A New Day

Today dawned bright and shiny and full of new promise. I wasn't thrilled with having to move to the desert. It felt like a punishment for failing at my career. But I've decided to light a candle instead of cursing the darkness. This opens up so many new possibilities for me, both as a photographer and as a painter.

It's too soon to tell, but I'm hoping to open a little shop along the highway where I've seen some other shops set up. Before that happens, though, I still have a million things to sort and pack. We have to shuttle a moving van 3 or 4 times the 111 miles out to the new place and back. And I will have to drive my boyfriend's truck (which I've only driven about 30 minutes in ten years) so he can drive the moving trucks. I'm so not looking forward to the next five days, but I am looking forward to the next year.

Driving back to Anaheim to pack.

The nearest highway.

The view from our new yard.

Gourd Horses

Today was a busy crafting day for me. First I worked on my knitted bikini top. I wasn't quite awake yet and had to watch a tutorial on making four different kinds of increases and decreases to get it right. But I think I'm making progress now.

Then this afternoon I started working on a gourd vase. It's easier to show you the photos than to try to describe it. I wanted to learn how to use the new ink dyes we bought as well as the pyrography paper. So check out the photos and ask me if you have any questions on technique. I want to put pine needles or raffia around the brim, so I drilled holes around the top so I could sew it on. Hopefully the park we are going to tomorrow will have pine needles. Sometimes the park is manicured and I can't find much of anything, but I have my fingers crossed.

Gourd Art Landscape Painting

Landscape on a bottle gourd. Acrylic paint.