Out of ICU

After two weeks in the ICU, my husband is finally in a regular hospital room. His endarterectomy went well. All the tubes have been removed and he is now on the road to recovery. I spend afternoons with him, mostly stitching along with a bit of sketching. I am mostly unplugged, but hope to be back soon.

We have much to be thankful for...

Getting Ready

The suitcases are packed. We leave for a Parisian hospital soon. After sinking in the quagmire for so many months, I feel like we are finally moving forward.

In line with my Finishing Rule for 2016, I completed a bag that will go with me. I did the panels for it when I made my recycled bathrobe (here) way back in January 2012 (gulp!). A couple weeks ago I added the sides and strap (old jeans), put in a lining with a zippered pocket, and sewed in a zipper across the top. I've been test driving it lately and it holds all the necessities, such as stitching, sketchbooks, and art supplies. I will be able to self-entertain for hours on end.

And so, we face another mountain to climb, but with hope. See you on the other side...

It's All in the Finishing Touches

We went to a restaurant, Fondouk al-Attarine, in the Medina (the old city) in Tunis. It was such an astoundingly pleasant surprise that I had to think about why that was. The ancient building had been renovated and the restaurant had a traditional Tunisian theme done with such good taste that it made one regret the fine craftsmanship of the past. The food was very good, the waiters were pleasant, the background music (Fairouz songs) was low, the ambient temperature was perfect, the restrooms were impeccably clean. I had a bit of time to sketch and then, inspired by the sepia colors, painted a bird statuette the next day.

Leaving the Medina, I went home still pondering. After ruminating on the experience for a couple of days, I finally figured it out. Everything had been carefully planned, every detail from the glass ceiling and ventilation to the tablecloths, and everything was finished. I haven't seen anything well-finished in Tunisia in a l-o-n-g time. The difficulty of finding qualified tradespeople defies reason. My own walls are cracking, but the masons we find never show up; there are moldings that need finishing, but the carpenter is too "busy"; the list is long.

Since the "revolution", it requires superhuman willpower to maintain anything in Tunisia. For the moment, I can highly recommend Fondouk al-Attarine if you are in the neighborhood. 

However, if they can maintain their standards, I will suspect that they are superhuman, or possibly from another planet...

FINALLY, Good News

Yes, I can finally, finally announce good news. We are packing our bags and have a date for my husband's operation (endarterectomy) in Paris. We will soon be leaving.

I must say a heartfelt "Thank You" to all my friends: thank you for your moral and financial support. You have eased my burden considerably and the future is looking less bleak. You have given me the courage to persevere and to help my husband as best I can.




And so my thoughts turn to Paris...last December we were there to see the doctors, yet we managed a short "vacation." We tried to have some fun, which helped relieve some of our underlying anxiety. 
Besides some very slow walks along the Seine and in the Latin Quarter, we ate at some interesting restaurants.







We visited a couple of museums.
       The Fragonard exhibit at the Luxembourg Museum was beautifully set up.

Fragonard (18th century) was pretty race-y. I sketched a drawing that was relatively sedate--if you didn't read the title. Fragonard made the most of dramatic lighting and set nature into wild movement as a background for libertine "activities".





We walked through the gardens at the Rodin Museum where I managed to sketch a bit of one statue. A copy of the Thinker (sideways) was in the metro station (just time for a blind sketch). Rodin's distortions caught my eye--huge hands and feet, off-balance figures. Very daring and surprising.

A logo to encourage tourist spending tickled my funny bone.
















This time around, I'll try to take in a few museums and do some urban sketching. But mostly, I'll be stitching on The Pomegranate Tree Quilt (particularly the wild weeds) while sitting in a hospital waiting room...waiting... 

Yes, there is yet another mountain to climb, but, we face the future with hope.

And at the risk of sounding repetitive, I must finish with a huge...

Rule for 2016, 1

It looks like 2016 is a year of huge changes in my corner of the world, so in order to keep my balance I have a new rule: Finish. This is a tough rule for a polymath like me, but I did start off the year right by finishing my......Ha! if you thought I was going to say the Pomegranate Tree, you would be wrong. True, it's a priority and I'm stitching everyday, but, man, those French knots are killing me. It's a love/hate relationship.







No, the first big finish of 2016 was my small (6"x4"), more-or-less-daily, out-and-about, purse journal with 160 pages (or 320 drawable pages). A gift from my brother, it sat on a shelf for 30 years until Sketchbook Skool came along and changed my drawing habits. 

The paper is too thin to take water media so I started using it for a 75-day ink-sketching challenge (mostly ballpoint pen). As the challenge was
to not use color, I decided to use a different color of pen every day. I think it would've killed me to use black ink everyday. 

I did have a thought about using a bit of fabric on each page as a sort of frame, however, that didn't last long. Inauspicious beginnings.


It developed into a diary entry, a list, a sketch for each page along with a quote. Which led me to the Paul Klee quote:"Drawing is taking a line for a walk".

I could see myself taking a line for a walk like one would take a dog for a walk on a leash.

Then my teaching life crashed into my journal...

And, no, I didn't quit, but, I should have. Things went downhill from there.









Colleagues appeared as well.

Boxes

Although art has had a place in my life since I was a kid, possibly, just possibly, it became serious with boxes. I managed to find a few brief moments to paint legos when I had little people hanging around. The year was 1988.

Caught up in pattern and color, and well before I ever heard of zentangles, I decorated a number of small boxes to display in my home. Soap boxes or boxes containing medicine or toothpaste tubes, small boxes. I pulled them apart to lie flat, covered them in Canson paper and painted them with watercolors and a Rotring pen. Then I glued them back together.

And that was back in 1990 and 1991. Recently, I ran across them sitting forgotten in the bottom of a drawer, turning yellowish and looking worn.

I remembered the hours of work they required and the pleasure they gave me. I decided to recycle them into my sketchbooks and give them a second life. 

So I took them apart and glued them into my sketchbook.

And then I added some. Freedom within structure.

The wild, organic lines have been with me for a l-o-n-g time.

Dazzle Me! 2016

The New Year's mantra or inspirational word fad makes me chuckle. Being of a practical nature, I have had the same motto for many years and it will serve again this year. One less thing to worry about while I concentrate on several major pieces. 

My motto also reflects my unwavering philosophy of art. I want to be dazzled by art, my own and others. Let's face it, life has its bumps. Art takes us above the daily ho-hum, the trials and tribulations. 

Whatever 2016 may bring, I know I'll dazzle myself because of my art practice. The New Year is beginning right as I approach the end of the Pomegranate Tree Quilt, which has been four years in the making. 

The quilting (both hand and machine) is more or less finished and I am now adding French knots and more running stitch quilting for depth.

My tree dazzles me!

And may you be dazzled in the New Year!