"The Artist" - The Academy - and me.

We lost a very special lady last week, a woman who always asked me about my art and why I wasn't showing more at the shows she read about in the paper...guilt induced by the best of intentions, because she always came out and supported me when I actually did create enough work for an audience.  She will be greatly missed.   
                            
I know she would support this quest of self-improvement and creative independence, and I think of her as I try to slowly cross things off lists, and one by one get rid of these tiny lead balloons that are holding me down. 

For example, last week, I cooked three meals with seitan I made from scratch, and actually cleaned the kitchen along the way.  I hung cute shelves for all the newly useful spices,  making one empty wall more appealing, and I have one more to go (next up: over-sized glitter silverware).   I'm trying desperately to like the kitchen more by using it, but at one point on Saturday, I did scream, "I HATE THE MAJOR APPLIANCES THAT CAME WITH THIS APARTMENT!!" (and I swore a good bit, too.) We have a crappy apt sized fridge, with an ice box instead of a freezer and a stove with only two working burners blow out if you try to use the oven at the same time.  They are truly terrible, if anything edible comes out of them it's a small victory in itself.

I also spent a ton of time on pinterest - but some of that time led to delicious seitan recipes and the discovery of new tattoo artists - so it can easily be a valid tool.  My only concern is that some of that time spent online translates to the real world.  I have a DIY craft board, and the goal is to make the items I pin.  First up: I made this jewelry hanger last night and added it to the wall of misc art and frames in our living room.  My giant earrings end up all over the place anyway, so it's both pretty and a functional corral - I just have to keep them safe from Mr. Nebraska!

The tattoo studio has a big charity event coming up in March, and I need to get some physical evidence of my work into peoples' hands, and have just under a month to do it.

I made business cards, finally.

I also spent literally all but two hours of my waking day yesterday online editing my apprentice portfolio into a hardcover book.  At one point the save failed, Firefox crashed, and I lost three hours of work.  Frustrating? You betcha.  I almost cried, but instead, I kept working and swearing, and now I'm down to the tiny tweaks and final proofread. 

On a side note, the Oscars were on Sunday, but I don't have tv, so I streamed a bit of the red carpet (which felt silly even as I did it) and tried to watch "The Artist."  I basically failed, because it's really fucking hard to multi-task during a silent film... 
I did however successfully avoid yahoo and the internet, and watched the Oscars 'live' on Monday minus commercials! I knew 'The Artist' would be a big winner on style points alone.  I love a flapper look, but I know those dresses are meant for boys' frames.  I'll stick to the cloches and finger waves.