Hiatus from Art and a little Grumpy

I thought I should sit down a write a bit of a piece today. Good day to do it because I don't really have a whole lot else to do, or rather that I CAN do. What I mean by that is, I'm usually so darn busy running around taking care of "this and that" that I just don't have the time. Today I have the time because I'm sick. Can't run around doing my normal "this and that" routine very easily. Even though I'm sick I still can't...well, sit still. Ugh. Somebody from my past gene pool imparted the "ants in the pants" gene I guess.



I just wanted to sort of start out with the fact that I'm on a bit of a hiatus from art. Not that I really wanted to per se, but it just ended up turning out that way. I have not created a new piece of art for about 2 years now. Maybe it's even been three years. I'm losing count. I used to be amazingly prolific, usually painting upwards of 2-6 finished paintings a day. For at least a decade or so. Time is beginning to melt together and scream by me. Or perhaps it's swept me into it's time warp. I don't know how to explain it, but I certainly can't think of a way to explain the fact that I've gone for so long without painting anything new. Other than being terrifically busy of course.



We started a little ranch/farm out of necessity back in 2008 (ok, wow...it's been almost three years since a new painting has been created. Woah.) When the gas prices got so high we just got killed by it because we live so far away from everything. Income didn't go up to compensate and we decided we were never going to be caught like that again. So we started a bit of a self sufficiency thing due to that. We got goats, chickens and rabbits as well as really beefing up our garden. Turning that into a serious en devour instead of a hobby thing. We also started vermicomposting out of the need to help with getting rid of all the manure we started to accumulate. Composting worms are a viable source of income eventually too, so there is that. But wow did we need a little something to help with all that rabbit poo.



So fast forward to now and perhaps you might see why it's been a while since I've painted. I've learned a lot of new things along the way. How to milk goats, how to take care of goats in general. How to raise and process rabbits. How to raise and care for chickens. How to make sure we utilize all of this into a nice little sustainable area of land for our health and benefit and not rely on the grocery store any more. A whole lot of fun and a whole heck of a lot of work. I've learned how to make my own cheese, my own dog food (for my 4 German Shepherds and 2 little pipsqueak dogs) A whole myriad of new tracks to trace and follow and learn.



In the back of my mind I always thought about my art. Some days were more painful than others in not creating. I still keep a whole lot of materials "at the ready" for when I need to do paint...but it seems there is always something in the way, like a rabbit cage sitting on the kitchen table. Or my studio having been taken over by tools and canned goods. I really want to get back to it and am feeling a bit more stubborn about it right now. Maybe it's the winter weather. Which up here in WA usually means a whole heck of a lot of rain and just cold enough to be not fun to work in. And mud. *sigh* Whatever the reason, I'm getting more and more feisty about whipping out my stuff and getting to creating again, if only for a while.



This has been just a bit of a chatter and babble...mostly to myself. Just working through the reasons why and where to go from here. And wishing, wishing my headache would go away so I can think straight and maybe even start a small scale painting while I sit here and feel sorry for myself. LOL! I almost never feel sorry for myself, for long anyway. Always pull myself up by the bootstraps and start forging ahead again. But writing helps. Cruising around in my art groups to see all the new work and creativity still going strong helps too.



Never lose sight of who you are.



Till next time...

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