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Saturday, April 28, 2012

UFOs... product of too many projects on the go. ..


We're not talking about little green men and unidentified flying objects, rather I mean all of those UnFinished Objects taking up space in my home office/art room, shelving, and various places around town.. like the hospital’s audiology department, and the Special Event Society Boardroom...  
But where to find the time to finish these objects.....

Chicken Little grows like a weed, and  some days  I want to just stop time for a while so I can continue to marvel at his current stage.  It’s such a lovely stage. He can sit but doesn’t go anywhere and he is so expressive and despite having no words of yet he had a great little personality developing.   I just want to stay home with him for ever...    but time marches on.  I will have to return to work.  Although not in my previous job as it will no longer exist and has been cut as a result of considerable budget “savings” ... i.e. reductions,  which are designed to “strategically consolidate, modernize and streamline services, functions and programs, while leveraging technology and integrating capacity to realize efficiencies and achieve savings” ...  and in the end.... there are few details on what that might mean except that my job isn’t there anymore.   However they did offer me an alternative job which I have accepted.  It is a slightly different and more controversial position...  at the end of the day I should be glad I have a job to go back to.  

But the jist of this post is that  – I’m really not certain how on earth I’m going to fit 40 hours a week into my schedule.   Sure I’ll be paying someone else to raise Chicken Little for the majority of his waking hours so that ought to free up some time... time that I enjoy watching him learn to eat, and use his voice, and move his sturdy little body.   I wonder if I will get to be the one to watch as he takes his first steps, says his first words... or if that too will be taken by the need to pay someone else for “day care”  while I earn the money needed for that same daycare, food, shelter and clothing....    *sigh*.... back on topic.....  the projects..

all the many many many many projects I have on the go....  when will I ever have the time to do all the volunteer works, the art works, the quilting projects (although the three quilts I’m in the middle of are temporarily on hold as I try to fix my sewing machine which suddenly seems to be protesting) and myriad of other projects. 

Yup unfinished  objects – every artist has them – of that I’m sure.   As an aside they have websites, societies, 12 step programs and fully staffed support groups for people and their UFOs....  I’m serious!

Here are a few photos of those things I’ve got on the go... things I better get done before work throws a wrench not only into motherhood but into creative inspiration as well!!


This is a volunteer project to update the panels for the Arts Council float - which is our contribution to the annual Seafest Parade.  I've been enjoying this project and it's a great warm up for the Audiology project. 

A fun Flannel Rag Quilt I've got on the go - something for Chicken Little and I to curl up under and read stories while the rain beats down on us.  

My FIRST.. yup first "real" quilt.  I've actually done all the cutting - and just need to get that sewing machine working so i can start putting the pieces together.  The Pattern is : 
http://www.friendfolks.com/store-detail.php?ID=892 


The above two sketches are another volunteer undertaking - it is my hope to have an entire hallway in the audiology department at the hospital painted in fun sea critters before September.... these are just in the idea stage. 
Just another work in progress..... Watercolour. 





Monday, April 2, 2012

art by panel


Chicken Little is 7 months old today, and the rain and wind that marked his birth has returned full force.  In fact the gusts were strong enough that my exuberant dog turned tail at the sliding glass door this morning, having to be forcefully pushed outside for her morning constitutional .   I was glad my own day’s activities did not include any outdoor adventures.  As I was able to complete my mural panels yesterday!

Yay me!   I know I started them before Chicken Little came around, but spending time in the winter inside that unheated,  tin walled, dirt floored basement wasn’t really high on the priority list as the weather entered sub-zero temperatures.  But I’m done now....  three full panels of jubilant sea life gathered in bright colours and awkward brush strokes.   

outdoor latex on sign board  ~4 ft x8 ft
© RiverWalker Arts

outdoor latex on sign board  ~4 ft x8 ft
© RiverWalker Arts


I gathered up my supplies.... and stashed them in the back of my car for my next painting adventure!!

“What is the next adventure?”  You ask....  well the  the paints from the mural panels are being appropriated so that I can paint a series of completely different panels... these ones being the panels that will grace the float of our local Arts Council in our community “Seafest” Parade.   The Float...  hmm so what will the float look like.... well I think it will look suspiciously like  -   -   My Car!   Yes the panels used to  be designed for a flat bed truck.. but apparently these are hard to come by these days and turns out roof racks make great places to tie plastic panels on to one’s car.   I have no idea what this will look like when it’s done but I’ll try to post some Photos!

Wish me luck. 

“To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow.”
― Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country