Tuesday, April 29, 2008

. . . got after it


Heavy Equipment I, mixed media on canvas, 16 x 16"

I got busy today . . . no more moping around. I vacuumed the downstairs floors and mopped the bathroom, kitchen and hallway (they are always a mess after our Sunday night family dinners); made the beds, cleaned the bathroom, and did a load of laundry; paid all my bills; called and arranged for the plumber to come and fix the heater and the outdoor water faucet that froze over the winter; called the exterminator about the ant invasion; listened to the plumber at great length about why my heating bill ran about $500 per month this past winter (including the politics of oil and the wisdom of investing in mutual funds); called the gas company to ask for an analysis of my bills and discovered that gas had increased in price from $0.66 per unit a year ago to $1.04 per unit today; did some math and figured out that my bills had increased almost exactly in proportion to the price of gas, and I probably didn't have a leak somewhere; pulled some weeds and checked on the garden's progress; visited with my neighbors; AND YES, I PAINTED the above picture. Inspired by a picture I took a few weeks ago. It's small -- got me back into the groove. There's a lot of texture, but the surface is as smooth as Joey's butt. And I've got another canvas set up and ready to go. Still playing with the used paper towels, too. I discovered (duh) that if I use one to put more paint on another, I'm creating new pieces all the time. I know my daily minutiae has to be just so intriguing to everyone. . .

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you have been busy, I need to do all the things you mentioned.
I have some very interesting packing stuff I am carrying around in my car to give to you. I recently bought some margarita glasses from Crate and Barrel and they pack their glass ware in bubble wrap and brown diamond shapped corrigated paper. I thought you needed to have it.
When I come up to go flower shopping I will leave it with you.
Did the frost bite any of your flowers? Do you think it's too early to go to Family Tree?
See you soon
Hildegard

Mary Buek said...

Ooh, I can't wait for the bubblewrap etc. Just what I need to keep going. I don't think anything got frostbitten cause I don't think it got below freezing here. I went to FT with Matt; the hanging baskets weren't there in full force yet last week. Suburban had a few, only $39 instead of $69; also ready for Red Cedar. Mom told me to ask you about the Designer Showhouse in Topeka. . . have you been? She said there was interesting art.

Elaine Kerr said...

Darn right it's intriguing, Mary! And inspiring...going to do a bit of cleaning and make some art. This piece is my latest fave. I've seen several abstract photos of (un-)mundane objects that tell me I should start on some abstract assemblage/mixed media pieces. Haven't done any of those for several years.

Mary Buek said...

Elaine, thanks for the comment. I have been following you on flickr for some time, and checking periodically on your blog, which you seem to have ended? And I have been meaning to ask if you had changed your focus on your art . . . I was seeing a lot of texture pictures.