Catchup? No, there is too much. Let me sum up:
- New quarter of the year, so it’s time to reboot or retool methods for any faltering New Year’s Resolutions as necessary. This is also a good time to start outdoors-oriented resolutions or goals. I’m increasing the length of my e-bike rides to increase my stamina, which will get a lot easier as we exit the rainy season.
- I’m just back from a 2-week campervan adventure to southwest Utah, with excellent dinosaur tracksites and 2 glorious national parks. Let me just say, when the guide says “some cyclists do not enjoy the sandier stretches of the trail” they are employing extreme understatement. That should have said, “Warning! Dry powder so fine that you will essentially be skiing on your ebike!” No regrets on the overall adventure, but wow. That was harrowing, even with the gravel tires and the motor helping!
- This year, I’m working towards a better balance between art time spent on skill-building and project work. Last year, I learned a lot but produced very few pieces. This year, more regular project work and maybe finally getting to some of the larger multipart projects that have been hovering on the mental backburners.
- My website got hacked last month by evil crypto jerks. Back your things up and toughen those passwords, my friends! Also, many thanks for Matthew Wayne Selznick for getting my website back together so quickly. You’re a pro and a gem, sir!
- One of my resolutions is to reconnect with friends who drifted into “eh, we’re mostly friends on social media” because social media was so convenient and I was so tired for so long. Loneliness and hyperconnection, the story of our age. So I’m reaching out to folks and instigating more video chats and phone conversations that really share how we’re doing.
Art stuffs:
I tried combining this colored pencil feather with digital framing and additions. I don’t think that digital art and analog colored pencil make a winning multimedia combination. I really like the way the feather turned out on paper, though! This was homework for Val Webb’s yearlong course.
Also, I’m only 3 pages from filling my current 9×13” sketchbook. I’ve pre-celebrated by stickering up its imminent replacement. I am definitely putting in the pencil (and ink) miles!
I’m throwing pottery again, and during my first 3 throws, I’m already wandering that blurry line between wabi-sabi and Georgia O’Keefe style curving lines. On one hand, some of my favorite pieces were the result of trying to rescue bowls going wobbly during shaping. On the other hand, I’d feel a lot happier if I had the pottery skills to choose to make basic, usable stoneware or creative fruit bowls. Someday. The only way to get there is to keep throwing clay on the wheel!
Things I’m enjoying this season:
Books: Mur Lafferty’s Midsolar Murders series. I enjoyed the heck out of the first book (Station Eternity), a blend of the sci fi and mystery genres that examines what someone with Angela Lansbury’s character’s coincidental murder-adjacent tendency would really have been going through. And it’s smart. I’ve read a few disappointing noir/sci-fi and noir/horror combos this winter, and it was exactly the palette cleanser I needed.
Viewables: Delicious in Dungeon on Netflix, dropping episodes weekly. This was made for those of us who enjoy both D&D and the Great British Bake-Off.
Life: our local CoVID numbers are in the spring lull, so I’m e-biking all our favorite local takeout and other errands that involve stopping inside somewhere. Having a practical purpose really helps get my butt into the saddle. I always mask (Envomask) and carry a CO2 meter, but community prevalence matters, too. I usually have a cycling quest for each year. I think this year is using all the newly updated bike lanes to get into new areas find more curbside takeouts and food trucks!
