It has been a bit of a crazy two weeks. Most of it has been spent doing something related to health (mine and others). But that is not to say I’ve been avoiding art and creativity.

Today I packed up all the paintings for the “Colonial Williamsburg: People and Places” two man show at the Stewart Gallery in Gloucester, VA. I deliver on Tuesday and meet with Sharon, the manager, who will be doing the hanging. The artist reception is Friday, from 5-7 pm.

Hard to believe I will have my dining room back in two days. I’ve been storing the paintings in there for the last month.

But this is the first day in about 2 weeks I’ve felt well enough to actually do something physically productive. I broke or cracked a molar some time back and about two weeks ago it started hurting. Finally got in to the dentist and they agreed the tooth had to come out but I had to wait until Thursday to get it done. Having never had an infection related to my teeth before, I had no idea how debilitating it could be. Similar to the flu with fever, aches and pains, headache, feeling queasy and really awful pain (that’s the part that’s not like the flu). In other words, not feeling well and not sleeping well either.

But I did work on some new projects and I started a new painting while I mentally figure out my next step on the Blacksmith painting. To be honest, I hate making drawing corrections late in a painting and I think I’m procrastinating.

So, the new painting is this: The reference is an old photo I took of my husband surf fishing. I’m using a new to me surface – Richardson panel. I can see my sketch is a little off – the head is too big and the torso is too short, but I’m close to where I want things to be.

Speaking of my husband, he has also been creative and is now on a tear with making figures out of railroad spikes. He is a blacksmith, by the way which is why the blacksmith painting really does need to be “right”. Here is one of his little figures.

And I’ve been making braided bracelets and I’m working on a necklace as part of my “TV time”. I kind of think I can make up a half dozen bracelets and sell them at the Christmas Bazaar at the end of this year for a little cash when things get tight. I haven’t taken a photo of them yet.

But I’ve also been taking an on-line class on book binding. Really fun and a neat way to use up scraps of stuff. Here is my first Coptic Stitch book. The signatures are scraps of grey drawing paper and you can see in the photo I didn’t take measuring very seriously, but I like how the book came out. It’s just 2 inches tall and about 6 inches wide. The book board for the covers is covered with a textured wrapping paper. And, no, I have no idea what I’m going to do with it.

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And I’ve been baking more often then I had been. Hubby is now on a low salt diet and I found I can make him a lovely, (if bland) sandwich bread that is salt free. Can’t find a salt free bread in our grocery store.

We’ve also been starting seeds for the vegetable garden and doing a little prepping in case the flu or the CORVID19 shuts down our local grocery store. So, I’ve had to find extra storage space in my pantry for food and for dry goods like toilet paper and paper towels throughout the house. If it comes to naught (which we hope it will) I will be ready for those summer storms and hurricanes.