I am never more motivated than when I have a deadline looming. Pun intended.
As it turns out, I’ve had a bunch of deadlines, 3 or 4 the beginning of February, and numerous deadlines this past week. I’ve been furiously juggling contractors swarming around my house, with trying to finish my own work, photograph it, and sit at the computer and apply to four different exhibitions. In between all that I actually managed to create a new piece from yardage I got back a couple months ago from the Blue Ridge Fiber Show in Asheville, NC. This is all handdyed raw silk, in a twill variation, bamboo weft, made into a tunic, a reworked pattern from my 1980’s craft fair days. I loved the idea of mitering across the bustline, the stripe really lent itself for that purpose, and I had just enough in width and length to squeak out the tunic.
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That tunic along with the formally photographed tartan coat, handwoven plaid with insets of navy camel hair…
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…and this yardage I set up back when my husband died in June, when I was desperate to focus on something, anything other than death, all three pieces were sent off for an exhibit application. I also managed to apply to Small Expressions, a show that usually alludes me.
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Meanwhile, deck guy is completely finished with the exterior decks at my house. He has been here for a few months, dealing with weather issues, thrilled to have had such a mild winter. It is too cold to do a final shot of the deck complex, this will have to do…
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And the painter guy finished my daughter’s old room, which had black molding and wine red walls, courtesy of a decorating decision about 15 years ago when it was my son’s room. It is quiet, serene, and I’m just waiting for artwork to be framed at Michael’s, which I’ll pick up Thursday.
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Painter guy also finished the guest bathroom. I had to remove the wallpaper with a razor blade and a sponge soaked with white vinegar, it took a whole weekend, and the painter guy had to spend days repairing the walls, many layers of primer to restore the surface. Apparently I knew more about weaving back in 1982 than I did about wallpapering, note to self, if you ever feel the need to wallpaper again, which I won’t, never apply wallpaper directly to new drywall without priming first. New fixtures, lighting, faucet and shower head still to be installed, but it is so fresh and clean and inviting.
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Meanwhile, I have been “persisting” over a piece of Russian Bobbin Lace I started more than 10 years ago. I am determined to finish up over the next few years, many of the bobbin lace projects I’ve had on my numerous pillows, and I finally, little bits every week at a lace making group, finished this hankie, of silk, linen and embroidery floss and metallic cord for gimps. I have it pinned to a piece of linen, eventually I’ll sew it on.
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I spent most of this week finishing up the manuscript for a six page article for Threads, due out in the fall, and a laborious couple of days applying to a major conference next year, using an online application service, some 30 fields of data per proposal, only to find out that my ethernet would crap out intermittently, knocking out my data fields, and making me lose my mind. I finally called in tech support, and it turned out to be a bad ethernet switch in the basement. I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up my proposals, and then I cooked myself a lovely dinner of sauteed broccoli rabe, mushrooms, and scallops, with white wine. It was delicious and I feel ready to tackle the next set of deadlines.
In the next three weeks, I have another exhibit to enter, I have my taxes to gather and all the bookkeeping for my business to finish off, a task I’m dreading because it is the year my husband died and I can’t even begin to know where to begin. I do have a good accountant lined up, but I’m thinking I just have to call and make an appointment and work like crazy to meet that appointment deadline. Meanwhile, I have to tailor a jacket for my Threads article, due at the end of the month. No pressure. I start teaching again April 1st and have to make up 20 kits for a one day inkle weaving class for an American Sewing Guild chapter in Maryland.
My life is full of people, craftsmen, tradesmen, opportunities, and deadlines. My dogs would get me out of bed anyway in the early morning, but I jump awake around 6:30-7, already lining up everything that I have to accomplish that day. It keeps me busy and energized. I have a number of passions and trying to fit all of them in is a full time job! And I already have a job.
I’ve been asked a lot how I’m doing, considering what a tough year it has been, and I’m feeling like all those who have left me, really left me with the skills and means to carry on and do what I need and want to do with my life. I wake each morning so grateful that I have more things I’m passionate about than I have time for, that I get to create something or pay somebody to create something every day. That is truly a gift no one can take away. Thank you for your patience dear readers, I know I don’t blog very often anymore, but that’s because the days fly by so fast they almost take my breath away…
Stay tuned…