Wednesday, May 7, 2008

ONE OF THOSE DAYS


Overwrought- clay mono type (this was the actual title I gave this piece when it was created 5 years ago.)


How do you spell Tuesday? D I S A S T E R! That defines yesterday for me. I awoke yesterday morning anxious to get to the studio...having just finished reading ART AND FEAR, a most affirming book about making art, I was prepared to go to work claiming my own art. Instead the only thing I claimed was two botched canvases!

The biggest botch job was the 24x48” canvas on which I was planning to create a deep, dark moody sky for the “skyscape” series I’ve been working on. After the first failure to achieve my goal I took a break from the canvas and applied what I thought would be the finishing touches to a smaller piece. Camel poop!!! It didn’t work and in fact ruined the whole piece; the entire foreground would not have to be re done. So, it was back to the big one and a chance to redeem myself. But that was not to be, and the second attempt ended up no better than the first. In frustration I smeared the entire canvas with the remaining paint on the palette with a large palette knife and did what any reasonable person would do...walked out of the studio and did not return for the rest of the day.

OK, I am in the house with my coffee and a pile of reading material where I will simply chill out for the rest of the day. But that too was not to be. Patience calls me to say the upstairs smoke alarm is chirping - the battery needs to be replaced - one of my least favorite things to do. It means hauling the ladder up our mean spirited, winding staircase and climbing to the very top to reach the alarm on the 11 foot ceiling. The older I get the more I do not like heights, and this ladder is now at the top of our staircase, so from the top I can see all the way down to the first floor, which surely must be 50 feet away and just waiting for me to fall allllll the wayyyyy down, a feeling that gets stronger with each rung I climb. But, thanks to my steely nerves I safely reach the alarm, remove it from it’s mooring, and replace the battery to stop the incessant chirping, only to discover that at least one of its wires has become disconnected and there is no way I am going to fix that. I should have stayed in bed!

3 comments:

Peanut said...

Sorry your day was so bad.

Rachelle

laurie said...

aww, what a day you've had, sorry.... tomorrow will be better. But here's a thought.. can't you disconnect that alarm and move one lower and closer so that it will detect potential smoke sooner? Then the high ladder would not be necessary? Just thinking.. mine are on my ceiling or upper walls, of course, but my ceilings are much lower. Maybe the requirements vary on detectors. But you be careful, now or get someone else to do it!! :-)
laurie

Nancy Standlee said...

I read this on Myrna Wacknov's blog "The other thing I noticed in myself was how quickly I want to give up and tell myself this isn't for me because I'm not any good at it. We don't give ourselves very much time to succeed, do we?" http://myrnawacknov.blogspot.com
I keep trying to give myself a little more time..Next week I will be taking a workshop from Myrna.. ns