I think I’ve fallen in love! This past weekend I spent some 14 hours learning how to sculpt a maquette at Kosart Atelier in Westmont. While I’ve worked with sculpting glass and spun sugar in the past, I’ve never tried clay. I am in love! Not having to do things super fast is so satisfying. I could quite literally sit and do this for hours with no bother about time. I honestly think I found my “zen” place. Slowly building up layer after layer and watching the form of my harpy project take shape was awesome. It’s still got a long way to go, but I’m excited to finally see what is in my head coming out into the real world. I always want to draw things and it never looks quite right. I’m pleased to say I finally found a way to get the images out of my head and visible as something more concrete. Aside from just having a good time in class, I’ve yet again learned a massive amount of information in just one weekend. And there are still two days of class to go! I’m hoping to add a couple features before class and then I’ll start in on the refining and details. I think the trick will be adding the talons I want…I’m not sure how to go about, but I intend to figure it out this week!
I wanted to create the harpy I’ve been writing about in an epic poem. So far, I’ve gotten the gist of her but have a lot of refining to do to make her a little more demon and a lot less chicken! But, I’ve got ideas, tools and the groundwork for the “how to” of creating my mini-masterpiece. I’m excited about working on it though. Now to make the time appear! I finally received my shipment of furniture and belongings yesterday. I was quite devastated at how poorly the moving company took care of the few things I shipped with them. Smashed plastic bins, led to pulverized belongings. I don’t own a ton and didn’t bring much cross-country, so having to stay up most the night trying to sort through stuff to ultimately have to toss most of it in the trash was heartbreaking.
Simple things like the wine glasses my best friend made me are no more than shards of glass, but aside from that, canvases are ripped, my art desk is broke in numerous places to the point that the drafting table will never be usable again, my couch is damaged, numerous documents have gotten wet while supposedly in dry storage for a week and during transport, the microwave is busted, art supplies are all but destroyed. The only thing not broken was my TV. And to add insult to injury, they damaged the wall to the stairwell, so now I’ll have to repair that. It looks like boot prints on the tops and sides of my tubs and boxes, making it appear like my stuff was kicked around and stood on, and given that the tops of my tubs are smashed in, I feel safe in assuming as much. Quite disheartening. So…live and learn I suppose, either way I’m out a couple thousand dollars.
I did get a start date for a new job I’m rather excited about! Should be a fun new adventure. I’ll have plenty of new things to learn and I think the atmosphere will be fantastic. My new manager seems very personable and in general, I sense him to be someone you would want to work with. Hopefully it will be a change from past experiences. I don’t feel as jaded here as I did in Oregon. It’s a sort of breath of fresh air. Abbigail is starting to settle in as well. We’re getting a sort of routine down. It’ll change when I’m working full-time, but I think we will manage and I’m looking forward to a new opportunity and the chance to further my career. Art aside, I still like working in banking for the most part, and I think a regular bank rather than a casino will put me right at home.
We made it through our first Mother’s Day without Mom. I’ve got to say it was kind of a rough day. My heart aches that it fell on Amy’s birthday. No one has really had a decent birthday this year, so I was hoping maybe she would kick off a better trend. I think we had an okay day and it was rather amusing to find out all of us sisters got her a different piece of jewelry and they all matched. We didn’t coordinate, so that’s highly entertaining. For me, it was a saving grace being in class on Sunday. A few hours to focus on my sculpture, listen and laugh to stories and hijinks and great music, all while learning how to make some gnarly looking monsters. I’ve met a couple more people so I’m slowly but surely making a couple of friends around here. I’m still okay with the change in scenery…it’ll take a little more time to really sink in, but I feel better and that was what I was looking for. I am slowly but surely dealing with losing Mom too. The horrific images in my head are a little less frequent. I’m not having nightmares every single night anymore either. Slowly but surely.
Sherrie sent a care package meant to arrive on Mother’s Day. It came a day late and I was quietly thankful. A plaque with a quote about a mother’s hug, an angel and some treats for Abbigail. I think Sunday would have been rather dour had it come on time. They say everything happens for a reason, I suppose that is just one more thing. So until I get it completely together, I’ll walk my dog, sculpt a bit and work on art projects to clear my head. It seems to be the only thing that calms me down these days. Slowly but surely, things are getting better.
Thoughts and Jots: Picking up the pieces 