Heya!
February 17, 2008 by cookala
Wow, time goes by so fast these days…can’t believe it’s been well over a month since I found some time to make an entry here. I just can’t keep up anymore - the art world has been keeping me stuck in overdrive these days, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Currently I’m taking two workshops at the Altered Diva.com workshop on ning, learning and having lots of fun doing it! Here are my efforts from the Just Junque It! workshop that just finished
And here are my efforts so far from A Colorful Past workshop (btw, these are not finished yet)
and then I’ve been busy working on my first art journal, titled Favorite Things
plus other things like atc’s and 4×4 chunky books and I just made a glass slide book that came out really nicely. Paris and France always seem to inspire me to create. Check out my Flickr site (there’s a shortcut in the sidebar) and you’ll see just how busy I’ve been! I can’t wait until I retire in 10/09 - hopefully then I’ll have more time for making blog entries!!
So, other than that, things are as good as can be expected. I’m still dealing with episodes of grief, and I really miss my mom so very much. She’s been gone over 2 years now and I still have some small bits of lingering shock. Is that normal? Well, I guess her sudden, totally unexpected death will always have that impact on me.
In May I’ll be going down to Virginia for a 5 day art retreat, Art & Soul, in Hampton and I’m totally excited and anxious to go immerse myself in 5 whole days of art and meet so many like-minded people. It’s going to be alot of fun! I’m taking four classes with some very accomplished artists and I’m itching to learn some new ways to make art. I’ll be working with acrylic glazes, creating handmade paper art books, making art assemblage pieces out of electrical outlets and Altoid tins and assorted metal findings and junque - gosh, how cool is that?! My classes and room are paid for and I’m just counting the days now.
After the retreat, I’ll be staying at an oceanfront hotel in Virginia Beach for another 6 days- and yes, I have a room that looks out at the ocean - it’s something I’ve always wanted to do so I figured what the heck and went for it. While I’m there I’ll be scoping out real estate and getting a feel for the area, maybe even making a trip to norther N. Carolina to check out that area. I’ve never been to these places, and they seem like nice areas to live in (I’ve been researching the mid-Atlantic states) when I retire. I’m still strongly considering Cape Cod, but the winters up there are part of why I want to move. If I did settle in Cape Cod, I’d also have to find a timeshare for the winter months down south. No more cold winters for me! So, we’ll see. I’m keeping my options open for now, and I won’t be buying the condo or townhouse immediately either. I’ll be renting for a year or so to see how I like it first. If I do, then I’ll buy and settle in permanently. Moving is about 3 years away yet, so I have time to check out alot of areas.
But before I go on vacation, my annual foray into the trials and tribulations of NaPoWriMo 2008 at PFFA will be occupying me during April. Well, maybe. If I have enough time. We’ll see. And I have other things on the burner I can’t talk about yet, too.
Oh, and I had the distinction of being asked to interview for the premiere issue of DIY City web mag, which went online a few days ago on Valentine’s Day. Here’s the link http://diycitymag.com/ I’m a ways in, about 50pages or so, but it’s still quite an honor! This is the second time DIY has featured my artwork - the first time was on their blog.
So, it’s getting late and I still have tons of stuff to get done. Be well, and stay creative! And go call your mom!
Hi, I’ve been visiting your flickr page and blog for a few months now. Not sure I’ve ever commented before today, but I love, love, love your work. That’s not why I’m writing though. I just read this post and the paragraph about your mom caught my eye. I just lost my mom a little over a week ago. Although we’d been dealing with her sudden paralyzation for a month, her death was a real blow. I went back to your archives to read what you’d written about your mom. It was comforting to know that someone else felt the same way (although I already knew it on an intellectual level) and that you lived through it. I’m just as sorry about your loss as I am about mine…I just had to say that. Thanks again, for both your beautiful artwork and words.
Hi, Elaine. First, thank you so much for such wonderful compliments on my artwork - they make me ear-to-ear. Next, and more importantly, please accept my heartfelt condolences on your loss. Thinking back to those days right after my mom’s death, all I can say is that I was in deep shock so alot of it is a blur now. I have a mishmash of unconnected moments, and mostly remember my emotional state more than anything. But I do know what you’re going though right now and for what it’s worth, my heart goes out to you. Those days afterward were so hard to get through - all I could do was take it moment by moment for a long time. But those moments became hours, then days, then months. I still feel like part of me’s been savagely ripped away, but the thing they say about it getting easier to bear with the passing of time does hold some truth. I know that’s a pittance of comfort to you right now, but things will get better. Life goes on, even if we don’t want it to, without our loved ones. And losing a mom might be the hardest loss of all to bear - maybe even a spouse - because that’s the person who gave us life, that’s the person who took care of us when we were young, and maybe even when we got older. Not everyone has a close relationship with their mother, but you only have one mother. My best advice to you is to make sure you surround yourself with people who can offer you positive emotional support and caring, and to take everything slow. Don’t make any major decisions for awhile if you can avoid doing so. Expect to have whacked out emotions for awhile, lapses in memory, maybe even sleep disturbances and lack of appetite. I do remember a day soon after my mom’s pasing when it took me all day to find a pen to sign a check I had to send out - shock and grief do that to you. So double check everything you do for awhile. And be good to yourself, pamper yourself alot while you’re getting through this. That’s what I did, and I got through without making any truly disasterous mistakes. I don’t know what else to tell you, except to know my heart goes out to you. I know that’s not much by itself, but I also know that all the support and kind words I got from people on the web I don’t even really know helped an awful lot, so I hope this will help you. One last thing, in the months after my mom’s death, when I was at a very low point emotionally and spiritually, I knew I needed something to get me going in a positive direction again - that’s when I rediscovered art. And it’s turned out to be such a powerful force in my life now - it’s helped me cope and get on with my life in many ways. Every time someone likes my artwork enough to leave a compliment it boosts me up in such a wonderful way. So I guess I’m saying find something you can put yourself into, as a therapy to recovering. Who knows, maybe someday we’ll be trading atcs!! (hey, ya never know!)
Wow. You’ve been busy. Learning and having fun. That’s great. I love your art work and look forward to your napo-ing, if you should choose to do it.
On going grief is very much an individual thing and it only becomes “not normal” - if it stops you from living your life.
Take care.
DavidM
Heya, David! it’s always such a joy to see a comment from you! I’m happy you like my art - altered art is just now starting to become more public, so who knows where it will take me. I ‘m hoping it will take me to bigger and better things! I’m hoping to NaPo again this year, though you may not see me as active as I’ve been in the past reading everyone’s poem-lettes. And I haven’t been writing or reading much poetry for months now - shame on me. Just don’t have enough time. It seems my muse is channelling all my creativity into my art these days. hey, thanks for the take on not normal - I’m still iving life so I guess that grief is just a part of the process. I don’t think it will ever truly go away, but it is becoming easier to bear as time passes. David, thank you so much for your support - you’ve always been there with caring words and support - and that means alot to me. big cyberhugs to you!
Hiya Cookie,
nice to hear that you’re doing well. Just curious - you ever considered some Australian aboriginal art (look up ‘dot’ art and tell me what ya think?)
Take care,
Scotty
G’Day, Scotty!! So good to hear from you mate! i hope all is well in your world - I’ve been ok and getting on with things, and doing really well with the artwork - it’s much friendlier and a heck of a lot easier than writing poetry!! I’ve seen Aboriginal art, but never studied it really closely - but I like the primitive qualities it has. There are so many types and styles of art - each as fascinating to me as the next, and each requiring a certain amount of study to absorb the symbolisms and methods by which they are made. Thank you so much for the suggestion - someday I will dedicate Aboriginal artwork, ala cookala, to you! :-))
hugs& blessings you!
cookie
I love your recent Ar production a lot, cookie.
and so glad you were forced to join NaPo
Hi cookling! Just browsing around and looking up a few friends. I’m always inspired by your artwork and photography - it’s full of joy and love and wonder. It makes me want to do it too. Maybe I should.
Lots of hugs.
Larry
Hi, Paula - so sorry for the late reply! Life has been nutso busy since I got back from my retreat, but it was really wonderful to have the pleasure of reading you every day for a month during NAPO again. For that reason alone I’m glad I toughed through it. ANd I think I got some good material out, too, after a year of writing so very little - so it was a good NaPo for me. I’m glad you’re enjoying my art work - it’s wonderful when I look back at my early works and see how much I’ve grown as an artist, and I really love making art the more I make it. I find it relaxes me and puts me in a good frame of mind, so I make art whenever I can!
lol!
hugs, you!
Larry babes! :-)) you always put a smile on my face, and I thank you for that. and thank you so much for that wonderful compliment - I’m glad my love of art shows through my work. and you should dabble in the paint a bit, yes - you might discover a new love. I have yet to get myself over to PFFA and finish reading through catch up NaPo threads - yours included - I will get there soon I hope. I ususally read at work early in the day while I still have something of a mind left, but we’re down a person and I’ve been really busy helping to keep up with all the computer illiterates. Gosh, how hard is it to figure out to turn the power on to use the pc? Like, duh! heh, ya just gotta laugh.
hugs, you!