What Have I Been Doing?

My nail is ugly but healed, and I should have been writing by now. A lot has changed and a lot hasn't changed around here. Moods fluctuate, the temperature has been mild, and the holidays are right around the corner. Let's make a nice tidy list to make sure nothing gets left out:


1. It's been difficult to get to the studio, what with my precarious financial situation requiring more hours at the shoe shop than at the workbench. I'm okay with how that's worked. It's not ideal (really, winning the lotto or marrying rich would be ideal), but it's temporary and I can handle temporary. 


2. What have I been making? Not a whole lot, to be honest. I've prepared the loom for weaving after Christmas, dyed a few skeins of yarn, and began working on a present for my grandparents. I've started drawing again. I've made mind maps. Overall, December has not been a productive month for me. 


Which leads me to a redefinition of the word "productive". I feel guilty when I don't put in enough studio hours, when I spend more evenings watching movies or reading than making tangible things, when I work on little things instead of the Big Important Objects. People like to see Big Important Objects, and I do too. The problem with being obsessed with making Large Things, or expending large amounts of energy on one thing, is that when I shift gears and spend more time and energy on the smaller projects and inspiration-gathering, it becomes more difficult to measure what it is you're doing. 


I've got a week in Burlington before heading home for the holidays. A 34 hour work week, a visit-friends-in-the-city week, a pack/clean/write/mail/eat week. I'm going to spend time this week making goals for the next year. Here's how they're shaping up:


1. Love more: Accept the natural creative highs and lows of artlife, worry less about being in a town that doesn't suit me, learn about heritage, cultivate a strong voice. 


2. Wear silk undergarments, or pretend all my undergarments are silk.


3. My life, at times, is a lot like a Wes Anderson movie. Run with it. 


4. Land at least 3 exhibitions this year. 






These Resolutions are still in progress, but I like them. I like heading home for the holidays even more though. SEVEN DAYS! SEVEN!