waiting for the muse: phonograph dram beman

When you conquer negative attitudes of doubt and fear you conquer failure.

Bryan Adams

Guess what time I was at the studio today---- SEVEN A-M! Do I get a prize somewhere? I wanted to do a few things and the day was already crowded with stuff I had to be somewhere else for, so as I was starting to make coffee I said to Self, 'Screw it- get to the studio where you also have coffee!' So off I went after hauling out the trash, walking, feeding, and medication the livestock, and actually picking up the house. What did I do there? I made some stencils and painted a bit on the background of the new piece. It seemed ever so much easier to stencil on some palm fronds- dead ones at that- than trying to cut and fuse them from fabric. So I think I did maybe four, each a variation on Dead Frond which will surely become a Pantone color. Or maybe Benjamin Moore if I wait long enough.

So, I got that done and I then fused the back of all the fabrics I will use for the alligator. I still have several to go but have a bolt of Misty Fuse coming any minute now. AND I have a new titanium iron on the way which might solve some of my fusing problems. The other day I accidentally cut a hunk out of my fusing sheet so now it makes me crazy working with an odd shape. Have to get a new one of those too, but I like the brown teflon ones made for baking, not the ones actually made for quilt ladies. Anyway, I also made coffee and pressed the background piece and I am thinking it looks pretty spiffy. Of course it's all about the FOREground alligator and I have yet to start on that. I also printed out a large copy of the alligator I'm using, a photograph I actually took, for the colors and contours. The earlier one I printed was B&W for values and shape. But tomorrow is the day for some serious template making and cutting. So far, so good on the schedule, but you by now know I will mess it up good one of these days.

At 10 I took a break, came home and got Pepper for his annual exam. Everybody at the vets loves him but all I see is a bundle of anxieties. We got through OK- the doc gets down on the floor with him and was even able to finally aspirate a cyst on his arm- a good day. SO, $300+ for the visit and another $150 for a good supply of Revolution later, we went out with nothing to show except the possibility of no fleas or ticks. Sigh.

Now I am back home between appointments- the architect and builder are coming over so we can both turn some pages looking to land on the same one... Love the floor plan, hate the elevations. I'm looking for informal- transitional- Moroccan- industrial, and they are giving me something suitable for chintz drapes. I'm hopeful that today we can fix mis-communications. And stick a lychee tree in the driveway!

Grapefruit Dress. One of the benefits to living in Floriduh.

I've been sitting on two dance videos and today seems like a rest day to send them out. I am not usually a dance fan, unless it's Alvin Ailey's group, but these knocked off my sox!