I'm hanging in there by a very fine thread. Todays sketch worked its way out of me yesterday. It sums up how I feel better than anything else. I may not be posting again until Monday. Tomorrow will depend on how the day progresses. Thurs. is dress rehearsal which goes way past my bedtime and Fri, Sat, and Sun are all performances and I dont think I'll have much time for blogging. I should be very relieved and happy when I return on Monday.

I think I should have added roots of the tree interwoven in my head because its taken over like root systems do.

Music shouldnt be stressful

I've been arranging music all weekend and I'm not done. I'm tired, cross-eyed and really premenstral. Its a fun combination that my hubby has been enjoying today. I was sketching last night on one of my very short breaks from the music and I drew about music not being something that should be stressful. It used to serve as my stress relief! What a bad turn around I'm at right now. As soon as this musical is over I'm going to dive into some good music and make it fun and enjoyable again. I just need to power through this week and get it over with.

Well, I have no art to show today. The HS play I'm accompanying is going very badly and I have to rewrite and learn a bunch of music before opening night less than a week away. I am really ticked off and stressed. I cant believe I let myself get into this situation. I voiced my concerns over a month ago and kept being reassured that things would work out, but the pit band director is now cutting band parts and totally screwing me over. Basically, half of the play is now going to be piano and vocals only. The problem is that I do not have a real piano part, I have a vocal score without even chords. Now I'm really trying to make something up so the vocalists who have worked so hard arent left sounding inadequate. I did do a really cool art journal entry of it last night but I dont have the energy to scan and post it tonight. I'm going to be very scattered until after next weekend. I just hope I can keep my sanity until then.

Today has been a good one. I was able to play and make this pendant before I have to go to drama rehearsal tonight. I really need to get better at soldering, but at least I'm trying. The process was to take words on cardstock, glue them to the back of a flat marble and then solder away. Not to fancy or intense.

I've been really focusing on sketching and doing art journaling lately. This is becoming a wonderful way to get rid of my stress and really delve into what I'm feeling. This pendant sums up what I really have been trying to keep at the forefront of my life: Create, Dream, Play. What can go wrong on a day that you do these 3 things?

So todays art is something that came about because of the disrespect I'm witnessing towards a very talented artist teacher. These students steal her ideas and sell/teach them as their own and bad mouth the teacher at every given chance. Isnt it funny that they are still taking the class if she is so "lousy"?

I try very hard to be creative on my own terms. If I learn something in a class I usually manipulate the product to my own way, yet I still will say-Yes, this is based off of... I think I'm developing a true resentment of those who steal ideas from others and market it as their own. They may have made it, but if it were not for the teacher giving them every step down to the tiniest detail, they wouldnt be able to glue a postage stamp to an envelope.

Sorry if this offends, but I'm tired and really irritated by this. Dear art teacher-Hang in there. You shouldn't have to put up with these type of people. Copying might be the biggest form of flattery but there are guidelines that any respectable person follows and these have been surpassed to say the least.

Today was another trying Tuesday. Thankfully I didn't have more than 1 errand to compound my schedule. I find it interesting that although I was in town yesterday and thought I had everything taken care of, I had to go back today for something unexpected. Seems like the best planning seldom falls into place exactly as you would wish.

I was in the office supply store today and found that they make bumper sticker paper that you can use with your home printer. I think this is an awesome idea. Now I just need to narrow down my ideas so my entire car wont be covered with them.

Todays necklace is made of polymer clay leaves cut from a colorblended sheet. I used a real leaf to imprint the veining and manipulated the shape of the leaves to give slight curves. I had the idea for this design and believe it or not, 1 trip to the craft store supplied exactly what I had in mind for chain and jump rings! Amazing don't ya think? I assembled this on my way to southern Ohio last weekend. The colors were peaking and working on this necklace seemed more than appropriate.

I'm back from a very nice anniversary trip. It seems somewhat amazing that we've been married for 11 years. It seems like just a few months ago when we were married. So much has changed yet the important things are still there and in many ways better.

The nutcracker is what I painted and gave C. as an anniversary gift. I still need to put some felt on the base and check a few spots but for the most part he's complete. I got him from Zims crafts. They have lots of cool unfinished nutcrackers. I've done about a dozen of them and they are still lots of fun. This one is somewhat simple, but I thought he was fitting for 2 people who are always on the lookout to enjoy a bottle of wine.