Halloween came and went, and I didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I wanted to simply because it disappeared so fast. I wanted to make some Halloween art. Maybe next year. I have really been enjoying the autumn foliage, though. I managed to get some great photos (now all I need is time to process the photos!). I’m savoring every day, every shade of gold, brown, amber, vermilion, magenta, and of course, orange! These perfect autumn days are so beautiful sometimes I feel like I want to cry; I could never paint anything so perfect.

My day job, family, and car issues have kept me so busy over the last few weeks; I’ve done a little sketching, but haven’t produced any new work. And now the holidays are coming and I’ve got to get busy making gifts. Getting a wall repaired in the house cost a thousand dollars more than we’d anticipated; then my car needed a new starter and a month later the transmission went out. Another $3,000. It’s always something.

The good part is I’ve been forces to take the bus, which has been a blessing in disguise. Since we moved into our new house, the route has become easier. I take Community Transit from the Park & Ride up here, then change buses in Seattle. It takes about an hour (almost the same as driving), only I get to work more relaxed because I didn’t have to fight traffic. Also, I can read!! I really love having two hours a day I can read. I’m losing weight again and am not so stressed.

Now if only I can find time to work. I really hope I will be able to “retire” from 9-5 jobs one day and devote myself to art and writing.

I am racing to get a piece finished in time to make the July 31 submission deadline to the Lynnwood Library Gallery Themed Exhibit and the weather is hot. So I’m in my studio (I love saying that!) from about 10:30pm to 11:45pm cutting and pasting (in the analog sense, of course) and paper is drifting all over the room.

On the plus side, I’m liking how it’s going and the acrylic medium I use for glue (thanks, Daniel Smith!) is drying really fast.

For ruture reference, I now have a link posted on my Links page.

Halloween’s in four days, and I haven’t even bought a frikkin’ pumpkin. Haven’t decorated the house. Why bother? I’ll just have to put it all away again in a few days. We never get any trick-or-treaters, anyway.

Only good thing is, I drove K down to an interview at a temp agency and spent the time while waiting for her at Daniel Smith’s (same area of town, more or less) and got the Derwent Inktense Pencils. Unfortunately, I was a bit short and had to put them on my credit card, which I will now not be able to pay off before interest takes effect. Oh, well. I so don’t care about that right now. The pencils are amazing.

I’m only one ATC behind for the month; it’s one I started on 10/20 and it’s taking a little while to finish. Otherwise, I’m on track.

The collages will be cool for more than just themselves; I used scraps from my current project. So they’re also sort of a “time capsule” of what I’m doing right now.

I also picked up a 12-set of oil pastels . I paid a little too much, but I feel good about supporting my local independent art store, in this case, Dakota Art Store. Their web site isn’t quite functional, and they don’t have the brand I bought there on the web site, but it is a terrific little store. Their prices are somewhat comparable to other larger stores, and they have a brilliant selection of artist’s papers. Matter of fact, since I’m notorious for shopping for bargains before I buy, I was thrilled to learn that the $35 I paid there for the Stephen Quiller porcelain palette is the cheapest price out there, bar none. Yay!

Plus, if I had to make the choice between paying shipping and paying sales tax (Seattle’s being 8.8%), I’ll shop locally and pay the sales tax and get it right-freaking-NOW, thank you very much.

Anyway, I haven’t used oil pastels in a million years, and I hope they are worth the fifteen bucks. Van Gogh is what’s called “student grade,” meaning art student, as opposed to scholastic (for kids) and artist’s quality (expensive). Since I will probably not “major” in oil pastels but just use them occasionally, this is perfect. I hate scholastic-grade stuff, and have gotten rid of most of it, except watercolor. I’m not ready to commit to watercolor yet, and that’s one of those things that you want to buy the best because it really makes a difference. So I’m stuck with a set of  Reeves tubes I acquired for free and a cute little bitty porta-palette I got on eBay, which actually works just fine, but I’d rather have the good stuff, ya know? But five bucks beats $150 anytime.

• Miss Thompson, my kindergarten teacher, who broke my heart when she became Mrs. Green. The most beautiful teacher in the world. I had a tremendous crush on her!
• Mrs. Wakefield, first grade. Every morning when we got to class, she’d left an 11″x 17″ piece of construction paper, folded into a folder that would contain the day’s work and be taken home. On the front, she’d drawn a couple of shapes with Magic Marker; like a line and a circle, a couple of squiggles, a square and a triangle, etc. We were to take our crayons and turn these shapes into a picture, anything we wanted. I loved this morning exercise so much, I made my dad (the artist) play it with me. We had so much fun doing that.
• Mrs. Marble, second grade, who was really kind to me when I was going through a lot of horrible stuff at home, including the death of my most beloved Grandma.
• Miss Boothby, third grade, who introduced me to Greek and Roman mythology and The Roundabouts’ Secret (language arts workbook with a terrific storyline). She also took us on some cool field trips, none of which I actually remember, but I remember they were cool. She had long blonde hair, and I loved her.
• Mrs. Morris, also third grade, my art teacher. She told us stories of the adventures of Spider Boy (which she made up on the spot) while we were working on art projects. I remember developing a love of tissue paper and the smell of paste (no, not like THAT), and I remember her pretty red hair and how sweet she was.
• Mrs. Blankinship, fourth grade, who made math tolerable.
• Mr. Stucki (STOO-key), fifth grade, who introduced to me the concept of evolution and started me on my l-o-o-n-g road of developing critical-thinking skills. He also let me be a T.A. in Spelling, since I aced that section early in the year.
• Sixth grade, Mrs. Greer, who was just an all-around nice woman, and a very encouraging teacher.
• Seventh grade, Mr. Sternberg, who recognized and accepted my advanced reading level, and didn’t treat me condescendingly. Also, Mr. Hawkins, science, who fed my love of astronomy and didn’t make me dissect a frog. 
• Mr. West, eighth grade math, who turned me on to Henry Kuttner, Frederik Pohl, and Tolkien, and didn’t fail me when I knew damn well he should have.

Anyway, I want the universe to know I’m grateful to these wonderful people whose lives helped chart the course of mine. If you are a teacher, you have no idea how much your work shapes lives, and if you know a teacher, give him or her a really big hug from me today.

All the pieces were included, and it actually WORKS!! I’m stunned! And thrilled! I’m strilled!!! I was all set to be disappointed that something was left out of the box, or it would be broken. It’s too bad that poor quality and lousy service are the norm anymore, isn’t it? I’m always pleasantly surprised when I get exactly what I order and it’s good.

Anyway, I kept reading online that the 1:1 roller ratio would make pulling prints hard, but the action is really easy! Three cranks, and the bed is all the way through the rollers!!! EEEEeeeeeeeeeee!!! Woot! Woot!

Okay. I think I’m through squealing like a little girl.

The only issue I had was that it was packed in those cheap styrofoam sheets and they disintegrated all over the place, necessitating a major cleanup after unpacking. But I kept thinking, “It’s worth it! I got such a great deal!!”

The only thing left to buy is a dust mask (I’ll get that on the way home at the Ace Hardware) for when I’m sanding and beveling the edges of the styrene plates I’ll be using (you paint on the plate, put paper on top, put the felt blankets over the whole thing, then run it through the press). I debated over metal vs. plastic plates, but I decided the plastic is a good starter. I don’t really need the metal, since I’m not doing any caustic printmaking.

I’m all ready to print! Yay! (does the booty dance)

New art ideas: I’m going to try to get regular about creating ATCs and mail them out to PostcardX people. I’ve received so much wonderful stuff and I haven’t sent anything out in ages.

Also, I suddenly had a brilliant idea for a collage on Indian Village handmade watercolor circles that I couldn’t resist last time I was at Daniel Smith. What would you do with a heavyweight deckle-edged piece of paper the size of a vinyl record album? Mmmmmm! Lovely!

Finished the commissioned collage and presented it to the buyer, who loves it and… keeps forgetting to bring cash in to pay me. I know she will; there’s no question of that. I just would like to get paid without having to ask her. I don’t want it to become a “thing,” you know? Plus, I hate asking people for money.

Anyway, I’m off downstairs to check (again) to see if FedEx brought my package.

Instead, I’m studying art history. It’s fascinating, but nowhere near as much fun as creating art.