Some Pig!

Some Pig!   arcylic, 07/21/11

I need to do some touching up, but I painted this pig yesterday during our roadshow.  He makes me happy~ looks so deliciously pig-smile-blissed out.  (I suppose 'delicious' is an offensive adjective for describing a pig...but no food intended.  Actually, I don't eat much pork anymore, just some of the fantastic sausage manz makes for breakfast occasionally. Even tho we live in the 'hog belt'- as a certain Ms. Ball calls it).

Anyhoo, it is hot, hot, hot here- we set up yesterday at 6am, lasted until about 12:30.  By then it was 100, with an index of 105- nothing to you Texas folks I know but you don't have a) the humidity  b) a fellow selling chickens set up next to you (the chickens were fine- he keeps them in shade and water).  c) knowing that you have a pack-of-stuff to reload during the hottest part of the day if it doesn't sell.  Luckily, a fellow came by and bought 2 of 3 tables full of smalls (random glassware)...Hooray!!!! This means that today I am supposed to go out to our shed and uncover some more smalls, BUT it is already almost 90, the shed is metal and....I'd rather clean the house some more and scrape up a few indoor smalls to sell tomorrow.  Smalls are my department- manz does the heavy work, the endless hauling and loading of furniture that we store in random places around the county.  (Merel's house, Dad's barn, the Horse Branch Community Club... we need our own barn)

Back to the pig.  I almost always paint when we are doing a roadshow- This summer I've had painting angst, commissions not turning out quite right (a dogg portrait took me 3 tries before the client was satisfied.  That drives me nuts).  I actually rejected the wedding painting- painting people is my least favorite thing ever until I learn how to do it right.  (I did have one brief sparking moment the enabled me to paint a kazillion mermaids back at the beach...but that mojo is gone.)  Now, no doubt influenced by my rural surroundings, I've taken to doing these quick animal pictures.  The chickens I posted earlier, this pig, the goat from last year.  There is such freedom and joy when I paint what I want to when I want to- entirely different from slogging through a commission. But this is my bread-n-butter money (for me-treats) so no doubt I'll do some more commissions before the year ends....I'd rather people just buy my pig tho, or the chickens.....

Saturday is going to be hot, hot, hot again, but we will set up (and to be sure, we do have our tent, lots of drinks, sunscreen ...but I can't paint in a hat to save my life) and I've promised the son-of-chicken-man (he is 9 and a sweetie- he raises and sells his own chickens, the fancy small polish kind with the fluffy feet and pretty colors) that I would let him paint with me.  We are going to have some kinda fun!

Dress Up

If I was a Viking, I would sing really loud.  Take no prisoners.  Loot Walmart.  Discover a new land.  Travel by long boat, wear horns on my head and eat sheep.  If I was a Viking, my husband would be a....

Duuuuude!  A surfer.  He would ride the waves daily.  Use words like 'gnarly' and 'epic'.  Smell like salt and sand and blistex.  Wear Hawaiian shirts, flipflops and drink purple Powerade.  If I was a Viking and my husband was a Surfer, my son would be a...

Bear!  He would sleep all winter and wake up grouchy.  He would,look cuddly, be a little bit scary. He would live on berries and honey and stolen sandwiches.  If I was a Viking and my Husband was a Surfer and my son was a Bear, my best friend would be a....

Gypsy!  She would dance by moonlight.  Tell fortunes.  Know secrets. Travel all over and know all the words to all the songs.  She could build a campfire and cook wonderful things in tin cans.

We can be who we want to today.

Light, Hestia and the pursuit of Happiness

Sunrise on the Roadshow.

I find out things by random reading- when I am without direction, or have a stray moment, I open a book- a phrase or word often leads to strange and curious places that are otherwise not thought of.  Today, it is Hestia, the Greek goddess of home and hearth.  Hestia is the daughter of the Titans Cronus and Rhea- time and 'easement'  (Rhea was the mother of the gods, born of sky and earth- she embodies the flow/ether/creative substance that is the essence of life.  Her name is another word for pomegranate, a large bird and a moon are named after her....)  Anyway, Hestia.  Hestia was the first child, given to liking plain things (wood, white wool, fire, clean water in earthen vessels), and became the center for home and domesticity. (Hearth)..... the center of stillness, peace and the literal 'easement of time'.

I like that.

And today is Sunday- I've never been much for organized religion- but on Sundays I've always cleaned. (Cleanness is next to godliness and all that) Mother's cleaning day was Friday (I dutifully more-or-less cleaned chair rungs and bathrooms), but my day has always been Sunday.  And truth is, it is not a chore but a measure of pleasure, to put the house in order, make things right again.  A meditation, a type of prayer that I have let lapse because of the demands of work over the years....and the simple laziness that comes with  marriage, morning movies and Sunday breakfasts- all of which are good and valuable things as well.  But I've missed it- the house has slid out of control, I have fallen off center, that nexus of calm has been lost.  And I am remembering it- this summer I have been slowly but surely putting things back together.  First the living room, then the kitchen and dining room.  Now the studio...by degrees.  My goal is to have the inside of the house centered and usable by summer's end- then to work on the outside.  This makes me feel better, more in control of my environment.... (everywhere else my environment is more responsive to outside demands- principals, professors, students.  Here we can create a haven).  And this is what I want to do today. 

Let there be light.

What makes me happy~

my new boots and dress- thanks miss ball!

Things that make me happy: my new pink boots, singing in the car, manz-made breakfasts,  blue-and-brown, organization, summer, reading a good book, writing (I don't do enough writing for myself!), 'bear'-hugs, thinking, getting up early, the beach, photographing odd things, being best at something, painting what I want to instead of what I have to, coffee, Mexican icecream, the manz, good tv, accomplishing things that are difficult, money (yes, I'm that shallow), the monster, my leather chair, adventures with ms. ball, ceiling fans, when everything is clean, the doggs, a new bathroom, being out in the sunshine, afternoon naps, thunderstorms at night, blender drinks, thermos kits, music and dancing and acting silly, the cat, keeping tabs on the family on facebook, Mother's notes, web surfing, moths, my sketchbook, making art, working hard, payday, learning how to text.

Things that don't make me happy: telephones, bills, money (argh), criticism, feeling fat, photographs of me, unfinished projects, working *all* the time, feeling guilty or suspicious or paranoid (it's all in the way you interpret what people say), rotten potatoes  (nothing like getting a nice baked potato at lunch and cutting it open to find it black and smelly. yuck.  so much for 'free lunch'), car problems, bad smells, envy.

So what is this about?  I am coming to a point of shifting the unhappy to the happy- finding points of transformation.  It's possible- texting and facebook and letters can replace telephones (I can't hear worth crap, so adapt!), money can be managed relieving bills and creating savings- I am determined to pay off the last of the bills this fall (not counting student loans and maintenance bills- just outstanding depts on cars, computers and the never-ending-vet-bill-of-doom), eat right/ move and remember that I don't feel fat if I don't eat fat (yep, it works).  Learn to love the way I look now instead of longing for how I looked years ago.  Not that I was happy with that at the time...but wait till I get to 100!  I'll think I was one hot mama at 47!  Remember my old motto 'love all, trust a few' (Shakespeare himself said that- it runs true, and it's foolish to not remember it).  If life gives you a rotten spud, toss it in the trash and know that something better will come along later.  No great loss unless you try to keep it, eat it or fuss about it- all of that is a waste of time and energy.  Car problems? fix them or forget them. (fix the engine and windows, forget about the ac for now)...

envy? someone will always have bigger-better-faster-more. Get over it.

Basically, I'm happy, easy going, cheerful.  I work hard and work well.  I get stressed out about the wrong things (according to the manz), which can mostly be resolved by remembering these simple laws of being:

1.  Love all, trust a few.  

2.  If something bothers you, do something about it yourself.  Don't wait on others to do it for you- it won't get done, hon.

3.  Work to your best ability as cheerfully as possible.  

4.  Pay it forward.

Let's have a good day, ok?

Got Gas?

It's July~ these are some old gas pumps that sold at Angel's Auctions Saturday.  We went, collected up some good buys- sofas, nichol and stone dining chairs, lacquered chairs, nice little server-buffet thing, outdoor tables, 18 canvas for me to paint.......a few other odds and ends.  Lots of stuff to sell for just over $100.00 (we already sold one sofa and made $75.00 of it back~) Things were cheap because the auction was packed- mainly collectors that were there for the gas pumps and big collectible old gas/service station signs. The auction started at 6 and went till 12:30- we hung onto the bitter end which is when we happily scooped up lots of the good things.  yay!  

Thing is though that the only reason we could go was that our auction was cancelled for the evening.  Jerry, the fellow who worked the computer registration with his wife, died from cancer- turns out, he was also a top notch basketball coach and the athletic director for a local school (never knew that- we all have secret lives outside the auction).  We went to the viewing yesterday evening, after going out to Charle's sisters for turkey burgers (which are the cause of horrendous gas)....

Anyhoo, in addition to all that, the wildfires are still burning- some days are smoky, some not so much.  I have developed a phantom smell- I will suddenly smell gasoline very strongly- no one else will- but I smell it so strong that sometimes my eyes tear up and once it woke me up...I actually got out of bed and checked all around to make sure that nothing was split, burning, or whatever.  Strangest thing.  It will go away for a bit, then come back strong as all get out.

The summer is flying by- I have a ginormous wedding painting to get done, the house is only partly organized (I'm not even going to talk about the outside), Grendel and I are going to the games this week up at Melissa's for his birthday (the manz refuses to budge.)  He happily acknowledges the need for 'girl time' which also translates into 'free man' time.  Visions of recliners and ice cream on demand in his head, no doubt. (He has been champ at helping me on my diet by limiting his consumption of ice cream until I am asleep.  This helps because I have no will power at all).  When we get back from the mountains on Sunday, I have to work for DPI Monday-Wednesday next week....then a bit of time before going to Texas.  We really want to go- will take a quick trip, hopefully arriving at Mothers on the 29th and staying until Monday the 1st- At the moment I am squashed between school schedules (and a stupid court case- no worries, just a witness, but I have to be in court on the 27th.) ...feeling stressy this morning, no need to, just need to get moving and get things done.  Grace in action and all that.  But I'm smelling gas like crazy, need to bake the manz some cookies but uncertain of my will power, want to clean the studio (but actually want magic faeries to come and clean it for me)......so instead I took a nap, got on the phone with ECU to continue to hammer out my financial aid mess for Fall, had some popcorn and watched Horders updates, which is rather depressing.  (I usually get all inspired by Hoarders to clean out and toss out stuff....but this one they went back 2 years later for updates- most people had returned to their hoarding ways....) and I really, really, really want to dye my hair.  It hasn't been done in months, but I am to cheap to go to a salon- but I want a salon dye job.  I want it dyed really well for once...it usually is a bit blotchy when I do it.  Maybe I'll sell another painting or something~ one can hope!