Day 56, 100 Happy Day: Studio Floor!

Wowzers!! My studio floor has the first coat down and it looks gorgeous!! Very exciting. 

Also, I'm home after 11 days of pet/house sitting! So happy!! I get to sleep in my bed tonight. And...actually already did. I came home tonight and crashed for 90 minutes. Bliss. 

Day 54, 100 Happy Days: Fresh Studio Walls + Shrinking My Vocabulary

This is actually a "before" pic, but I love how empty it is.

My studio walls take a lot of abuse. I hang and rearrange my work on them (several times a month), paint of various colors gets splashed on them, and then there's First Friday... Every month I have up to ten other artists showing their work in my studio for the art walk. This means that once a month I take down all my work, and they put up theirs. And in the process they create dozens more holes in the walls. Later, I spackle the walls, which creates spots that don't quite look like the rest of the wall, and the cycle continues. Resulting in splotchy walls.

Today, my studio got painted for the first time in ages. And, it was done by a friend as a gift (sometimes you gotta take the donuts)!

My studio is absolutely sparkling now. Gorgeous white walls with not a spot on them. It's going to be difficult to nail into those things! I enjoyed looking at those flawless white walls today, because they represent potential. Just like a blank canvas.
Now to deal with those floors...

Day 54 Happy Bonus: Shrinking My Vocabulary
I realize that having a shrinking vocabulary doesn't sound like a happy thing, but if you take the right words out, it can make you much happier. Today I banned from my vocabulary a 9-letter word that starts with "ex" and ends in "ed". It means tired. And I have been tired for days. Today I realized that I've been saying that "ex" word a LOT lately, and that stuff gets in your head. So I immediately stopped saying it, and started saying that I had loads of energy. Yes, I knew it was a lie, but I told the lie so enthusiastically and I threw my arms in the air when I said it... well I may not have felt like I had loads of energy, but I definitely felt less tired.
Fake it til you make it, baby!!

Day 54, 100 Happy Days: Helpful Friends

This is NOT how my studio looked tonight. It was much messier than this!

I have been blessed with many amazing, helpful friends. And two of them really came through
tonight. They cleared my studio out for me, so that another helpful friend can come paint tomorrow. I'd like to say that they helped me, but wiped out as I was, they really did the work.

I am a lucky duck indeed.

Day 53, 100 Happy Days: Watching People Create

I have to admit that I took to Facebook to complain after tonight's class. But it wasn't about the class - the class was wonderful. I complained because I was exhausted and just stretched too thin right now. And then I had to walk a dog, which was the last thing I wanted to do. But, just like last night, I was able to focus on the present during the walk, and bring myself back to a good state.

Which made me think about how amazing it was to watch people create in my creative space tonight. People came in with little or no painting experience, and came up with the most amazing paintings! Using my painting for inspiration, I give them a bit of guidance and encourage them to do their own thing on the canvas. And the do. And that is a brave and bold thing to do, and a beautiful thing to witness.

Day 52, 100 Happy Days: It's All About the Journey

I had a really great conversation with some ladies in my studio tonight. One of the things we touched on is that there is no destination, no end; it's all journey.
As artists we may be more in touch with that than the general population. As painters we love the process. I suppose some of us (and at times most of us) get frustrated with the process and look forward to the finished product, but... is a painting ever finished? No, not really. It just stops in interesting places.

So, creating art is a very zen experience. It's about the process, not the product. It's a journey.

I tried to think of this as I headed out into the dark, cold, snow packed streets to walk a dog tonight. Instead of trying to rush through the walk and get it over with, I enjoyed that leg of my journey.

Having that mindset made it possible for me to see things that I otherwise might of missed. It really was a beautiful night. I love how the snow seems to make everything more quiet - is that an acoustics thing, or is everyone just indoors? Probably both. But hearing the snow crunch under my boots is a wonderful thing. As is looking at the little trail of footprints that the dog in front of me makes.