All Art Requires Courage*

One of the most important things I have learned is that no matter how old I get, I should never stop learning.  Age is only a number and the more we learn and grow, the younger we are.
That being said, I have been playing at art most of my life. I never planned to make any money doing it. I have always had some talent and I enjoyed drawing. I took art in high school and college (in the 70s!)  I have cycled in and out of drawing with any regularity and there were many years where I produced nothing at all. Luckily, the dry spell is over.  Whatever cosmic force shoved me forward, I can say that I am now regularly doing art.  For the past few years, I have been taking classes at the community college to bring me back to the basics and then to learn more.  I have spread out to drawing in all types of media and into painting.  Thanks to my family, I have a space in my house that can be called a studio (corner) where I can go to ‘do art’.  It took awhile but I feel now that art is a regular part of my life and it is going to continue to be a part of it.

Taking art classes is one thing.  It is alright to fail some as you learn and try new things.  There is homework and structure and a schedule and an instructor and fellow students who critique one’s work. Not everything an artist does results in something that they like – that happens to me all the time.  But, I have been given a framework upon which to experiment and to move outward and to grow.  But that step to open one’s art up to the public is something different altogether.

So – now to the courage part.  Recently, a friend asked me to do something for her.  She asked me to paint her wedding flowers onto wine glasses to give as gifts to her bridesmaids for her wedding. 

Pause. 
Reread that. 
Then, I said yes. 

OK, let’s explore that moment.  I openly confessed to her I had never done this kind of project before but for some reason, she had faith that I would be able to do this.  So did I, initially.  Then the enormity of what she had requested of me hit me.  This is for her wedding.  These are to be gifts for her bridesmaids for her wedding.   What was I thinking?  I told my husband about this.  He was gently skeptical (I think it came out ‘are you crazy’ but not in a judgmental way at all – he was concerned – as was I!)

My answer to him was this:  I grow best and learn the most when I am challenged. 

And surprisingly enough, I was right.  I researched, I read.  I talked to other artists who had done this.  Come on, these are all over Etsy – how hard could it be, really?  I planned out a project timeline of all that needed to be done. I practiced on some other pieces.  Then, I did it.  It was not an easy project but it was a manageable project and I learned a ton.  And – I loved doing it!

When all was said and done, the bride loved them and I hope her bridesmaids loved them, too.  Oh - and I got paid to do this!  I hope to keep this up.

So...this is the part where the public chimes in and you tell me what you think of the results.

The beginning

The gerbera daisies came in three colors with one feature color on each glass.

Close-up of one of the yellow gerbers

In progress in the studio

Close up of the red daisy group

They are done!

Finished glasses - each glass has a group of one each of yellow, red and orange daisies
and then a feature color trio (red, orange, yellow or a mixed trio)

 *quote by Anne Tucker

I FINALLY GET IT or MAIL TO PARAGUAY

As of this post, Kelley has been in Paraguay for 47 days.  Dear Lord…47 days!  And I have attempted to mail TWO-(2)-II-dos-deux items to her.  Yes.  Just two.  This does not count the phone calls and emails we have exchanged – goodness, I’m not that bad.  We are in touch!

So, shortly after she departed, I made my first attempt at sending something.  It doesn’t count as a real attempt because nothing left the country.  The pre-attempt was a box lovingly prepared and would contain what eventually I would discover to be 60% contraband.  She had various requests of things that she wished she’d brought and I dutifully thought to send them to her in a box saved from Amazon (we have plenty of those) and padded with other trinkets.  Thinking in my naiveté I could get it there quickly with FedEx (how bad could it be – I used to ship stuff overseas all the time for work), I took it to the main hub here in Crofton.  The clerk weighed it for me, typed a few keys, clicked a few pages on his screen and then announced, “This box will cost about $260 to ship to Asunción, Paraguay.

Excuse me?  How much?  Obviously, I never saw the bills of the shipments from work!

OK – I dearly love my child but I felt that perhaps the freshness of her departure had not allowed me enough time to do appropriate research.  I left FedEx hugging the box after mumbling my thank you to the clerk.  UPS was much the same.  OK – DHL, too.  They were all OUT of the running.

I went home and then got online.  I headed to the Post Office.  YES – the US Postal Service.  www.usps.com.  There is indeed a wealth of information online there about shipping to everywhere.  One can even find out about the various restrictions on incoming items in countries around the world.  I clicked on Paraguay.  OK – so her favorite granola bars in the box as treats?  Out.   The additional Advil and Benadryl that would be helpful?  Out.  I would have to have a letter from the Paraguayan Ministry of Health or something like that in order to send those to her.  The box was getting emptier.  No candy, either.  So much for Valentine's Day.

I finally went to the Post Office in Riva – close in proximity to work.  I LOVE these people.  Seriously – the people that work in this particular office always help me, always answer questions and always go out of their way.  I was not disappointed. 

There at Riva, my first real attempt was to send a box I purchased there at the Post Office.  I packed it, sealed it, filled out the customs form (wrong – but they fixed it) and addressed it there.  They took care of it.  The box was on its way.  I was so excited.  But, I was soon to be disappointed.  I mailed the box more than a month ago.  She still doesn’t have it.  We think it is stuck in PY Customs.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, Kelley shared in an email that other volunteers that have been receiving things (think me suddenly feeling like crap here as my kid doesn’t have anything from me yet!) are getting them in big, padded envelopes, not boxes.  Maybe PY Customs has issues with things sent in boxes.  So, the next package I sent out was in a padded envelope that fit in a USPS Express Mail envelope and sent with a delivery signature request (couldn’t hurt, right?) – and it had a tracking number!

SUCCESS!  I mailed it out of the Riva Station on the afternoon of 3/14/12.  It was delivered in Asunción, Paraguay on 3/22/12.  She has it!  That mailing was for the grand total of $43.75.  I’m OK with that.  It is worth every penny to know that it gets there.  So this is probably the first mailing of many. 

My advice to you if you are mailing something to Kelley:  Big envelope, padded if necessary, delivery signature, Express to Asunción.  See above.  And tell the folks at the Riva Post Office that I sent you.

In No Hurry

I walk behind two women.
They are in no hurry and do not notice that they are blocking my way.
I feel as if I'm breathing their discarded air.
The cloud of perfume is so thick that is almost has its own color.
The two of them are so absorbed in their words; they do not notice or care.
They seem to be as one in their companionable stroll down the hall together.
One is quite a bit shorter than the other and turns to gaze up at the other as she laughs.
Her much taller friend stoops as she walks as if to make sure that her tiny ally
is not left out of her joke.  She gets it.
I slow down and stroll behind them and absorb the cloud and am lighter for it.

-jlm

2 Weeks and Counting

Today was Kelley's last day at work.  She has been working as a temporary employee since early November in the same area in which I work. 

We have been carpooling together  almost every day.  Most days, we ate lunch together with my usual lunch crowd.  I cannot imagine what it was like for a 23-year old college graduate to spend much of her time hanging around with her mom.  Don't get me wrong - I tried very hard to treat her as another employee when we spoke and not be her 'mom' at work.  I'd like to think that it worked out very well.

She was brilliant.  The job she was tasked with, our department's receptionist, is not rocket science.  But my smart daughter treated the opportunity with professional decorum and proceeded to impress everyone in HR.  It's one thing when your kid comes with you to work for a day or less.  It's easy for them to make a good impression.  But Kelley made me proud day after day after day. 

The people I have worked with - some for the past 7 years - gave her quite a send-off today.  Food, cake and gifts - all of which she EARNED with her great attitude and professionalism.  I am sending the Peace Corps one of my best.

Kelley - it was a priviledge to work with you these past months and I am grateful for the extra time we were able to spend together before you go on your journey with the Peace Corps.  Love you, babe!

Doctor/Dental Overload - Slurpee to the Rescue!

I am lucky that I have a job.  I am lucky that I have plenty of sick leave and saved vacay days.  So, I am careful when I make appointments to try to spread them out if I can.

I had an appointment at the orthpaedic for a follow up today.  But yesterday, I realize that I have to call the dentist for - gahhh! an emergency visit!  I have NEVER done such a thing in my life.  And I am a terrible flosser.  Of course, they called this morning and offered me an appointment mid-morning.  So I had to leave work on a day when I was scheduled to leave work early already.  Yikes! 

I headed off to the dentist.  Diagnosis: Gingival Abscess.  Gross - if you want details, look it up.  An hour later, I'm headed back to work with the classic limp-lipped smile of those with Novocain in their jowls with a warning that it will be 'uncomfortable for a little while once it wears off.'

Understatement of the week.  Two Aleves later, I can function but not really answer the phone well.  Slow day - slow phones - so that's good.

Then, I have to leave for the other appointment.  Running late.  New location with a garage that I swear has so many levels, the Pearly Gates must be on the top floor.  Waiting...waiting...reading book on iPod with my Amazon Kindle app.  Not bad for a waiting room with NO magazines. 

I make it out of the endless garage without the obvious descent into the other realm and make it out.  Almost home...

I'm hurtin'.  Then I get a text from my daughter...would I like anything from 7-Eleven?  Abso-dental-utely.  I get a Cherry Slurpee delivered... aahh.  Today wasn't so bad.

Another BOOK!

The Oracle of Stamboul by Michael David Lukas


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received The Oracle of Stamboul written by Michael David Lukas as an Advanced Reader’s Copy and a Goodreads giveaway - thank you!


The main character of this story is Eleonora Cohen, who is, for most of the story, nine years old. I was wondering as I began to read this book if I was going to like a story about a child. However, Eleonora is an unusual girl; she is rather the genius and as we grow with Eleonora, her questions become our questions.


I seem to inadvertently be in the middle of reading a series of books about incredibly smart child protagonists who are pushing out against the control of their lives by the adults (The Hunger Games, Ender’s Game) but unlike the others’ futuristic settings, this story is historical fiction, set in the late declining stages of the Ottoman Empire. I like reading fiction when I can learn something; I promptly looked up the geography and the rulers of the Empire during this period to better understand the events as they unfolded. However, the author gives us plenty of flavor and context; the extra is not necessary. His descriptions are rich and clearly set the time, place and mood. Many of his metaphors are unexpected; it comes as no surprise that he teaches creative writing to elementary school kids. His book has a ‘young adult’ reader feel but then some of the best stories do. There’s no pretentiousness here in his writing; I rather like it and enjoyed reading this book more because of his style of prose.


Read this book if you like historical fiction. Read this book if you like a hint of the mysterious. Read it if you like to explore and learn. I recently read another review somewhere whose reviewer was disappointed at the ending. I wholeheartedly disagree. I will let you decide but I think the ending is the only one that really makes sense for Eleonora and for everyone involved. It is a charming, interesting story and I for one, thoroughly enjoyed it.






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Book Review: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helene Simonson

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson


My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What an unexpected delight! This is some very worthwhile reading. This book explores the twists and turns of Major Pettigrew's existence with the death of his wife, the changing family dynamics, his frustrations, assumptions and some long-held prejudices. We can learn much from this story about growing old and learning to love again.




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