The wrong things are important.

I've been feeling artistically stifled lately. And a friend on Facebook made a comment, after I listed a bunch of important things I had to do instead of paint, that maybe the wrong things are important. He was right. And those things didn't even make it on the list.

I hate to admit it. I've had a ton of fun being a circus freak and redefining myself as a musician, but the expense for this fun has quite literally been my artwork. There's just been too much going on. My time with Circus Bacchus is drawing to a close soon, I'll be calling it a done deal after this next show. I had tons of fun. But I really miss my babies (all the embryos). And I need to get back on the horse and paint some more.

Portland is looking like a real possibility for relocation, followed closely by San Francisco and trailed eminently by Tucson. We'll see how it goes! Whatever happens, by June I will be out of Flagstaff and on to bigger and better things.

So long, small town. It's been... something.

6 or so months pass...

...and nothing much has changed.

Here's a business card and alternate logo I made for 34 Electric and Communications in Flagstaff.

I'll be posting one image per day for the next couple weeks. Each image comes from the span of time that I have been employed at The Print Raven in Flagstaff.

6 months from now, I will be living somewhere else! I've decided that it is time to take my leave of this stifling small town, and actually get paid for my expertise at a more professional organization. I have had a good time up here, met many good friends and had many good times, especially the circus related ones. But it's time to move on. I am growing to hate this place, and that isn't what I want.

Ram Dass is my new guru. If you haven't heard of/listened to him, you ought to. His name was Richard Alpert before his awakening. He is in his 80's now. And my new goal in life is to meet him before he dies. He has beautiful thoughts. And an equally beautiful smile.

Speaking of goals, it's time for new years resolutions! Which I hate. So I've decided to have new year's guidelines instead:

Yoga regularly.

Begin juicing.

Eat more raw foods, veges, salad, fruits, smoothies.

Eat REAL breakfasts in the morning. (By real I mean see above and quit the mini doughnut and mountain dew combo I've been living on for a YEAR almost...)

Control blood sugars. (The docs tell me it will help my joint problems among other things.)

Regular meditation.

More sitting in the sun.

Control inflammatory pain.

More art for me.

Art as activism.

More poetry.

Better general hygene (eew, I know...)

"Be the lover you desire" and then start looking.

All easy guidelines to stick to.

My first plan for moving away is to move to Eugene, OR with my friend Natasha. The second plan is to just apply for jobs in whatever city I feel like going to and see what turns out. I definately need a job before I do any moving. Work cut me to part time, so now I have next to no income. And jobs in Flagstaff are hard to find unless you want to work food or retail. But even then...

I will, however be doing some figure modeling at NAU in February and March. Putting just a little bit of cold hard evil into my savings account for the move.

One last thing, I'm pretty sure I'm an anarchist. I'm also pretty sure I'm a communist. But I'm pretty sure I'm not an anarcho-communist. That community has a tendency toward violence and disrespect that I am not angry enough to get behind yet. I mean, sorry black bloc, but I don't have to believe in private property to respect it or accept people's addiction to it. Breaking windows only demonstrates your anger, it doesn't really make any kind of point beyond that.

Actually, that's not the last thing. The last thing is a "big think" (read The Island of Dr. Moreau). I'm an adult. I can make my life be whatever I want it to be. When I was younger, I used to get discouraged about being stuck in a rut and not being able to change anything. Now, I am seeing that it just takes a little more time than I want it to, and that is the source of my frustration. But, the time is necessary. Time presents the opportunity to grow, plan, change without growing pains, and make easy transitions. One of the things that I will take away from my time in Flagstaff is the ability to appreciate the baby steps in the process to bettering oneself. I have changed a lot since I've been here, and it has been too slow to account for all at once. But looking back on the last 2 years, I can see the progression. And only now does it all begin to make sense and fit together. Patience, as it turns out, is less of a virtue and more of a necessity. People only say it is a virtue because they are victims of their culture, too ADD to sit and wait, contentedly, for an outcome. Maybe patience should be on my list of new year's guidelines.

The end. For now.

Reawakening

I went to San Francisco. I discovered there that I've fallen behind technology while in Flagstaff. So! There's only one thing to do. Upgrade! I've decided to give my internet presence and gadgets/technology/programs a complete overhaul in the next 2 years or so. 2 years because I think it's going to take that long to get the funds for it.

Then I'll be all set to move to the big city and have a career for a few years!

I've suddenly been thrust into this weird state of adulthood. I feel a very profound need to be a career woman, if you will. And nesting has begun. I want an earthship, off the grid, with a garden, by a river, with a dock, and a little boat, and an inner-tube tied to the dock with a rope, so I can sit in it, and not go anywhere.

I want to have a "job" where I telecommute and get to make executive decisions and control the direction my designs and art take.

I also want to cure my diabetes. And it looks like I can, if I get in on the right clinical trial. Speaking of diabetes, here's this really wicked electronic log book program for iPhone called Diabetes Buddy that has EVERYTHING I EVER wanted in a log book! I can track my sugars, insulin, exercise, and food along with other things like water consumption and BMI/weight changes, all in one program on my iPhone! The only problem is, I have a 1st gen iPhone, and the program needs the 4.0 update to run. 1st gen only supports 3.x.x. More motivation to upgrade I guess.

Exciting things! I feel like I've awakened into a new part of myself, but more on that when I post about FaeryWorlds and the rest of my trip. ; )

Update

It's finally Spring! No more snow or frosts this year. I've planted squash, beans, and carrots. We'll see how they turn out. I'm hoping to receive tomato plants from my friend Esther once they get big enough. We have mint taking over one of the planters, green onions, sage and cilantro. Good eats!

I'm gearing up for Fairyworlds in Eugene, OR. Natasha, Maria, a few others and I will be manning a booth and selling all manner of wonders and trinkets. There will be art, masks, jewelry, books, clothing and more! Fun for all!

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately, mostly about my current direction. Circus is taking over my life and I didn't want it to, so after this performance season, I'll be scaling it back significantly. The only performing I'll be doing will be with the band. Fire up in Flagstaff is just too much of a hassle. I'll be learning some new and interesting skills like fire meteor, dart, and fire breathing/eating. And I'll be keeping up with the juggling. But just to dabble. Maybe something awesome will come out of these experiments, but I'm not banking on it. I just want to have fun with it. More trumpet, more painting, less stress, happy Kim.

I'll be celebrating my 1 year anniversary in a couple weeks. My how time flies when your in love. : )

I can't wait until my self-imposed 2 years is up on my job. I'm ready to be more creative and actually get paid real money for what I can do.

Diabetes management is improving. I discovered to my dismay that all the ratios in my insulin pump were completely off and I have been working to get things back on track. Vision is improving with my blood sugars, and I've hooked up with an excellent diabetes educator who doesn't scoff at my dreams of curing my disease or participating in clinical trials to that end. The next step is finding a like-minded endocrinologist (a requirement for most of the clinical trials). I think I may be conducting interviews for that position. I really want my new doc to be on board for curing me, not treating me. I have faith.

On the injury front, I've started light work-outs that include stretching, balance and equipment-less exercises (push-ups, crunches, pull-ups, etc.) that use my body as its own weight system. I've decided to track my progress and see how I improve month to month. Maybe I'll be a flier yet! Stretching and moving feels really good. I'm doing it right.

I'm donating a painted adirondack chair to my Mom's Soroptimist Club for a raffle in Phoenix. It's a desert-scape with prickly pear cactus. I'll be painting it today. I had another, more epic idea, but she told me to stick with something simple. Next year, I'll be painting it a Dia de los Muertos theme with a skeleton mother and a skeleton embryo and flowers and bright colors and yay!

Motorcycle, gallery showings and paintings are in the works.

End of line.

Also, Resolutions Update

My New Years Resolutions can be found here.

I'm in the middle of all my books and pretty close to finishing 2 of them.

The Circus Bacchus brand is taking shape, once I find where my computer hid my fonts, I'll be good to go on that.

No paintings done as of yet.

No elaboration on my stories as of yet.

Still knitting sometimes.

1 rave down, but it doesn't count because it sucked. EDC is looking like a definite.

My insurance pay-off for the car accident came in, so money saved. Chi-ching!

Band is taking care of all my trumpet needs and more.

I'm on the fence about the hip-hop class because of time commitment.

As soon as it gets warm enough, I'll start biking. Probably sometime in April.

In addition to all that, I'll be learning a new circus skill, buying a motorcycle, and trying to get a local gallery show or two before the end of the year. And Detox in April.

Update and Plans

So, as you've probably guessed, I've been out of the neck brace for some time now. Muscle pain is almost nonexistent and my muscles are coming back in. Poi helps a lot, but I've lost all of my strength and using my heavy practice rigs is now a workout!

Circus and band are coming right along. It appears that I've caught them at an interesting time when they're starting to be sought out for gigs and formalizing the ranks and becoming an actual performance troop. Very exciting indeed. I'm going to be in an acrobalance act, a fire breathing/eating act and a fire poi act. I've got music for most and have started choreography for none... Shows appear to be during the summer, so I have a little time.

I've also accidentally developed a sad clown character. Her name is Crispy, and she'll play with fire. Kindlin Stokes continues to be my main stage presence though.

I profoundly miss modeling. I crave the meditation time and never seem to find the time to sit for 3 hours and think, which is what that work became for me.

Spring Fever. I has it. And along with it, the desire to do a detox. I think I'll try one for 3 weeks starting in April. This time I'll take the supplements and get the body work and do the exercises and the special hygiene things (scrubs, skin-care, aromatherapy, etc.) I'll feel fabulous when I'm done. : )

I'm trying to manage my time better, it's coming along... Slowly... This is an ongoing problem that I need to address.

In art, I'm trying to make more time, and I'll be tricking out part of the garage to make a studio for painting and outside sorts of art activities. I'll probably use it as a drying room too, away from the pets.

Blood sugar control never ceases to amaze me. I've been keeping better track for a week now and I can already read street signs from the car again. The world is a lot bigger when I can see the trees on the peaks and the leaves on branches across the street. I'm also feeling a little more energetic. Not that any of this surprises me, but I think I'd like to see how far I can take it this time and actually be well for a while. I'm tired of being sick and injured.

I'm very tired today. Stayed up late to pick my sister up from the train station. Really late. I think I'll be nice to myself when I get home and take it easy.

Update

Finished the first knitting project I ever started. It's a short scarf with yellow buttons. : )

I've been out of the neck brace since the 10th. And it's been SO nice. I'm recovering quickly and have lost a bit of strength and muscle, but there hasn't been much pain aside from stiffness.

I begin work again full time next week. Yay paycheck!

I've made a rag tag list of resolutions to guide me through my next year. Very few are physical goals, but I can make those once my body is in working condition again.

Read 5 Classics

Read 5 books from personal library

Circus Bacchus Act Posters

Love Paintings

Kris' Angels

Elementals

Burn Unit Story and Character Sketches

Geb & Nut (legend in Burn Unit universe)

Finish 2 video games

Kitten Head Paintings

Beanie the Premie

Mittens, Chessie, Ginger, Mica

Finish Character Backgrounds

Sculpt a little

Knit a bit

Go to 2 raves

Rebuild lost strength

More trumpet

Bike (later in year)

Hip Hop Dance Class (later in year)

Save monies

A1c 8 or lower

The Verdict...

...is in.

The neurologist says that I have to keep the brace on until mid January. On the bright side, I'll be able to skip to the front of all the lines at Disneyland.

My trigger finger was helped, but not cured by the first shot. I suspect a second shot is needed. Not thrilled.

This week I'll see another doc about the nodule they found on my thyroid. Hopefully it's nothing. My Mom has one too so I'm not too worried.

I got moved into the big office at work! Now I'm in the room with all the other graphic designers. : ) It's not a promotion or anything like that, they just have room now.

Speaking of work, The Print Raven won Best of Flagstaff this year in the category of "Best Print Shop"! We didn't even advertise for the competition this year and we ended up winning. We rock.

Being back at work is hard on my neck, but I'm settling back into the routine again just fine. The doc told me to only work part time and not to do any lifting or bending. So I'm confined to my desk except for a few production tasks like binding, laminating and copies (as long as they're not heavy once they're done).

I'm looking forward to my move. Lots of painting space. And I have lots of new ideas for art, mostly involving Circus Bacchus publicity and print design. But paintings are coming to me as well. I know I've been complaining that I don't paint enough. I think all the painting space in the new house will fix that. They have a room with a south wall that is mostly windows looking out into a pretty back yard, perfect for natural light.

Lance Horton, the guy with the gallery in Winslow, will be picking up my Brain Babies for display on Wednesday. I can't wait for them to be up again! And I'm stoked that they'll be displayed in a tattoo parlor. That alone makes the distance worth while. The best part is that he's understanding about the car and willing to pick stuff up from me.

Onward and upward and toward the New Year!

Oops

I was in a car accident on the 29th. It was snowing and we hit a particularly treacherous curve in the road that was covered in slick snow. The road kept curving, but the car didn't and my girlfriend and I ended up crashing into a telephone pole at somewhere between 35 and 40 mph. There was a crunch, a sensation of hardness that I'd never felt before in my life, and puff of black smoke filled the cab. Laura fled the car, I managed my seat-belt and discovered my car door was stuck. She rushed around the other side of the car to help me but I used my adrenaline to climb over the seats and out her door. Then the pain hit me. My shoulders and neck felt like they'd been sledge hammered and my waste felt cold in a few places. I chalked it up to ice until later when I found out that my seat-belt had given me two burns on my iliac crests (better burned than comatose!).

After getting snowed on for a couple minutes, the paramedics arrived and put us in neck braces, then an anbulence took us to the hospital to be checked out. Laura came away with a bloody nose and a mild case of whiplash. My injuries were worse.

At the hospital, they got me out of my jacket and sweater and cut my shirt off. Then they put me in a gown and took my vitals and started me on an I.V. for pain killers which I initially refused. As the evening went on, they gave me a CAT scan and took some blood. I finally accepted morphine, and found it to be absolutely no fun, albeit effective. Then they pumped me full of anti nausea meds and atavan for the MRI. That was no fun either, even the anti anxiety meds didn't help, and they wore off in the middle of the scan. They found a bump on my thyroid. I have to get that checked out now.

The final diagnosis was that I have damage to my ligaments on C5 and C6 in my neck and need to remain in a neck brace until the neurologist says I can take it off without fear of paralysis.

The last week has been a percoset "soma holiday" and I've gotten a lot of knitting done. I see the neurologist on Wednesday, and hope to get my brace off. I am not allowed to lift anything, take the brace off, move my head, or much of anything. They said I could return to work on the 13th, but I'm going to play it by ear.

The injection for my trigger finger went well and it's feeling a lot better now. I almost punched the Doc out when the shot was delivered; it hurt like a mother...

Here are my thoughts on morphine. It sucks! Everyone I've ever talked to and read about opiate based drugs praises "the rush" and says it's the greatest thing in the world. In Trainspotting they say "Take the best orgasm you ever had, multiply it by a thousand and you're still nowhere near it." My ruling, horse-shit. They are so incredibly wrong. The nurse described "the rush" as "a blizzard in my brain" which is surprisingly accurate. It isn't pleasurable in the least, and neither is the high afterward. The rush gives you static, like a snowy TV screen, then it's like you're normal, but with a balloon for a head with 3D glasses on. Nothing special, nothing especially pleasurable, just normal-plus. I'd like to take the opportunity to judge opium enthusiasts as retarded and in need of better drugs. Opiates are crap. At least I know I'll never die a heroin addict!

Today I get to begin the process of packing my house for others to move. I can't lift anything, so I get to rely on the goodness of my circus friends to move and place my things in my new lodgings. And since I tend to micromanage my moving, this is going to take a lot out of me. But I am touched by the amount of people that volunteered to help right away. Thanks, everyone. It means a lot to me. And I promise, the food and drink I give you in return will be excellent.

Update and Burbling

Wow, so work has been so hectic that I haven't been able to produce any stickers for, like, a month now. Yay school starting. Apparently this is our peak season. At least it'll calm down soon.

I'm seriously considering the purchase of a vinyl cutter. They're expensive, but I really like it as a medium. I have plans. So many plans. *evil grin*

I have a girlfriend, her name is Laura. : )

She made me a bento lunch today that included a big rice piggy and little hot dog piglets! So full of cute! And made with love. You know how sometimes you can totally tell that your food was either happy or made with love? You eat it and it nourishes your soul and your body. I started my lunch happy and ended it laughing because I could feel the love. :D Best lunch evar! Thank you my dear! I'll post a pic later.

I've been artistically constipated. I haven't done anything in a really long time. It's time to get painting. And knitting. And sewing. And sketching. Anything...

The problem I've run into has to do with my energy level. It's non-existent. I've been trying to counter it with a little mind-over-matter exercise. I wake up, frown, and my first thought is "I'm tired, I want to sleep more, this sucks." I'm making a concentrated effort to wake up, smile, say an affirmation, and think "I'm awake, I'm happy, today is awesome!" It has produced good results so far, actually.

My dreams have been very vivid lately. One involved visiting Atlantis and seeing their water accumulator tower; it pulls water out of the atmosphere using polarity and drips it into a lake, all pure and drinkable. There is a force field that keeps contaminants out. If a large enough organic body falls in (ie. Me or another person), it teleports it onto a platform that is like a dock running out into the center of the lake. For the record, teleporting is SUPER FUN!

My inquiry into Hinduism had produced some interesting results. The more I research it, the more I am drawn to it. Not the Hare Krishna movement, but the religion as a whole. It is full of light, balance, love and tolerance. Not just tolerance, but understanding and acceptance. Cool stuff, and the deities are super cool.

I have a big happy today. : )

My cat caught his first bird a week ago! I was very happy for him, and he seems to have perked up a little since then.

I have an awesome potted vegetable garden now! It is doing well. Hopefully it will produce zucchini before the frost. There are tomatoes also, and lettuce and peas. Herbs too. Om nom nom.

I'll try to sell Argentina this weekend. My car and I have had some good times, but now we must part. I'll see how well I do with for sale signs and leaving it in a visible place before I go with craigslist.

I'm in Circus Bacchus as their official fire tech (LOL!) and I'm now the trumpet player in the Circus Bacchus Band! I'm having tons of fun with them and I'll start learning new skills soon. Juggling and fire staff are on the list. And I think I'll be able to coordinate group fire routines too.

I tried disc golf. I LOVE it.

That's all I can think of for now!

Tiny Update

Work is so fun! I get to make things every day!

A company called R.T. Henderson chose my logo out of the ones that the other designers and I sent for proofing. It was the first time my design has been chosen ever! I was super excited about it. Here it is:

I've finally gotten settled enough that I've started working on my own artwork again. And I even got hit up to illustrate a children's book by one of our clients! It's a cute story about a Moose and a Goose and a mystery bird with low self esteem. The mystery bird is very self conscious about the way he looks and is afraid that others don't like him because he is different. By the end, the Moose and the Goose present him in all of his glory to the other animals. The mystery bird is a Peacock and all of the animals crown him king of a festival because he is so delightfully unique and beautiful. Cute story, I'll be getting sketches of that done this coming week if all goes well.

Wow, life is good.

Long Awaited Update

• I'm about to move back to Flagstaff
• I got a job doing graphic design and print production for Print Raven
• I finished Randy's shirts!
• I've been insanely busy with modeling and packing
• I'm totally on schedule with the move
• Art will be on hold until I've settled in
• Blogging for real will resume after I move in

Woot! Seriously, I'm running on pitas and geek beer. Insanity is neigh.

Smallish Update

I've been doing a TON of sketching lately. Mostly on the circus stuff. Which clued me in to a gigantic problem that's developed, probably over the last couple of years. My hand for the human figure has atrophied alarmingly. I mean, I can't even draw coherently these days. The reason I've been doing so much sketching is because that's all I can do!

In lieu of this, I've started a figure sketchbook. I'll be going through all of my Bridgeman books on figure drawing and human anatomy and movement, trying to recover the skill I've lost over the past couple of years. I'm begining with "Constructive Anatomy", the unofficial textbook for one of the most important figure drawing classes I took in college. That class helped my perspective a lot, but is responsible for half of the problems I currently have with the figure. Seriously, it should be a year-long class. The problem is that it takes you through the entire figure and then the semester ends, and you're left without adequate time to practice ALL that you learned. Half of it slips away over winter break, and then it's on to painting (which I took a whole YEAR late).

So, most of my figurative projects will be put on the back burner until I've addressed the problem of regaining my hand. Until then, I have plenty of painting to do!

Also, this is cool... mrdoob.com/projects/harmony/

Super Late Update

I'm an artist, and I rhyme! I can do it all the time!

Enough of that.

Flagstaff will be my new place of residence. California made itself unmanageable when my room mates decided to bail. No hard feelings though, I'm 90% sure I have a job waiting for me in Flag at a printing company called Print Raven. If (when) hired, I'll be an in house graphic designer and print producer! This, if I haven't mentioned it before, is the part of the field I wanted to get into in the first place. Hoorah!

I fixed my car all up! It is ready for sale! Almost. The new fender is white, the door panels are installed as best as I could install them, headlight is fixed, just waiting on the compressor. I'm going to want 'till the end of the month to put it up for sale officially to see if my mechanic friend can get ahold of the equipment needed to install the compressor, which may or may not work (install and/or compressor itself). But with all the changes, I can put it up for sale for more monies! Then some of the other goals on the previous post's list will take care of themselves.

Tucson is a giant energy suck that makes it hard to create things. Having said that, the Elementals will be done before the end of the month, I hope.

I've also been working on my circus series. I'm in the developmental sketches phase. Gotta make characters for the paintings. I think I should definitely figure out a fun place to work, I get my best sketching done away from the house.

Soon, I'll need to call my potential models to pose for reference photos for the "Love" series. Totally not going to actually call it that if I can help it...

MythoLogic is officially over. It was fun. I'll find out if I sold anything today. I have two galleries in Flagstaff that I'd like to pitch a show to, they seemed interested when I asked them about showing my stuff the first time, so we'll see!

Apartment hunting in Flag this month, and trimming the material fatz. Excitement.

Plans for Return

Okay, Flagstaff has cemented itself into my list of bus stops, once I get the bus. I'll definitely be sad to leave this time. That's unexpected, and welcome.

The plans for my return to Tucson art-wise are as follows:
- Finish the 4 element panels
- Begin first painting in Love series
- Start sketching characters for the Circus series
- Illustrate that neat comic book manuscript for fun
- Do Kristi's angels
- Buy caps for spraycans

Unartistic Plans:
- Pay off parking ticket
- Trim my material fats for the move
- Temp. Agencies
- Sell car
- Pay off CC debt
- Buy motorcycle? or wait until I find work in CA
- Once I have an address, switch phone # and be local
- Find work in CA and apply before leaving AZ

MythoLogic: Visions and Patterns

"Pobrecito"

"PMS"

"Ouroboros"

"One Side Will Make You Grow Taller"

"Network"

"Lucy"

"Chimera"

And there you have it! The line-up for the show.

Vacation is going well. I have gotten all of the things I wanted to get done finished.

Flagstaff has always been an interesting place for me. I grew up here, so, naturally, it is hard for me to separate all of that experience from the place. This time around, I decided to be objective about my stay and try to find a Flagstaff that I could appreciate; a Flagstaff I could actually call home instead of adolescent hell. As I was walking around downtown, sort of the alpine equivalent of 4th Ave., Tucson, I met a guy named Adam. He introduced himself with rose quartz, a giant hunk of non-crystaline, record-keeper mass as big as his fist. At first I thought he was trying to sell me something. I was wrong, and he was just out for conversation. We ended up talking for an hour or so and he introduced me to the "meditation bed" at Sacred Rites, a musical, metaphysics store downtown. The "meditation bed" is a wooden couch that acts as the resonator of a 3 octave monochord of strings running down the side of the bed. The owner of the store sang a beautiful mantra and played the bed while I reclined on it. It was very relaxing. Just the kind of revelation I needed.

So, underneath the Flagstaff I grew up in, there are small pockets of highly pressurized beautiful people and experiences. I had hoped that it was possible, and I think I've reconciled with the place on a very basic level. Now I understand why people live here, on a geologic hot-spot, at the foot of a sacred mountain that is due to explode any day now, just north of the vortexes, just south of the largest canyon in the world, in one of the coldest places in Arizona. It may draw a lot of snowbirds, and passers through, but the actual inhabitants of this place are what makes it beautiful. It's nice to be able to walk down the street and say a word to people and have them respond in a friendly way, without looking at you funny. I'd forgotten what small town life is like.

I've been doing a lot of journaling, reading, visiting old friends and brainstorming for my next few series. I also found two places that would quite probably display my work up here, once I make more of it (Black Hound Gallerie, and Animas Beads). Wouldn't it be fun to take my hometown by storm? I have a feeling I could rock this place.

The current fantasy is 7 pieces and prints for the show. My finger kinda killed my momentum, so the last 3 pieces will be finished after the show. Mr. Pinky says that I need rest and relaxation. And when fingers begin to speak to one, one must heed them. I'll have the 7 scanned tomorrow, make labels, business cards, an inventory sheet, and prints of the pieces. Booya.

In Flagstaff, I will do lots of hanging out downtown, tea drinking, drawing, and reading. I'm also going to hijack one of the cars and go to Sedona on Imbolc and the Grand Canyon. Chief Yellowhorse loves me, his signs say so, and maybe he'll cut me a break on jewelry costs. I'll be there for 2 weeks.

My next few projects will be a commentary on love. It will be cynical and sensual. I'll need some models... I think I know who to ask for a couple of them, if they're game. Excited! I think I'll try for 4 total.

Mr. Pinky says...

7 pieces down, 3 and change to go. Maybe.

I cut my pinky open today. Mr. Pinky is very sad after his 7 stitches. I broke a wine glass while washing dishes. It slipped and rebounded into my hand. Fatty tissue resembles yellow caviar. Who knew? At least it was my non-dominant hand!

I don't think it'll get in the way of my painting. But the deadline (originally tonight) has been moved to Tuesday.

I now have to get scans of the paintings, print business cards, format and print labels, and stencil some t-shirts.

Crunch time.

Here's the front! I designed the front and the back. It was really fun, especially the drippy paint part. I wish the dates showed up better, but it's okay for a rushed job. All the information is on the back anyway.

The printers at Print Raven in Flagstaff were very impressed with my RePiet Massage logo. It got me a space on their list of referals for freelance graphic design. Which basically means that if they have a client that needs some design work, they'll send them my way. : )

Backgrounds will be finished today. Foregrounds will be finished in the next 2 weeks, hopefully allowing for a week between finished pieces and the show. Woot! (So should have started this in November...)

Happy New Year to all!

New Years resolutions are as follows:
1. Finish paintings for show with time to spare and begin the art hat projects in March.
2. Give kick ass presents to family in February.
3. 85% of cooking and food prepared at home, by me.
4. Islet Cell Transplant Clinical Trial App. accepted by June.
5. Exercise goals:
-Yoga 2x weekly
-Silks 1-2x weekly
-Poi 1-2x weekly
-Pull up bar, wrist exercises and hip exercises when needed.
-Bike more, stretch after.
6. Sell books (make 4/week to sell).
7. Listen to more audio books and classical music.
8. Practice trumpet and find musicians and music for Christmas Carols in Dec.
9. Take more hot baths.
10. Keep trimming my consumer fat (away with useless things I own!).
11. Arrange move to CA.
12. Concentrate on art, not love.
13. Go on ski trip in March.
14. Institute an anti-inflamitory diet.

I've had the post card done forever and have just been lazy about reorienting the picture... So next post will include the postcard, my sister's logo, and a progress report about the show, which is fast approaching!