Cat Naps

Is there anything more refreshing that a 15-minute catnap in the middle of a long afternoon? I've honed it to a fine art. Armed with a small pillow and my oven timer, I can fall asleep almost immediately and bolt wide awake 15 minutes later (with the help of the timer) feeling refreshed, ready to finish the afternoon. Of course, a strong cup of coffee and a Snickers bar is also a viable option.

This drawing, "Dream On", was done in charcoal and pastel on newsprint.

The Way Things Work

There is a book out there (geared toward children, as I recall) called "The Way Things Work". It shows how mechanical things work. I wish there was some kind of a manual to show how things work.... or don't work in real life.... a manual that would convince you to .... get a college education.... marry well the first time...save your money for a rainy day...eat your veggies....but alas, everybody gets to write their own version.

This painting is titled "The Way Things Work" and was done in gouache on gold gessoed watercolor paper.

Waiting Rooms of LIfe

Sometimes it feels as though life is one big waiting room. I'm not very good at waiting. I moved from Seattle to escape the waiting, only to find my little hometown had grown considerably in the decade I'd been away. We have traffic now. One thing waiting is good for is daydreaming... until you find out the guy behind you in traffic is worse at waiting than you are.

This painting, entitled "Another Waiting Room" was done in gouache and watercolor on hot press watercolor paper.

Creative Minds Think Alike

After several months on our respective "new jobs", I got together with two of my fellow outsourced coworkers this afternoon. We had spent six months in a "project pool" as compensation for being outsourced and it was during that time we forged a special creative bond. The "pool" project was monotonous (putting it kindly)and we soon found that no one in the corporation was terribly concerned about how much of the project we completed. (It reminded me a bit of that scene in Dances with Wolves where Kevin Costner is sent off to an abandoned outpost by a suicidal superior officer. You've been sent on a mission, but no one cares whether you accomplish it. Weird feeling.) We found creative ways to cope. Etsy, Apartment Therapy, and Stampington magazine reviews were daily escapes. Imagine our surprise to discover these "perks" weren't built into our new jobs. How did our new coworkers survive without these therapies? we asked ourselves. Vowing to hold fast to our artful natures, refusing to succumb to corporate standardization in our inner beings, we've made a pact to meet frequently at Tully's Coffee for some serious rejuvenation.

Getting a Grip

Being a creative type, I'm always on an artistic tangent and with each tangent comes a boat-load of supplies. Once again this year, I will resolve to use up my supplies so I can rid myself of the guilt of not using up my supplies. I think I'm fearful of getting snowed in for a month and running out of things with which to entertain myself....like that's going to happen.

This painting was done using gouache, watercolor and acrylic on gold-gessoed illustration board.