Follow your bliss...: On a Winter's Night...

Sunday, January 18, 2009

On a Winter's Night...

On a Winter's Night...January 10, 2009

Mixed media, acrylic, tinted graphite pencils, watercolor, gouache, pencil, colored pencil on Stonehenge paper, approx. 8 x 8"

Detail of texture...the paper has an acrylic/gel medium base with a variety of brushstrokes, splatters, and ridges applied, then I draw and paint on top after it's dried, the colored pencils and tinted graphite are all water-soluble so I scribble the colors over the rough surface and then scumble with a wet brush to create the wash, then more dry media (pencil, colored pencil, tinted graphite), more water as needed, then a splash here, a splash there, pencil lines scratched in...I beat up the surface sometimes...

The stars were out on Friday night just before this latest storm hit us...they were so bright and gorgeous, although it was very cold, I looked at them for as long as I could stand it...Orion was standing over our pine trees...it was all very quiet and beautiful...the Great Horned Owl was hooting across the road...one day I will treat you with a post all about my favorite night paintings by my favorite artists...I've been working on some essay sort of stuff...so, hang in there...

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Me and Fibromyalgia...the good news is, it's not going to kill me.

I was finally diagnosed with Fibromyalgia in 2007 after years of being told my illness was all in my head. My Fibro is everyday fatigue with body aches, mostly tolerable, but when I have a flare-up, which can be triggered by stress, hormones, or being over tired from over-doing it, I get the full body pain, including chest pains (yes, these are scary, like an elephant standing on my chest.) Thankfully, it doesn't hurt to take a breath, but I feel breathless, I just do yoga and breathing exercises to stretch and breathe to ease through the worst of it, NSAIDs help to cut the pain, and naps are always a necessary thing when needed (but hard to do while at the day job!) It's a balancing act to manage, I take advantage of the good days, lay low on the bad ones, and very often, push through in spite of the bad days...some mornings I wish I could stay in bed, but I'm glad that I get up and about, very often 'the kinks' work themselves out. I refuse to take the recommended pharmaceutical band-aids on the market, I tried one once, and I don't like feeling like a zombie. I keep active with my creativity, I think that's the key to my overcoming this obstacle every day...and I have my Fred and our son, five cats, and one dog named Max.