decline! The pool is sponsoring a swim challenge (100 miles in 2023), which I joined. Goals / deadlines are excellent motivation. It would be nice to finally feel like a strong swimmer and for my body to revive quicker. I’ve read that after 6 months of swimming I’ll see a difference. At only 1.5 months in and 12.5 miles under my cap, I have a while before it’s easy going.

Goals and deadlines seem to be a theme for the year. I’ve put off and misplaced pages for a collaborative book project started last year. This past weekend I finally found the pages tucked safely away and started on my first spread with the theme of patterns. The page did receive marks and an idea last summer, but I wanted to just focus on cyclamen leaves. The other page themes include : first bicycle, pop-up bugs (yes, actually getting an insert to pop up like a children’s book), and a garden theme. My book theme: birds that you enjoy. More to come as the pages are completed.

Internal/mental boundaries were pushed as I applied to an outdoor venue for July. “Art and Wine in the Garden” will be happening on Saturday & Sunday July 29th & 30th, 2023 (10-4 each day). Location is the beautiful Garland Nursery and I was accepted! This means I have to get a wiggle on and produce felted wool items. I actually own a 10ft x 10ft tent thanks to another crafter who donated it to me when she shifted to food production. I do need a banner and gridwall, but that will get figured out in the coming months. The grids I used during POST last fall were way too heavy for me to manipulate. Regarding POST: I’ll probably be notified if that will be part of my income generating source in May. Maybe. I’m not holding my breath.

Spinning has popped back up on the interest level. I worked through a beautiful Columbia/Rambouillet cross that was a dream! I purchased it (4oz) along with a Merino (4oz) and a Rambely (not a breed or mix I’m familiar with) (4oz) from Promised Land Sheep Company in Washington. In small doses, hand spinning is doable without damage to hands and feet.

The clock is ticking for submitting to the Art About Agriculture show. I’ve not completed my sheep drawing nor taken a decent photo of it to submit. I have until the 5th of March….. I just need to cinch myself down and finish the darn thing. My brain is saying “why submit when it’s only going to be rejected?” . “Why torture yourself and screw up the drawing even further?”. That darn brain really gets in the way!

Two felted creatures left the studio in February. One is living in Corvallis, the other in Arlington, TX! Always fun to see things leave!

I can’t even believe that two other shows have come and gone: Philomath Open Studio Tour had artwork for 2+ months at the Benton County Museum in Philomath. I was also part of the Big Ink print show at Western Oregon University in January/February. It was great to see prints from our weekend in 2022, plus previous year Big Ink participants.

I think that’s enough for now. Time to pull out the sheep drawing a focus. Next week I’ll fill you in on if I submitted to the Ag show or not, fill you in on the critters, and Dave’s final days at the Philomath Wetlabs site before it closes for good.