scribble vitae scribe, # 2448

The older we get, the fewer things seem 

worth waiting in line for. 

Ummm, I haven't had a good rant in some time so I think I will unleash my vile bile today on the  COLORING BOOK CRAZE.  Everywhere I go I see 
'adult' coloring books to destress or meditate or chill out.  I am guilty of even buying my daughter a few but I am so offended by them-  What kind of brain puddle do you have to have to sit and contemplate whether that little splotch is supposed to be peach or tangerine?  The THING is that you can get the same meditation out of actually doing a drawing of your won.  Set your keys down on the table, grab some computer paper and have at it.  You let your eyes 'walk' the edges like you are a slow ant investigating every edge.  You keep your eyes on the subject and just glance at your work now and then.  Then, when you have 10 minutes again later on, do another one-  do your bag, do your shoe, do an apple, do a fork-  whatever there is at hand.  You don't need a composition, you don't need color to complicate things, just a little something to stare at for a few minutes.  Why would anybody spend time on somebody else's art?  And why is it called 'adult'?  I know...  it's because no self respecting kid would be interested in doing somebody else's drawing!!   

I just got back from the studio where I cleaned all day.  The real time suck is the giant plastic bin of acrylic paints-  I pulled them all out and arranged them by tubes, jars, and 'craft' paints.  I stuck all the fabric painted and their various mediums in a big bag.  I gathered all my expensive metallic paints into a box, and stuck the inks into a work bench box.  By golly, that box looks better and now I can find something when I need it, hopefully!  After that I tackled the end of the button sorting and into the bead and bauble blitz.  I threw away a lot of stuff, but it still takes up a whole big bin even with the things thrown out I know I won;t use.

After that I did the drawers in 3 art carts from Ikea, all with collage things.  The drawers are pretty shallow so there isn't much in each but I have my photographs sorted out from magazine clippings and another drawer of specialty papers.  I then cleared off the surface of my long desk and was about to wipe it down but it got to be too late and I had to run.  Now, here's what it looks like thanks to the Prisma app I was also playing with:


  the Sewing End

  the desk end paper storage end. I love these pictures- they have removed all the clutter!

Now maybe you're saying, "No Big Deal' but if you would have seen it a few hours ago, you would think me Superwoman to get all that stuff put away!  And the App is way fun too.  I do have miles to go before it's a done job, but I'm pleased with the start.  Took FOUR lawn and leaf bags to the dumpster full of scraps and dried up supplies and beer from the refrigerator from my last Open Studio in 2013.  Next I tackle the fabric and I hope to do away with one of the five metal storage racks.  Where is Kay when we need her!  

Th Green Market opens today after a long hot summer-  going to head down there and see if there's anything but turnips from the local farms.  It's so odd to me that fall isn't exactly harvest season with squash and rutabagas here-instead I'll find  some wonderful herbs and a table full of little spice bags and a giant kiosk of baked goods, and a couple of pickle purveyors.  There will be things to take home for dinner-  the giant woman who sits by a caldron stirring her Haitian  stew, the team of Jamaicans who all seem to be related and make amazing ribs, a coffee tent set up by Cubans, and the orchid guy returns.  If I'm lucky the Middle Eastern guy will be there with hommus and baba, and the French cheese guy with the most expensive cheeses on earth, bar none!  It's the only Farmers Market I have ever been to with valet parking.  

We have another hurricane threat coming up-  Matthew is out there south of Cuba and went up to a Cat 4 last evening.  Next I check the projected landfall and right now it looks scary.  Gotta put in provisions and ribs are a necessary hurricane accessory.  Maybe I'll buy some batteries too.  

But before I hit the road, let's take some time for some 

ART in this PART:

Today we are branching out with animal art projects-  you've all seen monkey art, elephant art, and art made with paint dipped earthworms.  Today we take to the insects with a bit of help from a human to start out!

 It’s unnerving to discover a wasp’s nest dangling outside your house, but perhaps it would be a tad less so with the help of biology student Mattia Menchetti who cleverly realized he could give colored construction paper to a colony of European paper wasps. By gradually providing different paper shades, the wasps turned their homes into a functional rainbow of different colors. This isn’t the first time scientists have encountered insects producing colorful materials with the aid of artificial coloring. In 2012, residue from an M&M plant caused local bees to make blue and green honey, and a similar—though admittedly more tragic—incident involving bees and the dye used in Maraschino cherries occured recently in New York. You can see more of Menchetti’s experiment on his website. 

Hurricane report to be the next topic of worry...