How is it almost June?!?!

“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.”

~ Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul

It's been a very fast paced year. It's been going by so quickly, I'm not sure how I got to be where I am at times. And while I think I might at least be close to where I need to be, I can see a vast stretch between me and where I *want* to be. 

My birthday is quickly approaching and that's always a trying time for me. It's my New Year. I try to incorporate all the things I learned, about myself and others, during the time of turmoil (also known as Spring) and make some plans for the next 12 months of my life. It's a pseudo-tradition I began when I was 19 and I've more or less kept up with it. The plans have gotten more open-ended and much less 'strict' as I've gotten older, and hopefully, wiser. And my priorities have certainly shifted since I was a naive teen feeling like anything in the world was possible with little effort. 

I've been focusing more on my art- learning new skills, and trying to work out my visual vocabulary. It's hard creating a 'signature look'- I think it's something I'm just going to have to keep working at. Keep creating all the work I can create and see what repeats. I know what I want to say... it's just hard to figure out how to say that sometimes without being too overt. Maybe I need to be overt for a while.. see how that goes. lol. 

I'm going to have a change of scenery for the next week or so and I'll have an opportunity to dip my toes in the ocean. I'm hoping it will be the recharge I need to face the coming year. 

And here are pictures of some of the stuff I've been working on :)

the finished pieces from my workshop with Joanna Gollberg! i *love* the techniques i learned!

Always making leaves- these are all from the Memphis Botanic Gardens except the tiny oak at the bottom- that one came from Flagstaff AZ. :)

Real life vs Creative life

if you've been following me for a bit, you might have noticed that i've been struggling lately. like more than normal. energy levels have been low and creativity has been sparse. I had chalked it up to a busy work schedule with lots of travel, but it turns out that i have been fighting Mono.. seems like something i should have had in high school or college, but no- it waited until 36 to come along and kick my ass. i'm kind of proud that i didn't miss 2-3 weeks of work due to it, like some folks do, but i chalk that up to pure stubbornness, not any kind of easy infection. The doc says that mono in adults, especially ones that get strep throat once and ear infections twice during the span, can take 6-8 weeks to get over it and i should be feeling better in the next week or so.. bleh!

its a relief to know why i have been so tired and achy, and generally just lacking the ability to do much. all that combined with a wicked deficiency of vitamins, i'm actually doing better than one would expect. I seem to be the fail at taking care of myself, even though i've been eating healthier. It all goes back to that being done with adulting thing. :)

All that aside, i did get 11 pairs of earrings made this week at Open Studio Night, although the phone died before i could get a photo. I'll update once i get one taken.

Here's a kitten photo to be a place holder. :)Willow has laser eyes, shadow is between them and zelda is like "mom- stahp!!!"