Days of Shades

Sheep in Space paintings are now on display down at The State of the Arts in Olympia, Washington (right across from Wind Up Here, on the same block as the performing arts center). Deb was great, helping me out with pricing and, well, just liking my stuff and providing a spot for it. She sent out a new artist announcement to her customer base and everything!

I did get everything named, with the help of friends and family. Prints will (eventually) be on the way to westrider and padparascha, for naming and helping inspire the name of The Dark Sheep of the Moon, bluwyngz for Wool Cycle, Gwen of Olympia Art and Frame for Ewe're It, and several to my family. I have to play around with the printer and color levels before I'm happy enough to send them out, though.

I just came up with the best coolest most promising least objectionable redesign for my website yet! There's still hope!

When I say "Came up with" I don't mean it dropped out of the blue. I mean that...lezzee...after umpteen sketches and nine total inspiration-less iterations in the past week, not counting how many of the same have been created over the last three years, I've reached something I'm not disgusted with. My design process is not always this hard, but I was burnt out on THIS project years before I started.

Design(er's emotional) Process
1. I'm going to create the COOLEST SITE EVER. It will be clear and communicative and showcase who I am at the depths of my wild soul!
2. I'm going to make a professional, functional website that gives prospective clients a clue what I do.
3. I'm going to make a professional, functional website that gives prospective clients a clue what I do, because I need it NOW, dammit.
4 I will never be excited about this project again. If I can find something that works, I'll just be done.
5. I will never find something that works, let alone anything to be excited about.
6. I will never make anything that doesn't disgust me. Is it to late to study accountancy?
7. SPSCC offers accounting courses...
8. I...hey...that's not a load of crap. I could work with that. Something I might just barely be able to work into something manageable...it's more than I dreamed possible! HOW EXCITING!


If I'm still not disgusted with it in the morning, I'll upload a pic tomorrow night. Design-wise, there is nothing there to be excited about - I have to keep things bland so that it doesn't detract from the art - but I think the bones have potential.

This weekend...

I pretty-much finished a painting I've been working on for years, which already has a buyer lined up.

I finished and delivered a postcard/invitation design  job.

I did some figure-drawing (from photos).

I attended a Jason Webley concert and left with CDs.

I went on a couple-hours long bike ride.

I regrouted half the kitchen counter.



Of course, when a client called late Sunday night to say she was concerned with how little progress I'd made on her project, it was THE project I hadn't worked on all weekend. Can't win 'em all...

I went out on my bike to do some errands this afternoon. A very clean-cut business-type told me I was gorgeous while we were stopped at a stoplight (cat-calls are cute when they're polite), and since it's WA state pay-day there was apple juice and cookies at the credit union (I got a few odd glances when I turned from making my deposit and exclaimed "It's cookie day!").

On the way home I noticed a yard full of political signs, including a few I thought were running for the same position. Now a manic little voice in the back of my head is yelling "GOTTA ELECT 'EM ALL!"

Catherine's busy tonight, and this evening the giant I-5 North Project Of Doom starts, so I won't be dancing in Seattle. Suxxor...just when I'd found someone stalk-worthy interesting there. On the upside, my fambly, madalchemist and I are going to see Stardust.

( My to-do list, cut for boredom )

I'm off to FiddleTunes tomorrow afternoon!


I have to go. I was advertised.*

Tonight Dad and I are playing music with Gerald, and yesterday I was up in Bainbridge for westrider's birthday (happy birthday!). It was nicely relaxing, and would have been more so if I didn't get a work phone call in the middle of breakfast. Still, there are worse things than being useful to a brand-new boss!

Today I'm trying to do all of that pre-vacation prep, to wit:

1. Tearing up grass in front yard and planting the lavender plant that's still alive. The other two have croaked waiting for me to get off my ass and put 'em in the ground, and I don't think the survivor can wait a week.

2. Balancing my checkbook. This hasn't been done since April, which is VERY un-Skellington. I want to know how much money I can spend on CDs and tunebooks and things!

3. Working on the "Fiddlers Don't Fret" art. I want to put it up on CafePress as mugs, magnets, and stickers (I refuse to sell heat-transfer t-shirts, so those have to wait for more capital). The problem here is that I lost the original art years ago, the original screenprinter was sold, and the buyer can't find the screen or digital file. This means that all I have is a scan of a t-shirt, from which I'm creating vector-art.

4. Laundry.

5. Dishes.

For once, my to-do list looks MORE achievable written down! Cool beans.

*For those reading this journal who've never actually met me, now you know what I look like. Except that that picture doesn't actually look much like me.

Recently I've read Ocean by Warren Ellis and Zorro by Isabel Allende. I've (mostly) learned Patty Fahey's #1. I've been kicked out of a festival, ridden in a bike-rickshaw, and been paid in radishes. A rat sat on me. I have wanted to write and haven't had time. I have seen friends that I haven't seen in ages, won a battle with a cake, and left far too many unwashed dishes.

I spent Monday evening in Seattle, schmoozing at the IACA* conference, which included a boat ride to Tillacum village and lots of ego-patting. I practiced my French and everything. The drive back down was miserable - must keep eyes on road...so tired - but I got home alive and spent the next day recovering. I liked listening to people from all over talk about one of MY towns. I was sad about the environment, though. Beautiful weather, but far too much smog for mid-May.

IACA has a rotating presidentship, and the president hosts the conference. This means that if I'd been a better little businessgirl I could have targeted each president for the next twenty years. Instead I just talked to whomever seemed willing and/or interesting, and was accosted by the rep from Maine. By handshake deal, I'll do the emblem for him when he hosts in 2013, and they'll fly me to Maine.

Damn. In six years I'll be thirty.

None of my future plans really go past my mid fifties. I always kinda figure I'll have started to really break down by then, so I'd better have accomplished most of what I want to have accomplished. When I wrote my obituary I was killed by rhino attack at age 54.

Today I have Tai Chi class and possibly dinner with my always-unpredictable Grandparents Reilly, but what I really want to do is go home, clean the darned house, and read or draw or something. Something could be laying out the program for the OHS baccalaureate as a favor to Trik's mom and Joan Healy. I'm pretty disgusted by the whole IDEA of baccalaureate (I prefer bachanalians), but I decided that personal preferences were moot in this case, because it's a simple favor and they're both nice people.

Also, we said goodbye to my TRL boss today. She's headed down to Portland, and the new guy has been chosen and starts June 18. Perhaps we can take the opportunity of being sans-boss to repaint the office or something.



*International Assocation of (Corporate Administrators)(Consumption of Alchohol)(Consenting Adults**)

**Heard that one rather late, after the consumption of alchohol, naturally.

So so so - this week I worked a bit over half time, panicked about the impression I was making at said work, seeing as it's a trial, and then was offered the job through the end of the year, roughly half time, details to be negotiated. Yippee? It'll mean looking for another half time job in the next couple of months, but it will also mean being able to A, pay off my parents, B, purchase a cell phone, and C, build a new computer, all within the next three months (if I don't spend on much of anything else).

In non-work news, I came up with a superior design for the kind of throughly screwed up Skellingtonart.com, My Dad'n'I watched both volumes of Kill Bill while Mom and Doozer were safely out of the house, I painted quite a bit, and I think I agreed to stage-manage/MC at some sort of local history/harvest festival. Still a little confused about that.

I'm currently researching what I need for my business license, trying to figure out some design issues with my new site ideas before I build 'em, and craving snacks'n'coffee...I know I shouldn't cave to the last, but a walk to the thriftway-and-integral-starbucks sounds damn spiffin. On t'other hand...cell phone. out of debt. new computer.

Yup, looks like I'll make myself some decaf earl grey at home, and get my butt back to working on the website.

RPGamers, particularly computer ones, follow these links for completely irrelevent amusement:
Video Game People...
Video Game People...

Now I need to get off the 'net, because I've noticed this weird inverse relationship with net time and productivity. Whodathunkit? (Not just the normal time fer time relationship - I actually loose the productive mood and develope ennui. I think I'll blame it on the dialup.).

Hmm...there've been jack-hammers outside my house for the last hour. Think I should go see if they're destroying anything important?

Up and down-y day. Many thanks to Trik for picking the correct morning music (Steppenwolf). Spent the school day suffering senioritis, except for my one moment of art student glory. Coming out of web design on break I saw Sharron's 110 class doing the perspective excercise in the hallway. She looked up and said "You're who I need! Stay here and help!" I grinned and went to fetch my tea. Came back in and Sharron was gone, but a student looked up and said...

"Excuse me, are you the one who knows everything?"

Oh, absolutley.

So I sat down and helped her, and another student, for a good 10 minutes. Was able to make some headway, and being knowledgable about something is a good feeling.

Walked to BS of Comics and by the time I got there had no intent of drawing whatsoever - the mental percolation had gotten rather strong and bitter. Many thanks to Fenmere who went to Boundary with me - sometimes a different kind of drink is nessecary. Thanks to that lovely long conversation, I have a bunch of oddities off my chest and feel a bit more straightened out than I have in a few weeks. Nice feeling.

That, and the forcible removal of the alien reconaisance pod...wait, different story.

Anyhoo, after the nice walk home, the turn about in my evening was crowned with none other than my check from Oly Furniture Works (complete with the signed version of the contract with my own logo!). The pride is worth far more than the money, here.

In celebration, here's the logo I've been using for interim business cards, letterhead, etc.