a slice of life (and my finger)

the black bird & the lupine
platter 12.5"x 10"

It is 8:36 p.m here in San Francisco as I write this. I have been going for the past twelve hours, non stop. Yesterday was like this too, in fact most of my days are like this. As I often say to my friends if I don't do it, it doesn't get done. That is the way it is...not a complaint at all, just the facts. So I thought it might be fun to give you a list of the things I did today.

1. wake up 7:45 a.m.
   
2. make tea, turn on computer, fix bed
3. check email
4. design a calendar page, check designs I did last night, modify and readjust.
   
5. pack up up boxes that are laying on my couch to be shipped.
6. make some oatmeal
7. take a shower
8. eat oatmeal
9. write emails
10. make a list of things to do
11. put boxes to be shipped in car
12. get dressed
13. make lunch
    
14. go to post office , mail packages.
15. drive to studio
16. check the pieces I left to set up on molds
17. remove pieces from molds
18. load kiln
19. mix slip & pour into molds
20. clean up the rims of pieces to get them ready to paint
21. draw design for job I am working on
22. eat lunch (standing up)
23. continue working on cleaning & trimming pieces
24. check molds
25. pour off the slip and let molds drain
26. make a phone call to set up a photo shoot
27. draw designs on cups
28. get a phone call talk to Whitney
    
29. start kiln
30. remove pieces from molds
31. cover work in plastic so it won't dry out
32. clean up
33. drive home
34. make dinner
35. check email
36. work on calendar
37. write blog while eating dinner

I did all of this while being a little handicapped. I sliced off part of the tip of my thumb (on my drawing hand) on Saturday while slicing potatoes with my brand new, fancy, Japanese vegetable slicer. The blade is so sharp that I did not feel a thing...until the next day when I realised a big chunk of my thumb and nail were missing. Ouch & Ick! I am on the mend and am keeping the wounded thumb protected with bandages and a finger condom. Can I stop now? I still need to work but just when does a day end? Would someone please tell me because I can't seem to figure it out.

keeping up

I am feeling like a bad blogger lately. It is not that I don't have things to write about or that I am not working on anything . Strangely enough it is because of these things. I have a lot I would like to write about and my table at the studio and home is so full of work in progress that I barely have space to work. It is that old monkey on my back called overwhelm. I get in this state and then my faculties to focus on multiple tasks starts to wane. I've talked about it before and I know, KNOW, that I am not alone. Generally what gets me going is to dip my feet in the water and start off with something small that is not result oriented. An exercise of sorts.

In the studio, I am working on orders, orders, orders! I am a bit tardy on one specific order
(not yours Kristi!). Returning home, getting re-situated, remaking all my molds (they took twice as long to dry than usual) and then the calendar launch took up more time than I expected. Well being the one woman factory that I am I do have to eek out a little time to eat, sleep and see friends (and take salsa dance classes). So I haven't been able to keep up quite as well as I intended. One of the many skills I developed as a waitress was that no matter how crazy things got and things can get really crazy in a restaurant, regardless of how much I might of felt like things were getting out of control, I wasn't going to die and my customers weren't going to die either. (unless they choked on a chicken bone or something. Thank god for boneless breasts!) That life would go on and at the end of the day/shift things would be okay. I keep this thought right up at the beginning of the line of thoughts in my head. It keeps me calm and focused and I can work better and with good intention. Such an important thing for myself and everyone to remember, especially at this time of year.