Croning My Way Through Life
In a good bookroom you feel in some mysterious way that you are absorbing the wisdom contained in all the books through your skin, without even opening them. ~ Mark Twain
Qatar National Library, Doha, Qatar
Don’t let mental blocks control you. Set yourself free. Confront your fear and turn the mental blocks into building blocks.
I got my first CPAP mask and machine two days ago.
This is a picture of what I look like wearing it at night.
Okay, not really. This fine art of Tom Banwell just reminds me of how I felt the last two nights with it on. Gears and tubes and pushing air in and out of my mouth and lungs, drying out every corner of my mouth like the Sahara Desert, just because I stop breathing sometimes at night.
Sleep apnea, they call it.
Sleep apnea causes short pauses in one’s breathing while they’re asleep. Nowadays, it’s become known as one of the most prevalent sleep disorders. About 22 million Americans have sleep apnea.
That’s a pretty big club to be a member of.
Most of us don’t even know we have any breathing issues. We toss and turn and wake up feeling more tired than when we went to bed.
The pauses in breathing caused by sleep apnea can occur 30 times or more per hour. Normal pauses are around 5 per hour. This can lead to a boatload of conditions, including severe daytime drowsiness, fatigue, high blood pressure (hypertension), risk of recurrent heart attack and stroke, abnormal heartbeats, developing insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and abnormal results on liver function tests. Not to mention loud snoring that can keep anyone who sleeps near you from getting good rest as well.
Who would have guessed?
So based on being a little stout (overweight), constant sinus drainage, and calling hogs (snoring), I had a sleep apnea test and passed with flying colors.
Actually, so far all is well and good. I had two decent nights’ sleep and adjusted to my octopus apparatus fairly well, considering. Although last night I must have moved it around on my face too much that it was loud enough to sing the song of my ancestors to my dog.
Somehow my vision of nocturnal beauty is shattered by this proboscis protruding from my face.
Remember the movie Alien? Remember the spider-like creature that attached itself to a crewman’s face, the creature with eight finger-like legs, and a long tail that tightly wraps around the neck?
Okay. Okay. Being a creative writer has its disadvantages as well as advantages. It’s easier to find a special way of describing the mundane, the ordinary, the necessary.
And sleeping well through the night is necessary. If you snore, are restless, overtired, sleepy during the day, talk to your doctor. Take the test. Take the mask.
You’d rather be wearing a breathing mask than the The Masque of the Red Death (thanks, Edgar Allan Poe).
Brian Froud (born 1947) is an English fantasy illustrator.
Froud graduated with Honors from Maidstone College of Art in 1971 with a degree in Graphic Design.
Soon afterwards, he began working in London on various projects ranging from book jackets, magazine covers to advertising as well as illustrating several children books.
Froud soon realized that fairy tales and legends were something which would never get old.
In collaboration with his friend and fellow artist Alan Lee, Froud created the 1978 book Faeries, an illustrated compendium of faerie folklore.
Upon discovering Froud’s lavish and mysterious drawings in his books, and recognizing his complex and singular artistic vision of the faerie world, Jim Henson chose him to help him create a unique otherworld feature-film which became known as The Dark Crystal. 
Soon Froud developed his own magical distinctive style and experimented with three dimensional designs complete with gnomes, goblins, warlocks and dragons.
Through Froud’s unique style utilizing acrylics, colored pencil, pastels and ink, he has created some of the most well known fantasy images of the Twenty-first Century.
More of Brian Froud‘s amazing workmanship can be found at https://www.ferniebrae.com/brian-froud.
As quiet as a shadowed whisper, I have added a new page to my Humoring the Goddess blog.
Tears of joy shared by angels who bless us with love and magic (still working on that … rolls eyes).
I’ve finally committed full force to my new craft, which means I am ready to craft, create, and sell my sparkling wares.
It’s all very exciting.
It’s all very frightening.
I have applied for three craft art fairs this summer. Too many? Too few? What am I doing?
I have already been turned down for one fair. That’s the game. I threw the dice and we’ll see what numbers turn up. Is sharing my crafts with others any different than sharing my joy for writing? Or art? Or my family?
I wonder why I’m so hesitant. So afraid. Why should it make a different if someone likes what I’ve made or not? Am I still not me?
This could lead to a whole psychological discussion, one I’m tired of having. Thinking. I’m going to do what I always tell others to do.
I always say — and I truly believe — that life is too short not to make yourself happy. When you make yourself happy you make others happy. The world swirls around us no matter what we do, and if you wait for others to make you feel better about yourself you’ll wait forever. So why not jump into the foray now and then and share what truly makes you feel good?
I have had fun exploring, creating, and sharing my suncatchers. If I come out with nothing more than new experiences, I have been very fortunate indeed.
Take a look at my new page when you have time. Tell me what you think! Have you taken the next step in your creative world? I’d love to hear about it, too!
P.S. If you can come up with a phrase about angels and their tears that would make a prospective buyer go “Wow. I get it!” hold onto it. I will be holding a little contest with a suncatcher as a prize.
Sounds like an angel gift to me!
A FATHER’S ADVICE: Today, my father told me, “Just go for it and give it a try! You do not have to be a professional to build a successful product. Be motivated and courageous. Amateurs started Google and Apple. Professionals built the Titanic.” THE POWER OF UNIQUENESS: Today, I asked my mentor, a very successful […]
Short Stories full of wisdom and insight……. — Boundless Blessings by Kamal
Maps show us where we’re going
Where we’ve been
Where others have been
Where others are going
And where we can go
If that is our choice
What can be better than to get out a book on Saturday afternoon and thrust all mundane considerations away till next week. ~ C. S. Lewis
I have discovered something new — well, it’s really not new, but it’s taken front row in my realm. I call it Sound and Texture Gratification.
There is something oddly satisfying about certain combinations of sounds and sights experienced together. There are communities known as “subreddits,” on Reddit such as oddlysatisfying that cater to this strange phenomenon, or apps like RubberBand Cutting where you cut rubber bands off of objects that my grandkids play all the time.
Think about walking on thin ice down a path and hearing and watching it crack beneath your feet. The perfect swirl of frosting on a cupcake. Cutting down a tall stack of thinly layered pancakes or phyllo dough. Textured paintings. Videos of assembly lines punching and folding and smoothly moving along.
You get what I’m saying.
Google “Oddly Satisfying” and you will get the gist of this enjoyable phenomenon.
I don’t know how to explain it. There is something oddly satisfying about certain motions and sounds that are perfectly in sync with your senses. I myself would rather bite through a stack of thin spaghetti strands than chew up one thick piece of pasta. Something about the click-click-click of going through the layers gives me great pleasure.
It’s not every sound, every vision. It’s not the same satisfaction as looking at the red/pink colors of sunsets or the precision movements of a classical pianist. Those are different satisfactions.
I am talking about the effect of sound and/or texture and/or vision that become three dimensional. The simultaneous sight and sound of glass shattering. Perfectly round bubbles rising in a champagne glass. Rows and lines of things that blend perfectly into one another. Liquids that swirl into mesmerizing rainbows or the experience of running your fingers across corrugated cardboard. The sound and visual gratification watching thousands of precisely lined up dominoes falling.
Our senses are magnificent transmitters. They send us pleasure on many levels all at one time, often overloading our personal processing centers. In a good way, of course.
If you have experienced what I call Sound and Texture Gratification, come along and share! We all love a good textile experience!
Here is a video that is “oddly satisfying” …
Utagawa Kunisada, (1786-1865) has been called the most prolific of all the painters and printmakers of the ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world) movement in 19th-century Japan.
Born in Tokyo (then called Edo), Kunisada was the son of a moderately successful poet, who died very early in his life.
The young artist began sketching very early and developed not only a passion but a clear skill in the craft which caught the eye of the master of the Utagawa school of ukiyo-e, Utagawa Toyokuni.
Kunisada started his career as a pupil of Toyokuni I whose name he adopted in 1844, becoming Toyokuni III. While he changed his names several times, he is commonly referred to as Kunisada or Toyokuni III.
Almost from the first day of his activity, and even at the time of his death in 1865, Kunisada was a trendsetter in the art of the Japanese woodblock print.
Always at the vanguard of his time, and in tune with the tastes of the public, he continuously developed his style, which was sometimes radically changed, and did not adhere to stylistic constraints set by any of his contemporaries. 
Kunisada’s prints mostly consisted of kabuki actors, the popular trend of the period, but as he continued to perfect his craft there was a growth in the number, and the experimental nature, of shunga works which Kunisada produced.
In addition to actor prints (yakusha-e) and book illustrations (kuchi-e), he produced erotic prints (shunga), pictures of beautiful women (bijin-ga), landscapes and privately commissioned prints (surimono).
In his later years, Kunisada had truly perfected his craft. The depth, blends of color, and complex perspectives of his artwork truly set him apart.
More of Utagawa Kunisada‘s prints can be found across the Internet, including http://www.kunisada.de/.
No sun outlasts its sunset, but will rise again and bring the dawn.
~ Maya Angelou
You know — there are days when I would post 2 or 3 or 4 times if I let myself.
There are others’ blogs I’d like to share, new Galleries I’d like to showcase, photos I’d love to show you, topics I’d like to yammer about.
But I can only take me one day at a time.
It’s not like I know a whole lot about anything. I am one of those who dabble in a dozen things at one time and am neither an expert nor a consistent follower in most. But how can one not want to share other’s creativities?
I get so excited when I see other blogs and the things they’ve created. The thoughts they’ve had. The discoveries they’ve made. And I want to show you what I’ve found.
I’m sure what I see and experience is only the tip of the iceberg out there. But it’s the seeing and experiencing that wears me out.
When I look from the outside in, it all looks quirky and fun and a little bit on the wild side. Who wouldn’t love to have this much enthusiasm for sharing?
But looking out from inside, I’m exhausted.
Like I said in last week’s blog, I’m Too Old To Be This Busy, this “do ten things at one time” makes me tired. Makes my brain tired.
Working 9-5 used to make me tired. Raising my kids made me tired. Now running on creativity makes me tired. I know it’s not some blood disease; I work closely with my doctor to make sure all my meds are in line and appropriate.
It’s the mental chatter that sometimes drives me nuts.
Write a blog! Find a new unique artist for the Gallery! Create a page for your crafts in case you ever sell them! Figure out PayPal! Take some product pictures! Call your friend to see if she got the job! Make a ledger! Read some blogs!
See what I mean? The list is endless.
I’m not really complaining. As a matter of fact, I’m excited that others are finding their rhythms and doing their thing and being creative while juggling a dozen other tasks too. Like I always say. I LOVE creativity. No matter what you’re creating, editing, fixing, refinishing, making, crocheting, painting, I love that you’re doing something.
I just need to calm down a little and share things one at a time. Do something and complete something. I can’t leave dangling participles out there looking for something to modify.
And just what is a dangling participle, you ask? Here’s a few from Thought Co.:
If my mind doesn’t slow down soon, I’ll be doing all of the above.
In triplicate.
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
My love as deep; the more I give to thee,
The more I have, for both are infinite.
—William Shakespeare
I’ve been quite busy lately, helping my kids update and fix up their new house before they move in next month.
I have never been a cleaner by choice. I’ve survived, my kids have survived, yet my house has never been a front runner for Architectural Digest or Better Homes and Gardens.
Because of both retirement and Covid, my house is the cleanest it’s ever been. I have a new refrigerator that I keep meticulously clean, and my clean counters and organized pantry are finally proof of my boredom.
I mean, I’ve always been clean — I’ve just always been messy. Disheveled. Sidetracked. At the end of the night before I go to bed I retrace my steps of the day and take 20 minutes putting everything back where it came from.
I so envy my daughter-in-law. She is clean, organized, and keeps up after three kiddos, a husband, and a dog. I’m always getting organizing ideas from her, including bins, shelves, and lists.
I’m lucky if I can sort yesterday’s pj’s from last week’s.
Every time I come home from her house I am inspired to put more away, get rid of more clutter, and organize the rest so that I can find what I want when I want.
But I believe it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
I still have a tendency to go three directions at one time, start projects I don’t finish, and extend my energy way past my 68-year-old limit. I want to do ten things at one time, including art projects, writing a new novel, sewing beads on my t-shirts, finishing the two books I started reading, and watching a 52-part Chinese TV series with English subtitles.
One thing is pretty darned clear.
I will have to live until I’m at least 95.
I can’t see getting everything done and organized before then.
Without friends the world is but a wilderness. — Francis Bacon
For those of you who enjoy my Sunday Evening Art Gallery entries, I have added quite a number of beautiful images in many artists’ galleries. The depth of these artists (and many more) is just amazing.
Come stroll through the Galleries any time!
This is the downer part of being a creative sprite.
My application for my first Starving Artist Art Fair was turned down.
The woman I was in contact with was very nice, very supportive. The jury preferred that every piece of my artwork — Angel Tears — should be hand made.
I get that. I knew that. I know all of the hard work that goes into making something from scratch. That’s where the blood, sweat, and tears come from.
I chose to use a combination of purchased items and assemble them to my own specifications. The entire process is mine, just not the physical pieces.
The woman who sent me my rejection email suggested I try the smaller, local art fair across the street from their bigger one. Same day, almost same place.
Probably the best suggestion I’ve had all year. And I’m going to do it.
I would imagine many of you out there go through the same amount of angst, pride, doubt, and excitement about every piece you create.
Why am I doing this? Making this? Making this particular style of this? Is it any good? Who would want to buy this? Can the purchasing public see this flaw or this wrong flash of color or this odd texture or this slipped stitch?
Your first rejection. Your first return. Your first complaint. They didn’t like it. They hated it. They hate my work.
I went through this same angst, pride, doubt, and excitement with every piece I wrote, too. My fear of never being published, never being read, never being understood. I write and delete and edit and throw out chapters and stanzas and stare at my computer screen and watch kitty videos.
Why do I put myself through this? This up and down, heart-and-gut-wrenching doubt about my beloved product?
I am happy to say that I ignore most of those wasted emotions lately. I plan on sharing now rather than hope for tomorrow. I believe my writing is that good. And now my crafts.
Do you believe you are creative?
Do you enjoy what you do?
Do you like your end result?
Are you willing to work at getting your art out there?
I am excited about trying a smaller venue. Face it. I’ve never offered my art before to the public. Ever. Not my writing, not my crafts.
I’ve never offered my dreams before, either.
I love the feeling creativity gives me. It lifts me. It’s therapy after a crazy day or a depressed night. I enjoy working on something that started as a thought in my mind and evolved into something tangible.
Don’t let a road block in one direction stop you from turning and going a different way. There are dozens of ways to get your work out there. It doesn’t have to be a sales route. It can be work shared with friends and family, shared online, on a blog, or in your own online publication. You can enter half a dozen art fairs, craft fairs, or start your own art fair or a neighborhood art fair.
If you love what you do, don’t give up.
I’m not!
Richard Savoie is a Quebec painter born in Moncton New Brunswick.
Savoie comes from a family of artists, including an uncle who is part of Canada’s National Gallery.
Savoie is known for his beautiful oil paintings of winter landscapes and urban environments.
The subjects of his paintings become part of the mystery as they slowly walk further into the distance with their back turned on the narrator.
Many of his works specializes in frosty winters bursting with light, even if depicted in the middle of the night.
Savoie astonishes with an impeccable visual memory, a skill with which he paints and, in turn, places the viewer at the exact place and time as experienced by the artist himself.
Each work reveals another fragment of the universe in a tapestry of light and color that allows viewers to savor the finesse of his fresh and spontaneous approach.
Richard Savoie‘s work can be found in major galleries throughout Canada and is also part of some of the country’s most important collections.
You can also find his work at https://balcondart.com/en/savoie-richard/.
Silver, the color of new friends ~ Unknown
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I’m an observer of life. I like to watch people, and I like to watch cactus. I like to talk to mountains and communicate with my friends in the other spheres and dimensions.
~ Frederick Lenz
Maki-e (蒔絵, literally: sprinkled picture) is Japanese lacquer sprinkled with gold or silver powder as a decoration using a makizutsu or a kebo brush.
The oldest Maki-e in existence now is the ornamentation on the sheath of the Kara-tachi sword with gilded silver fittings and inlay in Togidashi technique held by Shōsōin in Nara, Japan.
Maki-e objects were initially designed as household items for court nobles; they soon gained more popularity and were adopted by royal families and military leaders as a symbol of power.
To create different colours and textures, maki-e artists use a variety of metal powders including gold, silver, copper, brass, lead, aluminum, platinum, and pewter, as well as their alloys.
Edo Period
Maki-e can be left to dry, as is maki-hanashi, or relacquered and polished (togidashi maki-e).
It is frequently decorated with reed-style pictures (ashide-e) or combined with inlays of other metals or mother-of-pearl (raden).
Late Edo
Hiramaki-e has a low-relief design, and takamaki-e has a high-relief design.
Bamboo tubes and soft brushes of various sizes are used for laying powders and drawing fine lines.
As it requires highly skilled craftsmanship to produce a maki-e painting, young artists usually go through many years of training to develop the skills and to ultimately become maki-e masters.
Maki-e artwork can be found all across the Internet.
There is something about artists that is unlike most of the population.
We all do the same things — eat, sleep, love, laugh, cry. We all juggle ten things at once, including kids, jobs, cooking, insomnia, and more.
But artists are often so diversified when it comes to creativity. We mostly stick to what we know — or do best — but then after a while we get an itch to try something new. Different. Easy or difficult, it doesn’t matter. We just want to try one more thing.
Bloggers I follow such as Laura Kate at Daily Fiber and Eva Mout at Ursus Art not only shine in their respective fields, but have expanded to include photography, miniatures, painting, knitting, quilting, and a dozen more worlds. I myself have drifted away from writing the Great American Novel #7 to making sparkling crafts to hang in the sunshine.
The point of all of this is to assure you that it’s alright if you put your heart’s desire and life’s work aside for a while to try something new.
Maybe it’s being hibernated by Covid-19 or a stinging winter or temperatures so hot you want to melt that makes you squirmy in your seat. Makes you want to do something new. Something different. Something quirky or something conservative.
It doesn’t matter. You don’t need permission to try a hand at something different.
In the coming weeks I am going to highlight some of the artists I’ve already showcased to share another side of their creativity. To be honest, sometimes I’d find a painting or sculpture or quilt that I just adored, only to go to their website and find a whole array of different projects, styles, and explorations. How do you decide which to show off to your followers?
How do you decide which of your own talents to showcase?
Let all sides of you shine. Show off your work on your website, on Facebook, email your co-workers or have a show off party where everyone brings something new they’ve tried!
Life is here. Life is Now.
And we all are creative. In every sense of the word. Even if your creation is not up to “professional” par, try it anyway! Show it off! Go for It!
You have heard of “Nailed It!” , haven’t you?
Humoring the Goddess 