life in the slow lane

I say it's the slow lane, because I am getting sick of how slowly this move of ours is going. We did get an offer on our house this week, but it doesn't look like it will happen, because the mother loves the house, and the son (I guess they were going to buy it together) does not. So there's that.

I am having trouble doing any art. I sit down to make some cardboard bugs and things for the monotypes, but I can't seem to actually get myself to create anything. I am finding myself reluctant to make a mess, since it seems like when my mess is in full swing, THAT is when they call and some realtor wants to show the house (in 15 minutes, to boot!) So I clean the whole mess up, put it all away, the house is shown, and then I have trouble re-creating my mess again. Being in limbo is fun for only a short time. Then, I want my space back, I want to settle in and make the messes that lead to the art. I don't know why the two go hand in hand, but they do.

I bought myself some long-stemmed tulips as a consolation for my dilemna. They are so beautiful, that I am actually finding it satisfying, just sitting at the table, looking at them. It's as though I am drinking their beauty with my eyes. Fresh flowers like these are as intoxicating as wine.

I have been doing some sketching in my sketch books, and if I can get one to scan well enough, perhaps I will share it with you. That will be a first, since I am usually very private about my sketches. It remains to be seen.

Sunday, Sunny Sunday

Oh but I loved the sunshine today. Thank you! Too many days in a row of cold and snow. I guess more is supposed to arrive tomorrow, but I prefer not to think about it.

I did get some photos before the sun erased the snow that I thought you might enjoy. I actually have quite a few, but I am only going to post a couple. As we have learned, I love taking photos of animal tracks in the snow. (Please refer to earlier blog.) So here is a photo of a not-so-wild animal - Pono the dog. Still fun!

I had a long day, today, but managed to get a lot of stuff done that I have been putting off. That is a nice feeling! I have to also tell you about a dream I had last night, which I think has something to do with my bug monotypes. Although there was more meaning behind it than that! Dreams are so interesting! In the dream, I was holding a beaded earring. As I looked at it in my hand, it began to wiggle, and then it transformed into a bug! (I immediately dropped it.) Pretty soon, there were bugs all over, and Pono and I were moving furniture around, trying to smash them. I had a sandal in my hand, and I was trying to smash the bugs with this sandal, but it was somehow very ineffective. The bugs kept getting bigger, too! They looked like some of the ones I have been drawing for my cardboard models. Colorful, too. Crazy!

With that wonderfully creepy image in your head, I will leave you, to dream your own crawling dreams!

Art goes on

I can't believe it's been one entire week since I posted a blog! Sheesh. Here are the EXCUSES, EXCUSES, EXCUSES. There. Got that out of the way.

The good news is that I did manage to drive up and use the printmaking press in Buena Vista on Thursday. It had begun to snow already, but I decided if I didn't go, I would be mad at myself, so I just went. As it turns out, that was a good decision, because it stopped snowing in the afternoon, and I drove back to Salida on clear roads. I had an okay day in the studio. It wasn't great. I was struggling, trying to mix the colors I had in my mind. Plus, I hadn't had time to make any more of my cardboard bugs, so I wasn't feeling particularly inspired. Despite all of this, I am still really happy that I went. I feel much better when I can create art.

It snowed all day yesterday, and I stayed in the house for the most part, cleaning. It was just in time, since I got a call at the end of the day for a showing this afternoon. So that worked out nicely. I am ready for someone to buy the house, now, so I can get back to doing art, and not worrying so much about a clean house. What a waste of energy that is. I mean, I get the floor swept and mopped, and Pono the dog comes in and puts those cute but muddy paw prints in a trail to the living room. AAARGHH.... If anyone is looking to buy a fixed up Victorian in Salida, CO, please contact me immediately!!!

Today, Colorado is making up for two cloudy, cold days with that brilliant blue sky and some much missed sunshine. So I have almost forgiven it. Almost.

I am now headed out to the Salida Galleries for Second Saturday. It's like a miniature Artwalk the galleries have once a month. I am enjoying this event so much more as a spectator, than as a gallery owner! Yay!!! I get to see new art, talk to friends, and eat some nibblie food, all with no preparation. It is a vast improvement to being the owner of Cool Mountain Art, my recently closed gallery here in Salida (for those of you who don't know about this.)

I will leave you with another one of the "bug" monotypes from the last printing session.

Hippy, hoppy, happy Easter

Did the Easter Bunny freeze to death? Maybe here in Colorado, he (she?) might have. After the heat of the desert in California, it has been a bit of a shock to come back for Colorado's cold spring. We had a bit of snow yesterday, and woke up to another dusting this morning. It does make for a beautiful walk, however, so I won't complain too much.

As usual, I dyed Easter eggs. I was going to do it yesterday, but since it was so cold, I couldn't bring myself to go outside and get the dye and eggs. I went to the store this morning, after the walk. I don't know what it is, but I love dying Easter eggs!!! Fun! I consider it an "artist date", for those of you who are familiar with Julia Cameron's book, The Artist's Way. For any of you who could use a little help in the creativity department, I highly, HIGHLY recommend this book! It is a must read. My eggs were pretty good this year, although I will admit I was having a hard time creating the perfect purple egg. I think I bought the wrong kind of dye. ??? I don't remember having this kind of trouble in years past. Usually, the purple ones are the best ones I dye! darnit! But still, it was fun.

I spent the rest of the day working on my cd rom slide show. I have created a slide show with my new monotypes, and burned it to mini business card-sized cds. They are really cool, and I will use them for galleries, and people who express an interest in my work. I will probably send some out to collectors. If you wish to have one sent to you, just email me: karine@karineswenson.com. I will happily send you one. Warning: they only work on PC's. Not for the Mac user. SORRY!!! I do not have the technological know-how to make a universal one, yet. My website has also been updated, so feel free to check in and give me any feedback you may have: http://www.karineswenson.com. It is just in the preliminary phase, so please remember we know it needs work. This is the rough draft!

Here is one more picture, for Easter. Have fun!

Straight from the airplane

Into the studio!! As it should be. The house hunting has come to an end, for now. A temporary end. We are back in Salida, and I went up to the college to use the printmaking press once again!! Yay!

Today, I decided to print bugs. It was a lesson in entomology. Last night, I made some bugs out of cardboard and styrofoam. Actually, only one was made out of cardboard, and three were made out of styrofoam. I drew them from photos found on the internet - thank you google - and cut them out. Then, I glued the legs and things (heads, antennae, etc.) together. The reason I made them as separate parts is because I wanted to see the definition between joints. So today, my bugs were used for art. What I discovered is that glue holds together much better on cardboard than on styrofoam. I also like the look of the cardboard bug much better than the styrofoam. But you can be the judge of that. This first one is a styrofoam bug. This is a crude photo, but I am just trying to give you an idea.

This next photo is one of the last prints I made today, with the large cardboard beetle. What I like, besides durability, is the way the cardboard caused a clear white outline around the bug, because the cardboard doesn't give like the styrofoam. He only lost a leg, whereas the beetle from the previous print lost pretty much all of his parts (head, legs, antennae). In fact, the smaller beetle made of styrofoam I ended up throwing away, because so many parts had fallen off. The reason it is better when the parts don't fall off is because when the parts fall off, you find them stuck to the brayer, rather than on the bug. It becomes a lesson in patience to piece everything back together on the plate, rather than having them already there in one piece. This larger beetle, from cardboard, was saved, since it was still mainly intact. Next time, all the insects I make will be out of cardboard. Still, I had a lot of fun, and I am glad I went up there.

In case you are wondering, the house hunting trip was good overall, despite a few glitches. It seems most likely that we will be settling in the desert, either in Palm Springs or maybe Yucca Valley. So at least we have narrowed it down. Even though we did find a couple of houses that might be good possibilities, we will probably wait to put an offer in on anything until Matthias is finished with his training at Cathay Pacific. Stay tuned! More adventures to come in life and art...I leave you with a photo of yucca valley.

House hunting and hotels

Matthias and I are currently in the Los Angeles area. We arrived Tuesday. We are looking for our new home. It is a strange thing, trying to imagine yourself living in a totally new environment. I find myself asking a lot of questions: "will we be happy here? Will the dog be happy here? Where will I walk the dog? Where will I hang out? Will I be able to connect with anyone here?" It is a rather intimidating decision. I know that we will find a place, eventually. We are in some ways at an advantage, since Matthias doesn't drive back and forth to the airport every day. He only drives back and forth once or twice a month. Therefore, we can live within a 2 1/2 to 3 hour radius of the airport. That means we have a lot more ground to cover than usual.

We drove to Palm Springs when we first arrived on Tuesday. Matthias rented a Toyota Prius, because we are thinking we might sell our truck and buy one. It is a pretty cool car, and easy to drive. It has been getting about 46 miles to the gallon. Impressive! The reason we went to Palm Springs is that might be the most AFFORDABLE area right now. There are quite a few things I really love about the Palm Springs area. It does get extremely hot there. This time of year, however, it is gorgeous. The light reminds me of Hawaii, and guess what - we got a hotel room in this wonderful hotel called Caliente Tropics. It is all decorated Hawaiian style, and I have to say, it was one of the cutest, most original hotel rooms I've seen in a long time. I've got photos of the room, and it was simple, but clean. The thing that really got me was that painting over the bed. What a nice painting - and this is HOTEL ART!!!!! Whoa!!! I could see the painting while I sat in bed in a mirror that hung across from it. I enjoyed it immensely. Of course you must realize that part of my love of this hotel is due to my partiality to anything Hawaiian. But STILL. It was really fun!

I found the contrast of desert and palm trees really interesting, and perhaps a bit jarring! The thing is, there were some pretty nice houses that we could actually afford, and that is comforting. I wasn't sure if that would happen, since California is notoriously expensive. We have already looked at a bunch of different areas, including La Quinta and Idyllwild. Idyllwild is up in the mountains, reminds me of Evergreen, and it was COLD. I have to admit, I don't think I want to be in the cold anymore. I mean, we've DONE the mountain thing already. The dog would love it there, but he can't be the only reason we buy into a certain area. The rest of us have to like it, too. It had just snowed the day before we got to Idyllwild, and you can still see a bit of it under the awning of the cafe where we ate lunch.

We are now in a Hotel 6 near the airport (LAX) because Matthias is leaving on a 3 day trip to Anchorage at 2 am. I will be driving him to the airport, and then coming back for a few more hours of shut eye. I am planning on checking out the Oxnard, Hueneme Beach area while he is on his trip. He will be back on Sunday, and then we will continue our exploring after that. We head back to Colorado on Tuesday.

Reunited

I have just returned home, after driving to the Front Range yesterday. I had to drop off the accepted entry to the Lincoln Center for the NCAA juried show. (see blog entry from March 2nd) The drop off was actually today, from 9 am to noon, but I knew I wasn't going to make that, so my one and only friend in Fort Collins, Kirk Johanson, agreed to help me out. I brought the drawing to him yesterday, and he took the piece to the Lincoln center for me today. I haven't seen Kirk in probably 20 years or more. My family and Kirk's family were friends when we were growing up in Rapid City, SD. Kirk and I used to spend a lot of time together, hiking and reading books. Fun to see him after all this time. He is married to a beautiful blonde wife, with three beautiful blonde children. He is now our mortgage broker. Thanks, Kirk!!

After Pono and I went to Fort Collins, we drove to my parents house in Highlands Ranch (a suburb of Denver, for those of you who don't know). We spent the night with the parental unit. This morning, I woke up before light (thanks to the dog/alarm clock) and took Pono for a walk in a misty rain. There was no one out, save cottontails and tons of earthworms. Those earthworms were stretched out on the sidewalk, and I spent the majority of the walk trying not to step on them. Pono, however, had no such concerns. He stepped on quite a few. After breakfast, a la Dad, we got ready and drove to the airport to pick up My LONG LOST husband!!! Matthias has some time off from his training with Cathay Pacific, so he is HOME!!! We are reunited, and let me tell you, it feels GREAT! It's been one month since I have seen him.

I have to tell you about a dream I had last night. I dreamed that the artist who won "best of show" in the aforementioned juried show had cut carrots and celery into sticks. It was an installation that looked like a section in a grocery store, with refrigerated shelves lined with these sticks of celery and carrots. That was the art that won best of show. I was so ANGRY!!! I kept saying, "how can they win best of show for cutting up vegetables! That doesn't take talent!" Pretty funny. Dreams are extremely strange.

Tomorrow, it looks like I might get to do some more circus training, and then either Monday or Tuesday, Matthias and I are off to the airport once again, to fly to LA, and look for our new house. I hope we find something! Wish us luck.