27 July 2020

light...






I have trouble with light.  Bright lights are my doom and send ice pick daggers of pain through my eyes and into my brain.  

The photos above represent the extent of the light currently in my life.  If I turn on any lights in the house, it is usually twinkle lights.  The blinds stay closed unless the sun has mostly set or it is a storm cloudy day.

Stepping outside requires sunglasses and they never come off in stores.  The world is a very bright place for someone who is sensitive to light.

My poor houseplants aren't adapting very well.  I've lost several and have almost decided to stop trying.  But I love having plants in the house.  

I'm not really sure why I felt the need to post about this.  I doubt it is interesting to anyone, but I'm trying to go with my instincts.

If you come across someone in a shop, on the street or even in a home, and they don't take their sunglasses off, it may be because they have severe light sensitivity in their eyes.  Don't give them a hard time.  Don't make fun of them or ask them to take off their shades. (It happens more than you would think.)

The need for darkness has been getting worse the last few years.  Looking at screens (phones, computer, etc.) are very uncomfortable.  If I ever find a form of relief for these headaches and migraines, I'm going to shout it to the universe.

Anywho...
That's all for today.  Hope you are all doing well.

love & blessings
~*~

 

 

25 July 2020

a little arting...

One of the things I've been doing over the past months is playing around in art journals.  

In late March, I came across a thing Effy Wild was doing.  She's been hosting live video art journaling sessions, where she creates journal spreads using prompts.  Effy is so fun and inspiring.  Watching videos of people creating art is very relaxing and enjoyable for me, so watching these live videos was fabulous.  It also inspired me to get back to creating and I've seen a marked improvement in my work. 

I first came across art journaling back in 2013 (I think).  I used to watch Suzi Blu videos and videos by A Magical Meliss.  (I sure miss watching them work.)

I had no idea what I was doing, but I just went for it.  I took an old hardcover writing book.  It wasn't really built for art journaling, but I've managed to make it work over the years.  
This is the first journal.  I have four or five others now so I don't work in the same one each time.
 
I thought today I'd share photos of a few of the pages I've created in this journal.

 Inspired from one of Effy Wild's Journal Jam prompts.

 From last July.
 The first page I did back on January 1, 2014. (That's me at age 3, I think.)
Another using the Effy Journal Jam prompts.
I can't remember when I did this one but I think it was before I found the Effy videos.
I really like this one.  I've made my own deck of prompt cards (using Effy's list of prompts) and have been having fun doing my own version of the journal jam.
This one is a favorite and I'm thinking of recreating it on canvas or wooden board.  
So these are a few of the things I've been working on.  I'm expecting some new art supplies to arrive later today.  I'm looking forward to playing around with them.

What have you been doing to keep yourself entertained during the lockdowns?

I hope you have a great weekend.
Thanks for stopping in for a read...

love & blessings
~*~

22 July 2020

bright spots...

Hello friends, 

It's been a bit, hasn't it?  Craziness in the world, craziness in here (here being my head), it's been hard to keep up.  I've missed being here.  

Sharing things is getting harder for me to do.  Most times, I feel there isn't anything worthy of sharing.  Sometimes, it's because I don't quite know how to express what I want to say.  

I'm going to work on both.

It's been a dark, dark place for me this year.  The migraines pretty much wiped out all of June, pandemic cancelled my May beach trip, and postponed for a year my planned October art retreat.  Add a little depression and it's a big bag of sucks...

Hopefully sharing a bit here will help the crazy.

Here are a few bright spots of my year so far...

In January I rearranged my studio a bit and redid my work table...

 February brought daffodils from the garden and tulips from the grocer...

March was homemade bread baking...


 April had lots of flowering walks...

May was patio play and planting times...
(I already mentioned June was a black hole...)

And July had a little plant dye experimenting going on...

And through all of this (well, since late March), these have been my constant companions whenever I walk out the door...

Tell me a couple of your bright spots.

Thanks for stopping in for a read...

love & blessings
~*~