this next week ...

   Some exciting things are in the works (other than the solar eclipse), but I will wait until everything is in writing before sharing the most exciting part.

  Here are this week's 100-days pieces.  I'm trying a different size paper, and doing less watercolor, more pencil and ink.

now where was I?

  As far as other things in my life are going ... Charlie is feeling much better.  I have four fewer roommates and the remaining three will be gone by the end of April.  Then I am permanently out of the roommate business.  Forever.

  My April tree seems lacking somehow, but I'm not yet sure what to do about it.  I am moving less toward having an "Easter" tree, and more toward having a Spring/Ostara tree.  I am looking for some more flower ornaments.  I did get some pussywillow branches and feel I should have gotten more.  The forsythia bushes are in bloom, but I'm not positive of whether or not the large vase I have them in would hold up to water so might look for some artificial ones.

  I hope that you had a wonderful weekend past, and a relaxing one upcoming... 💚 Ci

100 Days ... in Blogger's quirky order

 

100 days ...

   The last prompt that was given to us this week was "lightning bug" which is just another name for fireflies.  Since we already had the fireflies prompt I chose not to do lightning bug, but am trying to think of a replacement prompt word.  If I think of something, I will add it to next week's prompts.

The 100 Days of Wonder 2024 ... catching up

   I was sick for two weeks and am just now [thanks to antibiotics and steroids] on the tail end of it.  So this will be catching up in two parts... the first part being the Wonder Habit art.  Naturally, Blogger won't post them in the correct order, so just enjoy them as they are.

The Wonder Habit ~ 3-5/100

The Wonder Habit 2024 : 2/100 Daydream

 

The Wonder Habit 2024 : 1/100 Forest

I am not the artist my mother was.  At least not free-hand, although, I'm not sure I ever saw anything that she did free-hand.  Her watercolor paintings were all sketched from photos.  My strengths are in words, and letting words paint the pictures.

The "pine trees" above were my 3rd attempt with a shimmer watercolor paint over colored pencils.  They actually look more like the ones found at Dollar Tree during the holidays.  However, theirs are more tapered and look like trees and not a pipe cleaner on steroids as mine do.

My first two attempts were with watercolors only, and I think I was heading in the right direction with the bottom one, but just got sloppy with the spray bottle, and they might have actually turned out better had I used a brush to wet the paper and maybe some salt on it when it was wet to get some interesting texture and effects.  

The top one just looks like something that Treebeard [<link] may have painted in his anger management therapy.

But the purpose of 100 Days of Wonder is not to be perfect.

It is to explore with wonder the world around us, and how we see the world.

I'm only slightly hopeful that my watercolor skills will improve over the next 99 days.

Slightly, slightly hopeful.

27 Jan 24

     It has been a bit of a roller coaster week, which apparently exhausted me physically as well as mentally.  I slept 12 hours last night, waking about 1230p this afternoon.  The few hours of daylight before the rains set in were kept busy getting things done to my car that cold weather has had me procrastinating.  Needless to say, it was the first day since starting The Artist's Way on the 7th that I've not gotten my morning pages done.  

    Those are actually the easiest parts of that shadow work.  It is the weekly tasks that are the most soul-searching and pain-revealing.  As I dig deeper into some of my childhood, I'm quite often shocked by what memories and feelings surface.  For example, last week I realized an event I had glossed over to be a weekend of meeting some British sailors, and touring a British aircraft carrier when I was 16 was actually something more.  My stepfather had met them while he was out at a bar one night, and about 12 of them later spent a weekend at our house after a day of drinking.  What I had blocked was actually an event where I was molested by two of the men.  It was quite a surprise to look back at what happened with older eyes and see it for what it really was.  I realize now that it subconsciously shaped many of my choices in the future, and what I thought "being liked" was.  I also realized that the conscious action of not saying something to my mother, or stepfather, may have been self-preservation and to protect the very men who had molested me from my stepfather's temper.

    The other difficult part of The Artist's Way has been taking myself out for weekly *dates.*  Something which will become easier as the weather warms up.  It has just been too cold to really get out and do much, plus I will confess that funds have been a bit tight, and treating myself has not been a priority.  That too will be changing.  My first real *date* will be an art one at my favorite place for art dates ... The Wren's Nest Art Studio.  I've signed up for another one in March as well, which I will share as it gets closer.

    Since I've decided that this year will be my year of self-care and growth, I'm also going to be jumping into 100 Days of Wonder 2024 which begins on 18 February.   Participants will be provided with a one-word prompt each day.  That prompt can inspire art, poetry, or (if you know me you know ...) stories.  I will be posting my participation here in whatever form the word moves me each day.

    I start my new position at work this coming Monday, and I'm looking forward to the change of pace.  I will have to freshen up my Nancy Drew hat since I will be working on issues getting providers' claims and authorizations processed.  It will be similar to the work I've done in the past and I'm looking forward to it.   Sunday's project will be to get my office and desk in order ... but first my morning pages, and a Spirit Jam session with Colette Barnes-Reid.

    Wishing you a creative and prosperous week ... 💚 Ci