Getting the clutter down to manageable size...

Every time I think I've managed to whittle down the pile of magazines & junk mail that makes its way into the house, something happens, like how I was sick for three weeks beginning Christmas Eve!! All I paid attention to were the bills - everything else got thrown into a pile (and hopefully I didn't miss any bills...)

At any rate, I've spent a bunch of hours trying to defeat the piles - AGAIN - and then I will have time to MAKE ART again! Got a bunch of calligraphy paper - beautiful sheets! from John Neal Booksellers.

TGIF...Jan 25...

Well - thank GOD it's Friday is always a good phrase around here - I don't work on Fridays, generally speaking! I will probably have to do something today since the HFBC newsletter has to be mailed, either today or tomorrow...

I'm thinking about trying to start an "inchies" swap at my B_R_A_G yahoo group...that would be fun. And Anna at BRAG posted a faux silk technique that I want to try.

I can't attend my calligraphy guild's play day tomorrow, because (boo hoo) I waited too long to register and now there are already 2 people on the waiting list before me...Oh well. What I should do is make the most of the time and DO ART at home! I've been working on some polymer clay stuff, and have some new paper from John Neal Booksellers that I should try working some calligraphy on...I bought some new inks from JNB also...

Cyberscribes (the calligraphy yahoo group I belong to) has had some very interesting threads of conversation lately, on preparing art for reproduction (at a printer's) and Sheila Waters has been posting about some of her beginner classes she has been teaching. I doubt her students realize what a treasure they are being exposed to!! She is one of the WORLD'S best calligraphers!

Well - finally better get something accomplished - it's already past 12:30 pm!

oh - any music lovers out there - especially classic rock - should try the internet streaming of 107.7 the Lake. www.107.7thelake.com

Do it now!

19 days into the new year of 2008...how astute!

I am not sure how this year is going to go...of course, who ever knows for sure?

Some things I'm hoping for - greater involvement in both the polymer clay guild (wnypcg) and the Genesee Valley Calligraphy Guild (GVCG); more art made (every day?); more music discovered...that one is easy; people contacted that I haven't talked to in many years; greater involvement with my college alma mater - RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) and perhaps a better knowledge of what is going on in the printing industry these days...

I have enough supplies to last to the next decade - at least - and I just ordered a bunch more from John Neal Booksellers, for calligraphy. I'm actually hoping to get a piece finished for RIT's r gallery auction. That is due in less than a month...hmmm. We'll see. I don't seem to be making progress very quickly.

Also thinking about pulling together a newsletter for the polymer clay guild. Tentative title:
Millefiore Musings & More... (silly, but fitting...)

Damien Rice is the newest musician I've "discovered." Amazing.

Last one out is a rotten avocado...

It's impossible to think about trying to be interesting without thinking about how my life has been centered in this "small city" of less than 10,000 people for over 25 years. Not my hometown; it is my dh's (dear husband) hometown and his mom is still here and alive 'n kickin' - at age 81 she lives about 2 miles from us...so we are still tied to town...

And now that both my girls are graduates of the high school, in a town that has so much "town pride" that they gave out over $170,000 (!) of scholarships to graduating seniors this year, well, it appears that I will be forever associated with this town. And I need to get going on the business that I have been, pretty much half-heartedly, trying to establish since 1999. PurpleOrchardArts. I've had a website or two, neither being active at the moment. I do calligraphy, graphic design, and multi-media artwork. All by special commission, although I do some work just for the hell of it.

I also find myself spending alot of time involved in swaps in yahoo groups, which actually are alot of fun. I finished a zine recently for a 7 for 7 zine swap; I'm looking forward to seeing what I get in return. Should be soon.

And I did a little contest on my B_R_A_G yahoo group and now have 3 winners to send stuff to. So I need to get on the ball for that.

So - enough said for today. Let's get busy...!