On Comparing Apples and Turnips

I did an impromptu inventory of my coloring books, art supplies and such over the weekend.  To color and use everything I have in my possession right now would take me at least 10+ years of "doing art" 10.5 hours/ day and I'd still have enough bits and bobs left over to fill two shelves.  Yeah, I did the math.  I'm a nerdy girl with geeky tendencies.  

I am disgusted with myself.  Truly!

I started this journey some time ago, oblivious to the larger coloring world.  I had some specific goals, a love of art I'd never had time to explore, and a wacky schedule that dictates anything I do be "pick up and put down and pick up again."  Turning my journey in to an exercise in frustration would not happen if I kept reality in mind when planning my projects.  

Dusty Corners & Treasures of Someday Re-Discovered

I didn't really expect to tidy the piles of mess This Week.  I anticipated putting it off till next Christmas, maybe.  Work to do, pages to color, books to read, Worker Bees to blather with, FIBs to chat with and weather to enjoy before it gets roasty and toasty. 

But life is like that. You think you've got The Plan inked in then something comes along, a simple thing, a momentary distraction and there went The Plan, shrieking out the window like a bat desperate to escape the light.  Being an Old Biddy, this no longer bothers me, in fact, I don't generally ink The Plan anymore, I make a list and hope for the best.

Post Picture Funk Solution

You go to bed, hours later than usual, buzzing with the high of a picture at the point of only fine details to add.  It's a restless sleep.  You have nightmares of a pencil rebellion - hundreds of colors walking off the job, demanding better hours and fairer usage - grateful when the alarm goes off despite the fact your eyes are red and your pupils are still somewhat blown out.  Still, when you manage to focus, the picture isn't horrible and the pencils, ThankGawdAlmighty, are exactly where you left them, all present and accounted for!

A mug of coffee will get you jump started, the day will be long but the weariness worth it; all the things you tell yourself does not dent that feeling of being blue deviled by the crash.  I don't know how real artists do it, over and over, confronting this low after the effervescent buzz of creation! No wonder historically; starving and ridiculed, artists struggled so often against the label nutz. They sure didn't have the ease of flip a switch lighting, flush toilets, pre-made canvas, readily available papers and supplies - No amazon two day delivery. Yet, our museums are full, our history is thick, and our souls fed by those intrepid, dedicated artists that still give us wonders to behold in their works.  I am humbled and awed but definitely wishing they'd left a note or two behind about how they crawled out of the Post Picture Funk.

from The Calligrapher's Colouring Book by Renee Chin

Programmed to Save and Now, It's Official

I've worked on screens since 1993, or thereabouts. It didn't take me long to embrace the mantra "Save is Your Friend!" Some programs had auto-save, even back then, but they were memory hogs and tended to argue with Windows causing crashes and memory dumps.  Clearing out, never mind finding those ~tmp files, was an adventure in itself. Now those auto-saves argue with your virus protection and frankly, Virus Protection better win!  Shutting it off to save your data is not a good idea, just mentioning.