The Gypsy on Adventure

Annoying Trait

First off  I am  grateful that my boyfriend was able to recover last night while he slept. No issues through the night, just a little grumpy today, but he has a pass. When you don't feel good you can be grumpy!

I can come to your house and organize your studio. I cannot seem to organize my own art space! It is really annoying! I have been working for a few months in art clutter. First my sciatica was a beast and I was able to get pain free for the first time since 2004. But the Universe has a sense of humor and the exercise I was doing on my bed hurt my left shoulder! So constant pain it is! For MONTHS...

(Still have to get an MRI can't find an open, will have to suck up the fear and do a large bore MRI that I have not scheduled to see if I need surgery! THAT is another story involving stupid health care!)

Anyway, I am a paper whore! I LOVE doing collage work in my memory journals. So bags of paper, bins of paper, bowls of paper, stacks of paper. Not being able to move my arm without pain I have let the projects pile up and not clean my area. And now I am annoyed, it has been too long and I can't find shit I need PLUS some of my supplies and journals are still packed and ready to go in case of fire. I am overwhelmed. 

And acrylic paint, watercolor paint (I should be embarrassed by how much watercolor paint I own but I am not because I LOVE it!). Pens! Air tight containers on containers with pens. And don't get me started about my washi collection! OMG I am obsessed with washi! And stickers...that I can't seem to use in my journals...I have to start using them! It is that whole don't use the good stuff in my brain! It is TIME to use them or lose them! So everyday when I do my collage work in my memory journal I am going to use at least 1 sticker! Get it done! 

 

 

So today I have decided to do 15 minutes every day to put things away and organize the papers.  Throw out stuff I don't need and give away other stuff I may not need anymore as well. Today I organized my watercolors in one of my Ikea carts. Some wouldn't fit and are in my travel case and I had room on the bottom shelf to put brushes as well. 

I am in a Halloween class next month and I need to organize the paper for that to be in one place. So I can easily find it and use it when the time comes.

My hall has a couple of cabinet, I organized the top cabinet last month, but the bottom one has to be organized too, so I need to spend 10 minutes a day on putting the things in the bottom cabinet in the boxes and then label everything. Step it out. Then I won't be embarrassed when people come over. My art space is STILL in my living room, so I really want that space cleaned up. At least have the part of the living room for visiting not impacted by my supplies and such like it is right now...every things has spilled over. 

I want my two art tables to be cleaned up from the supplies so I can work the tables without being crowded.  If I can't put my books on the tables it is hard to work! Duh!  

The only area's I have been able to keep up with in the house is the Kitchen, bathrooms and our bedroom, including laundry. My house needs a deep cleaning. Once I get my art space in order, I plan on having a team from a cleaning service come in and do the heavy stuff for me. I vacuum and WGB mops the floors, I refuse to mop since that is how I hurt my back in 2004. I cannot do the floor or bathtub with out hurting myself so it needs a good looking after to.

We are still at 99 degrees today, and I feel like I am melting when I go out. I ended up going to the grocery store today, the highlight of that was seeing a friend there that I haven't seen in a couple of months. I miss her. It was a big haul today since its been too long and everything seemed to be needed to replenish. Can goods, fruit and veggies. Some meats for dinners.  And now I am peopled out...I hate being around that many people with chin guards instead of wearing them as masks, and those walking around like we are not in a pandemic with no mask at all. I am double masked, I wear my N95 and one over it since it has a valve.

I was SO over heated by the time I left I was sweating so bad under the masks. So many shelves still bare, I don't get it, they wouldn't even look for the creamer I needed in back. Many of the paper goods not available. It feels like it did in the beginning of the pandemic. And our cases keep going up. Poke me with a fork I am so done!

I wish we were in a big city some times so I could get delivery. I just don't want to be around people I don't know.

Blog along with Effy Wild

Watercolor addiction

Today my watercolors from Lost Girl and Cate and Regan came today. I have no off button with these watercolors.

Art Supply Storage

I have been putting off getting the washi tape all put together in the makeup drawers...I have so many tapes! I want to make sure to put the ones I want to use all the time in the drawers for easy access. I needed to put all my Meatball washi together. I love the number ones, but some of the others are so darn cute!

And I think I am going to give away some of the washi...send out some happy mail to journaler's so it can be used instead of sitting waiting to be used. I think my next store run will include little packages to send them off! It is a win win, I get to destash some of my supplies and some one gets to enjoy new washi! I am tired of hoarding art supplies! I just want to use them! Enjoy them! Or pass them on!

Deliberate steps...

What have you been doing to get through this shitstorm of a year? For me, one of my greatest joy's is watching our wildlife around our home. And I have become fond of the Jay birds. This one is having issues, I think she may have broken her leg. But they look better than they have in the last 3 days. I make sure to have water and food she can reach on the deck and she is surviving and still flying.  And the sweetest was the mate came down on the deck and fed her a worm! Super sweet to see. They are taking care of each other! I really hope she makes it! (you can see him flying off on the right side...he didn't stay still long for me).

Dealing with the smoke:

We have been doing this with our box fans the last 3 days and it has helped. My eyes and ears are still itchy though. But I am glad we are doing this, it has really helped...we are not coughing as bad as we were.

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/how-to-diy-an-air-purifier/

Tarot Spread for New Moon in Virgo

The tarot spread layout was in one of my online classes, by Shinjini Mehrotra, you can find her on her website: https://moderngypsy.in/free-classes-resources/ 

My draw today:

 

 

 

 

 

1: The World

An Auspicious period. You have achieved success in your endeavor. Walk in harmony with Mother Earth. Gather your Tribe and give your best.

2. Justice

Principle of consequences. You reap what you sow. Reclaim your power. Take an honest inventory of your life, acknowledge your successes and defeats.

2. Princess of Swords

Dazzle in the delights of your ambitions. Pay attention to your surrounds. Question your reality. Keep an open mind.

3. Judgement

Heading the call of a higher purpose. A resurrection, the rebirth of a new personality. Forgive yourself and other. Be the visionary you were made to be.

3. Queen of Pentacles

Nurturing yourself and the environment around you. Be open to the needs of others. Distribute the wealth you have equally among others. Channel your gifts to create new life.

4. Queen of Cups

Open to sensuality. Seeker of desires and potent pleasures. Rich empathy, creativity and understanding. Emotional intelligence.

Oh and what card did I pull again from the Oracle deck?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Denial....hum...what is this about?

Art:

I noticed today a new watercolor class on roladex cards. On https://lexigrenzer.com/ website. I love Lexi, when I met her, I swear we were like family! I have cards, and I just have not started to art yet. So I am heavily leaning towards the class. 

 

 

 

Are you missing art festivals where you can find really beautiful handmade items for Christmas? My friend has you covered!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2637208759850849/?ref=share

The password to get into the group is Hallmark

Friendship:

Ah to end the day with a good friends phone call! It is great to hear from her, you know how life is just busy, and this being a rotten year, it is nice to catch up with those you love. So ending the day on a high note.

 

MARS day 3

The last day of the retreat is always hard, do a little work then clean up and leave...Saying good bye to everyone and going home to unpack.

I have an art hangover. And my body is vibrating and trying to put all my art supplies back where they go and do some art is hysterical! Not able to focus! (my word of the year) So its time to kick on some show and chill.

Head Games - and not the Foreigner song!

I have been on a journey of getting healthier since June of 2018, I joined WW and I am grateful for their workshops and app, I have been able to lose 27 pounds so far. I am back in my normal fat clothes and I am so excited about that. I tried losing weight on my own, but I have no thyroid and I struggle. I have always eaten really healthy, I love vegetables and fruit, but I also love Cheetos! LOL I haven't had any Cheetos and I gave up my Dr. Pepper. (that addiction was lifelong) But I really want to age as well as I can. My stats are all great, my blood work is good, and I FINALLY found a doctor who is willing to test my thyroid levels every 3 months to make sure my meds are on track!

Today I had a huge moment of "OH SHIT I am an imposter"! I get so excited with everyone sharing their lives in the workshops, some of my friends were doing a 5K and I signed up for my first 5K!!!   I can walk 2.5 miles without too much pain but then I hit my threshold and pain grips me. So of course today I am all up in my head, worse case scenarios storming! The walk is on Sunday morning! The nice thing was when I mentioned this several friends said, that's ok! I will walk with you! So I am doing it! Putting my pain patches on, wearing good shoes and getting out with a group of other women working on themselves so I am doing my first 5K! Who the fuck am I? I would have NEVER have signed up for a 5K before! I have to say with all the head games my inner critic sends me on I am enjoying learning about the new me!

Every thing I love to do, draw, paint, knit, sew, bead, journal all involves sitting. So I have been really trying to incorporate more movement into my life. So today, even though I feel like an imposter, I am proud of myself for trying something new! And I am laughing at myself because I am still paying for the gardening I did on Saturday!!! I hurt! LOL So Sunday is going to be a mindful walk, meditation that I can DO HARD THINGS!

5 of Cups Reversed

Goals being slain!

I followed through with pulling a Tarot Card everyday last month! I am keeping it up and gleaning some powerful imagery and relating the cards to what is deeply going on in my life. Reading over the March entries, there is a bit of oh that is creepy, but more of that is SO amazing, resonating so strong with the struggles I am dealing with. It was all about my Grief, from my brother's death to wounds from family members.

My last card pulled for March was the 5 of Cups Reversed. Oooooof….all about moving forward from what was lost! Use grief as a force for good feelings of deep compassion and empathy. Thrust into a sacrid realm where the healing  capacity of emotions is allowed to work.  Use the force of grief as a force for GOOD. The cup is carved deeper by emotion which tears at the heart of your being, creating more space then to hold wonder, joy and grace. Deep compassion and empathy.

In my life, when I have dealt with deep soul cutting grief, I have always made the conscience decision to be "Better rather than Bitter". I am "better" for the disasters that have happened in my life. Molding me pliable for deep compassion and empathy for others going through what I have in my life. I believe if we share our stories of pain and how we have overcome it, it does give hope to others in the trenches of that kind of pain. 

Empathy. Ooof… I am an empath. It is painful and hard to be one. Some times I just cut off the chatter of it...other times I listen and move through it. It is exhausting and hard sometimes to feel my own shit because of it. It is the absolute reason why I hate being in big cities and love being more in the country. I don't have all of the bombardment of people hammering at me. Still learning how to ground myself and not be so hypervigilant of what is going on around me. I suppose I am still in denial of it...it was more astounding when I was a kid through the teen years, but I put it away when I had to be more conservative navigating my career years. So it is popping up more and more in my retirement. I could always feel a ripple in the universe and KNOW that something was going on with family members or those close to me...

Fear...just have to walk through the fire

Day 2 of 31 days of blogging with Effy

Part of my art anxiety was actually doing paint to canvas. That whole, who the crap do I think I am, an artist? Yes, I have always thought of myself as an artist. No I am not van Gogh but I enjoy working in paint, I enjoy the art I do. Honestly, I don't care if I ever sell a thing, it IS the process of creating art that fills my soul up!

View from the side of my house

Dream She-shed

Part of my frustration has been not having a studio. When we moved into our forever house, I compromised with not having an out building, and a smaller home to stay within our budget, I don't want my studio IN my house. I create a mess and like to leave it...too long. Also, I want to keep our guest room a place for people to come and visit us. In our last place my studio/family room got way out of hand, I lost 3 girl friends and inherited some of their supplies plus mine and I was completely overwhelmed until we moved. I stopped having people over because the house was old, and it looked like a hoarder lived there.  Plus, inside our house, they put new carpet before we moved in...so I didn't think of painting inside the house. But I have been here over a year, and I am no closer to getting my She-shed studio, 90% of my stuff is still in the storage pod.  

This will be my view when I get the She-shed up. They are more expensive than I thought they were, and I am going to look into them building it on a trailer frame. For 2 reasons: 1 if we move I can take it with me, and 2nd, if it is on a trailer frame it won't be attached to my house taxes being raised.

For the last two years I have only been doing watercolors since it is so portable. I did get my portable art table up near my window, to the incredible view I am SO grateful for! And I have started to paint! On canvas! I have been working in my 2019 Journal as well. So my living room now looks like an artist lives here who is messy! gah...but I can't NOT do extensive art anymore...my soul needs this work.

Time to Revive many things in my life!

I am doing the Artfully Wild Blog Along, the Month of April, I needed a reason to kick start my writing again, even if it is just for me. 

So many radical changes in the last 3 years for me. Things I have learned through this time. I am finally feeling like I am standing on my feet again. Rise like the phoenix!  Allow yourself to flounder. Wander aimlessly. Figure yourself out no matter how old you are.

1. August 1, 2016, I retired from a job I had been at since 1984. How crazy that feels when I hear that out loud! I worked REALLY hard the last five years I was there to make sure that job did not define me as a person when I walked out the door. It now feels like a lifetime ago! Some times I miss the work, it felt meaningful. But I will always have the insights, lessons from humanity, but will most likely always have the hypervigilance that it gifted me! 
2. We packed up our house we were renting for 19 years and put everything in storage, and then took off driving around the country for 5 months. 
3. On September 11th of 2017, we got back home to California. We stayed with some good friends for a month while we searched for our forever house in the Sierra Nevada Foothills. We bought our first house talk about terrifying and surreal, I never thought I would be a home owner! We moved in on October 12, 2017. 
4. May 16, 2018, my baby brother Steve was diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer (1 day after his 54th birthday)...I got to see him for a few hours in July, and by December 11th he was gone. (He lived in Joplin Mo so 3000 miles between us). He was my person. The one that never made me feel like an alien. The one that didn't judge me. The one that always had wise words... My brother Chuck thought I had it worse since I couldn't be there, but I have to say, there is no worse its just all bad when you lose someone you love.

Anyway, all those major changes had me pretty much frozen for awhile. Then I was gifted a Life Coaching experience and had 7-8 sessions and started to make plans for my art goals as well as my health and wellness goals! Last year I didn't do my online art classes...and I felt I not only wasted my money, but I didn't get to enjoy the experiences...I was working things out and adjusting to my new life in the Sierra's. And getting my strength back since living in a house that had mold, I was chronically sick.

So this year I got in on Effy Wilds 365 Course! And I wanted to keep up! I drilled down to what I really wanted, and I really want a body work by the end of December 2019!  I have been terrified of painting on Canvas...all those fears of "not being good enough", so I worked on that in my Coaching! Since January I have 3 completed Canvas painted! And starting a new one tomorrow! I am working in my journal and following my classes!

It is a lot of work, soul work! Stuff I would be writing out or obsessing in my brain is coming out on the page or the canvas. This year Effy is having collaborative artists for BOD (Book of Days) and that has been exciting as well. If you want to go deeper in your art work, join us. It has been an amazing experience. She is real. Take her as she is. And enjoy the ride. You don't have to do woo-woo, but there is sure a connection I am experiencing.

100 Days Project April 3- July 11th

Wow! I highly recommend committing yourself at some point, to pick a theme and do the 100 Days Project! It kicked my creative ass! It forced to me try to fix problems. I used a really bad Moleskine book where I wanted to do watercolors! It was awful to work in! I then tried Watercolor Ground for the first time and this project and book FOUGHT ME EVERY SINGLE DAY! But I grew! I grew as an artist! 

The crazy thing, ok I completed my 100 Days of Frida and I learned a lot about her! I learned a lot about how to paint and my technique on faces IS improving! Practice Practice Practice! A few of the examples out of the 100 days.