June 14, 2007 Day 56
Yesterday afternoon Adrian and I visited the Syracuse Technology Garden to meet with curator Katie Rapp about showing in their summer art exhibit in July. The building was very cool with good spaces for hanging art, so I said "yes" to being part of it. They will have live music at the reception and a local winery is supplying the wine, so it should be fun. All we have to do is bring the paintings there ahead of time and then show up at the reception. Since Syracuse is only an hour away, this should be fairly painless.
Even with the music on this morning, I had trouble beginning my drawing, but finally picked up a blue pen and started. It's amazing how the fear of failure is always there even after drawing successfully day after day.
Drawing #56, 14" x 11"
Then, since I just got a commission for a 48" x 48" painting, I opened a new roll of cotton duck to stretch the canvas. But I was shocked to find that Jerry's Artarama had sent the wrong thing. They sent me a light-weight student artist's duck instead of the heavier weight I always use.
This roll had been sitting in my studio for over a month. Why hadn't I opened the box and looked at it when it arrived? I was so upset--at myself, mainly. I hunted frantically for the receipt or a copy of my original order, wondering whether I had mistakenly ordered the wrong kind. I always suspect myself first when things go wrong. But thankfully, it had been Jerry's mistake, and they agreed to replace it.
This will set back my commission dramatically because Adrian's son Dan, his wife, daughter and a cousin are arriving in one week. When they leave, we're getting another grandchild from California who will stay with us for a week. When we have house-guests, I barely have time to read my email, no less paint. This time I will get up early and do my drawing every morning, but I can't imagine finding time for anything else.
I just ordered a sound machine to help muffle the noises that I'm sure will be going on as these houseguests stay up late because they are on California time. Two thirteen-year-olds will be sleeping in a bedroom right next to ours. Bad planning on the house layout!
(Note: There is a gap between the dates I'm writing and posting because I had to give myself time to get ahead in case we travel and I'm not able to post.)
