Progress

Frames#1005, 2010, Oil on Birch Panel, 16x20

I made moderate progress on Tuesday. Um, despite spending a little bit too much time on the computer. But it was less time than usual so I will look at the bright side on that.

It was a lovely, rainy day (I like rainy days) so it was easy to stay in my studio and work. I finished prepping all ten panels and after my little computer binge, I managed to finish up two of the ten paintings that were on my to do list. There are six left, and I think I can make some progress on several of them today.

Also, last night while I was watching American Idol (LOVE Crystal, Lee and that Casey is a real cutie pie), I started the whole curtain project and I think tonight (during Criminal Minds) I can get all of them prepared for the sewing part.

And bonus task yesterday was cleaning out the sink in the kid's bathroom. Normally, I would have one of the kids do it, but I use it during the day for cleaning my brushes, and it was starting to bug me so I just took a few minutes to do it.

Oh AND I wrote a BLOG POST!!!!!!!!!

American Idol (sorry about this)

Round The Bend, 2008, Oil on Panel, 16x20

Well, I have to admit that I really enjoyed most of the American Idol finale last night. This is only the third finale I have watched-the first one was the year that Taylor Hicks won and I recall feeling as if I was in pain during the whole thing- it was so stupid. Same with last year's even though I had watched most of the season and felt a bit invested in the outcome. So I fully expected to hate this one too.

Parts of it definitely were lame, like the Mike Myers bit and the endless product placement. But I really enjoyed the performances by ZZ Top, Graham Nash and we were all hysterical during the Gladys Night and the Pips bit. And was it just me or did the Idol contestants look a if they were going to burst open with joy while performing with the guests? I loved that.

But the best part was seeing my honey, Jason Castro again, and I felt proud of him for singing Hallelujah in front of such a big audience. He IS pretty new to singing you know (yes, I have read a few interviews with him, so sue me).

And heaven help me but I even liked the group performances by the top 12 contestants. Normally I hate all that, but last night it was kind of like seeing a bunch of old friends again.

This year I have wasted way too much time reading other's opinions about AI and the contestants and while I appreciate the snarkiness, I have to say that I have mostly enjoyed the performances (except for Kristy Lee Cook singing Eight Days a Week, that was so unbelievably horrible and the girl sang it TWICE!). I think it is because I am such a bad singer myself, that nearly everyone sounds good to me.

My kids were horrified to hear me blurt out "holy shit" (they are kind of uptight) when the winner was announced. I was pretty sure that David Archuleta would be the winner and in fact, thought that would be better for David Cook, who could then go on and probably have much better recording options. But since I love a good contest and can't help but want to love the winner, I was happy that David Cook won.

So there you go. Now you know how shallow I truly am.

Changing Habits

Evening Comes, 2008, Oil on Panel, 24x36

I am finally feeling much more enthusiastic about the work I am currently doing. But almost on a daily basis, I end up procrastinating all morning, later and later each day, dash into the studio after lunch, work intermittently for several hours and then stop for the day. I don't think the quality of my painting suffers from this, in fact mostly it's just the opposite, but my mental health does suffer. For example this morning I spent all morning, reading the American Idol recaps on EVERY blog in America, and feeling terribly guilty about wasting so much time. I was also very disappointed to learn that nearly everyone in America thinks that my cutie pie, Jason Castro is going home tonight. I know he is far from the best singer this year but I just really enjoy his performances. They make me smile. Ok, and he is very cute and if I were just 20 years younger he and I might have a shot at real happiness.

But I digress.

This complete change in studio habits does have me a bit flummoxed. But it's difficult to make any real effort to go back to my old schedule when I am so pleased with what I am accomplishing this way so I guess I will just continue to go with the flow. Maybe my technical abilities have caught up with my instincts and I don't have to struggle with where and how to put the paint down quite as much as I used to. I don't know.

However, I really should make an effort to make better use of all the time I spend on the computer. I have so many more productive things I should be doing; cleaning and reorganizing my kitchen cabinets, my desk, my clothes closet, finding a place for all the linens that used to be stored in a closet that we are in the middle of turning into a shower, MY TAXES, (yes folks we took an extension for like the tenth year in a row), EXERCISE!, weeding the garden, filling in the holes that Penny makes in the yard, the list goes on and on.

But I suspect there will be much to catch up on Thursday morning what with someone going home tonight and whether or not Paula will mention her little faux pas on Tuesday night. So I guess all of that cleaning and organizing and exercise will wait another day.

OK, I Confess to Watching American Idol. So Sue Me.

In Front of a Pond, 2007, Oil on Panel, 8x10

Well, after five years, I finally caved in. This year I am watching American Idol. I never got on the bandwagon before for various reasons, but this year my kids were interested and I decided to relax their no TV during the week rule (but no voting, no need to actually participate in pop culture). So we watch it together and I have to admit that I have enjoyed it.

In fact, it has reminded me a bit of art school. Many talented hopefuls and really just a small percentage will find success within the field they prefer, and only one or two will become really well known. And if they do become successful, they will be revered/admired/envied/hated/branded a sell-out, by the losers. Oh and in art school, the hopefuls must endure numerous public critiques by professors who are much more cruel/honest than Simon, before they get weeded out.

Anyway, I confess to feeling a bit disappointed/relieved that Sanjaya was voted off last night. I rather enjoyed his presence and while he certainly was not the best singer, I found him to be one of the most engaging performers of the group. But I had mixed feelings about the votefortheworst.com campaign surrounding him. It was kind of satisfying to see the whole corporate, big money structure getting messed with, yet I felt badly that a 17 year old boy (not to mention the other contestants) was essentially being goofed on. However, I suspect Sanjaya will do fine now. He'll probably get a contract and maybe even have a few hits, thanks to fans like my "tween" daughter. Hopefully he will save his money just in case his fame is fleeting.

And so we will continue on to the end. My favorites are Jordin and Melinda, but ultimately I hope neither of them will win. While everyone wants to win a contest, winning isn't always winning, you know?