It's a new day

I spent Sunday morning listing to jazz as I worked on the frame, filling, sanding and finally staining. My brother did a beautiful job building the frame with red oak.  I decided to go with a cherry wood  stain, just lightly covering the wood to enhance the color.  I was very pleased with the outcome of the piece as a whole.

While the frame was drying, and after I cleaned my studio a bit, I decided to paint.  Painting is a forgiving art form, if you don't like what is on the canvas, just paint over it. In the end, I was happy with my tiny piece of artwork, which I made into a card to go along with the stained glass panel. (remember, the panel is a gift)
By the time I was done painting, my stomach reminded my that I had skipped lunch and now it was dinner time. I really have no sense of time when I work on my art, and before I know it the day is gone,  I honestly prefer my days to go like this.

Today was the day the the art piece arrived to it's new home, and the recipients loved it, which made me the happier person!

Going to it's new home on this new day!

Treats

After almost six weeks at the framers, my fawn stained glass panel was not ready nor would it be.  They told me the panel was too big and too heavy for the type of wood framing they use.  Talk about being disappointed, I cried. I immediately called my brother, and as luck would have it he was in town. He usually is at work about three hours away.  He bought the material and finished putting together a frame for me in ONE day! He's a pretty good carpenter! Now, I just need to sand it a bit and stain it.   Then it will be ready to be delivered to it's new home.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, my youngest son picked up my newly purchased cook book by Julia Child and was baking away last night! He really does have a knack for cooking really good food!
I stayed up late waiting for the apple tart with apricot sauce to be ready. It smelled like Christmas in my house!  What a late night treat!

Adventure Time!

I decided for my first adventure that I need to go to places in San Antonio that I have never been before. I got a pleasant surprise as my daughter decided she wanted to tag along!

Even though I started off around noon today, we decided to skip lunch and have cappuccino along with a couple of delicious chocolate macaroons and a fruit tart at Bakery Lorraine. The quaint little bakery was inviting and the atmosphere was great! Everything was delicious and I think I will be putting this place on my list of " definitely going back!"

After having our treat, we headed to Art Space located downtown.  It was an interesting exhibit, but it wasn't our cup tea.  Since my daughter had never been to Blue Star, I decided this would count on my adventure.  I knew something would excite us at Blue Star, and sure enough we both fell in love with the installation Plexus No. 26 by Gabriel Dawe. The installation was big, colorful, beautiful and the lines were PERFECT! Standing in the middle of the room between the two installations was a pleasurable experience!

We capped off the night by picking up my youngest son, and the three of us a had a really good dinner out together!

It was a very nice Saturday adventure.

(Picture taken by my best friend Patti- Banana River)

Plans

I have decided that since I will be an official "empty-nester" this fall and will be free on the weekends to do whatever I please (for the most part), I am planning....

I plan to take day trips.  I'll start with small towns within a two hour radius of my house, each weekend. Then I may venture out a little further.  Since Texas is SO big, I won't be driving out of the state on a day trip.. which is a bit disappointing.

One of the first trip I'd like to take is out of Austin. It's a train ride and depending on which one I take, it could be a murder mystery, a shopping day or a wine trip.

I am up for the adventure of travel, even if I have to stay withing the state.

"I long for the cool summer breeze off the Atlantic,as I suffocate in the humidity" - Drita

Sunday

Sunday, my favorite day of the week. Listening to jazz in my studio and helping myself overcome the negative little voice in my head.  I LOVE the internet! I went to Google, entered "artists doubts" and BAM!, my fears and doubts were posted right there, and how to over come them! I just needed one quote this morning to get me started "Those who do not want to imitate anything, produce nothing" -Salvador Dali. That's all it took and I was on my way again. Like it or not, here it is......

hhhmmmmm.........

As a human being, I like to look at art, buy art and crafts form other creative people. My house is filled with small original paintings, nic-nacs and some crafts that I have bought over the years.

As a creative person -artist, I have this little voice in my head that says, "your creating a dust collector", "it's really not that pretty or striking", "what is someone going to do with that?" "would someone actually purchase this?"  these are the thoughts I have, and that have a hold on my brain.

I am curious if other artists have this nagging little voice in their head????

Summer time

I'm starting to go into my summer time, suburbia, funk mood. I miss the east coast, the boardwalk, the people and the cool Atlantic ocean.  I miss the busy streets and shops of Athens Greece, the coffee shops and summer nights filled with music.  I MISS WALKING in the busy city! I have yet to come to terms with the oppressive heat of Texas no matter how many years I have lived here. It is absolute misery for me, and yes, there are many positives, but the climate is not one of them.

When I finished writing the above rant yesterday, I saved it and went on Tumblr where I ran across a quote "you should be  thankful for at least one thing per day". At that moment I was thankful that I had air conditioning in the house. I am so glad I didn't post just that rant last night, because I am thankful of many things, all I needed to do was get myself off the couch, where I sat for the last two days.   Yes, even on the 4th, I just sat, because I couldn't decide what to do, so I decided to do nothing. Boring! Easiest way to get myself depressed.....

I look forward to Sunday's. 8am smooth jazz on the radio till noon. As usual, I turned on the radio and air condition in my studio this morning and decided to paint. Blank canvas's of colors. It felt good. I'll decide later what's going to go on them. I think I'll leave the house today.