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Just a tid bit before I hit the casinos.

Here's a current pic of the figurine/statue/sculpture I have been working on. They are a bit overexposed- the lighting in the pool room is not wonderful at 8:30 in the a.m. Instead of packing to go to Las Vegas I had to put one more coat of color and a very heavy coat of gesso on her- just to get that last glimpse before I put her up for a week. It's very hard to tear myself away from my projects and it's hard to be "done" even if its just for the day. My kids go hungry (don't fear, the little monkeys just climb the cabinets and raid the lunch snacks, I am sure they make healthy choices...)the house gets messier, my husband hates me. Its all in the name of art, right? I really need to be alone, all alone in my studio. The one in the middle of a field of daisies, filled with beautiful summer sun light and precious quiet except for the occasional twitter of a bird that floats in on a soft, sweet breeze. The breeze that tempts and teases me outside along with my easel and paints to set up in the field (uh, oh, the thought of creepy crawly spiders...hmm, rubber bands on my pant legs just like the 80's, whew, I'm good) -that studio. The dream that replaced the one from my twenties- a house with my very own pool and hot tub- dream. This latest version still so very unattainable. Perhaps a potter's shed could be renovated? Oh no, spiders again, OK, out with the bug bomb. Sorry Earth, I know chemicals are evil but I need protection from arachnids.

Alright now, back to the statue (I really need a better word) - The colors need to be tweaked a little and obviously she needs a face. My plan has always been that she have some fabric twisting around the base of her. Some messy, twisted up fabric with text. I wrote a poem and actually carved it into the skirt, but of course-why plan ahead, I ran out of room to get it all on. Which is part of the reason that this is taking me so long- I have been researching ways to get ink from my computer onto fabric as this would make the ink colorfast, I believe. We will see how colorfast it is when I spray the heck out of the fabric so it will hold its' shape. By the way, this first statue has to retail at 899.00 if I strictly figure the cost of time and materials.

I also need colorfast printing capabilities for Kayla's book, which is turning out so very cute on the computer screen, anyways. My first attempt at binding didn't go so smoothly. The paper mache cover didn't fit into the Bind It All. You can see right away, there's an issue with the name, don't make promises that can't be kept. I suppose Bind it All Within Certain Parameters" isn't as catchy. Neither did the back cover fit, which only had two sheets of card stock on it so it wasn't very thick.... I called the company. They called me back, thank you, I haven't had a minute to return the call. I want them to make the slot that the material to be punctured goes into bigger and then send me the new improved version. Complimentary of course.

But, before that, I have a class to get ready for. Hopefully, none of my students ever, ever, find my blog to know what I have really been doing, rather than preparing to deliver the most interesting of lectures. Tonight I pack, tomorrow we leave my husband with five blessed days of quiet and a clean house. That's his -usually unattainable -dream!
Over and Out.

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