I previously posted a photo here of a painting called Piano Man. It looks like something I’d use for Mood Monday, but music I’m listening to made me look up art with pianos. The red guitar was a bonus. The painting is oil on canvas done in 2019 by Adriaan Lotter.
I need to leave the names below so I can find them again later. They’re helping me start the seventh book. I’m hoping their mid-century, easy-listening instrumental music is what I’m looking for.
Les Baxter
Ray Conniff
Martin Denny
Percy Faith
Heinz Kiessling
Sven Libaek
Henry Mancini
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani
Piero Piccioni
Tito Puente
Nelson Riddle
George Shearing
Werner Tautz
Cal Tjader
Since I gave you something pretty to see, I’ll leave you with something pretty (titled “It Never Entered My Mind”) to hear. =)
I keep several of my journals handy in case I want to use them for different things, and among those is a journal I labeled “Inspirations.” I created that one quite a while back, and here’s what’s in it.
The inside front cover page decorated with these stickers, because various birds in the corvid family are part of my inspirations.
The first page has this postcard of a Rothko painting. Seeing Mark Rothko paintings in person, reading books about his life, and collecting art books with photographs of all the paintings I haven’t seen all fall under the category of “inspirations.” I put a Rothko painting in Three Fortunes in One Cookie as an homage to Rothko’s work.
A couple of weeks back, I ordered some stencils with small patterns or shapes that I wondered if I could use on some of the wee canvases I paint, and I practiced with a couple of them on this page using gel pens.
That’s it! Those are the only pages with material in the “Inspirations” journal after all this time. Recently, as if I needed another one, I picked up this journal that appealed to me, also with the theme of inspiration.
The gel pens weren’t working that great, so I decided to try my fine point Sharpies.
And use the new journal to organize all the various creative projects I have in mind to do, working them into my writing schedule as well as other non-creative activities I need to take care of.
I knew Sharpies would bleed onto the following page, so I put a plastic sheet between pages. I don’t care if the ink shows on the page backs, because I’ll probably use those pages for mini collages that provide visuals of things having to do with characters or plot lines in the Neverending Saga.
Time will tell if this more disciplined approach toward balancing my creative projects works. I have lots of ideas of things I want to write, paint, collage, etc., and one thing I know about myself is that creativity begets more creativity. For example, there’s a project I began in 2021 related to one of the books in the saga. I’d put it aside to do other things, and this week, two years later, I finally finished it. I can’t share it because it’s a gift (as yet ungiven).
I can share this. Last Friday was Marika’s birthday, and since the first Spirograph painting I did (using INXS lyrics) was for her birthday in 2021, I was game to do another. When she asked about a possible painting using lyrics to “Wildflowers” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, I decided to do something similar on a couple of small (3-inch by 9-inch) rectangular canvases.
I really enjoyed painting those.
I like the way so many of the things I attempt: doll fashion or dioramas; painting, coloring, and collaging; and the journaling, fiction, poetry, and lyrics I write, can all blend and overlap to inspire me.
Yesterday was a little bit of a challenge because of come-and-go headaches and not enough sleep. Think I’m getting too much screen time. Though I managed to fall asleep around midnight (last night), I woke up at four AM, drank water, took something for headache and muscle pain, and probably fell asleep for another three to four hours, which to me is a WIN.
So today is a day of trying to stay comfortable (the heat wave continues, and the headache does, too) and away from the computer. I colored this.
This is very much in line with characters in the Neverending Saga. Maybe one of them has had a period of “finding herself,” and I think that’ll happen later for a male character in crisis, but most of the characters have an ongoing process of creating themselves and building their lives with purpose and deliberation.
Thanks to thinking while coloring (this is my writing journal, after all), the left side of those pages is now filled with ideas and possibilities for book seven’s first chapter or section. I’ve paid some bills, responded to calls and texts, and have a dinner menu planned.
I think it was Thursday night that I finished reading and editing the fifth book in the Neverending Saga. I left some places with big circles around them marked as “fix this” because I either wanted to seamlessly delete stuff or rewrite it. Which I did as I input my edits yesterday, then printed it. Weird thing; with all that cutting, I lost a page yet I added 400-ish words. Math is weird.
Taking a break before I revisit the sixth book and make decisions about the seventh. I understand blogging about this is boring. Sorry.
Today I worked on a couple of paintings, and because I was so preoccupied yesterday and today, I didn’t realize some calls or texts weren’t reaching my phone. Sorry about that, too. Tom was nice enough when he got home from his volunteer gig to take my phone to our carrier storefront (second time he’s done this; same problem), and this time, it seems to be fixed.
As is usual with me, I over-poured paint. I had too much left over to be willing to waste it. Sometimes I’ll cover my palettes with tape for later, but I finished what I was doing and probably won’t paint again soon. Then I remembered I had several packages of 2″x2″ canvases–TINY! So I unwrapped those and used all the leftover paint to lay down base coats for some future project.
Clean palettes; wee canvases ready when I figure out something to do with them.
A story about art. I only started exploring this kind of creativity in the early 1990s, first painting T-shirts, then doing ceramics. And along the way, I did some pretty awful stuff, and if I could, I’d take it back!
In time, I began to share some stuff on my LiveJournal/then my blog (which linked to FB and Twitter, two outlets I no longer really use), and people wanted to buy it, which was shocking. Then I’ve gotten some commissions over the years that I was happy to do, and there were times payments for those might be all the money I made for a month or longer. I’ll always be grateful for people who likely didn’t know they were helping me pay vet bills, power bills, etc.
I’ve also gifted a lot of my art, and that can be weird. Some people never acknowledge receiving it, and it’s awkward to be like, Uh…did you by any chance receive a package from me?
I remember the first time someone told me a recipient had thrown away a painting of mine. Yikes! I’d rather have a gift I created returned to me than go to a landfill. I could either repurpose the materials or maybe find it a better home. I’m not sharing this to shame anyone–I seriously doubt anyone who’s done that reads my blog these days.
I appreciate every kind word, every purchase, every gift acknowledged. I create because it makes me happy, whether it’s writing or painting, and while I wouldn’t have turned away wealth or acclaim, that’s never been a motivation for anything I’ve done, so that’s a good thing, right?
Anyway, as I looked at the wee canvases, I was reminded of a mixed media piece (titled “The Kids Are All Right”) I did a dozen years ago for a friend who IS one of those people who expresses gratitude and shows kindness (as well as being someone who has made me laugh my ass off since 1977). So maybe these will end up as part of a larger piece similar to hers; who knows.
They could work for either bottle caps or wee Spirograph flowers.
Fourth book is read, edited, printed, done. Starting that same process on the fifth book today. (ETA: Fifth book edits did not happen.)
Not sure if you remember these six 8×10-inch paintings using spirograph “flowers” I colored to represent the first six books in the Neverending Saga. They hang over the windows in the writing sanctuary.
Colored some more of the flowers in preparation for painting a few much smaller canvases. Added a nickel to this photo to provide a sense of the tiny scale.
Looking forward to seeing what happens!
ETA: All cut out now and awaiting their destiny. =)
It’s work to love, but the small print is tough. I have post-surgery prescriptions for both my bifocals and my computer glasses, and you’d think after several months of vision misery, I’d have raced to get my new pairs of glasses. But you’d reckon without the heat, the other demands on my time, and my currently-limited driving.
I’ve reread the first book in the saga, made edits, and it’s ready to print. Today I start my reread of the second book. I’ve learned I need to pick my glasses from my (top to bottom) older bifocals, computer, and last year’s bifocals, because what may seem to work is not always the best choice, and even when I pick the best choice, my eyes easily tire, and moving on to a different pair helps. I plan to take a day’s break between each manuscript I read.
The novels themselves are a pleasure to revisit, however. Looking forward to the day they’ll be ready to release to 1. no fanfare 2. a world that barely reads 3. no way to classify as a genre to find an audience 4. no publisher/industry oversight 5. the potential distaste from anyone who liked what I’ve written before 6. the people who do read but don’t read ebooks 7. this is a list that can go on and on and on and it’s not unique to me. Writing is not a best choice for the faint of heart or the glory seeker or the person who just wants to be a storyteller telling stories about people who are all storytellers in their individual ways.
Yesterday was a challenging day, and it’s just so freaking hot here, like everywhere, that when I finally settled in last night, I decided to open up my ebook of Carolyn Haines’s latest Sarah Booth Delaney mystery set on the Mississippi Delta, Tell-Tale Bones. I just kept reading and reading and finished to realize it was around three am. Oops!
Still woke up a bit early, so I decided to make it a gentle kind of work day in front of the fan with lots of water nearby.
For one thing, after that big writing sanctuary reorg and cleanup a couple of weeks back, I put my day planner, for which I use Patti Smith’s book as a reflection point, above my eye level. Thus I was something like eighteen days behind in making entries. But there were lots of things I wanted to make note of during those days (like, for example, the birth of our grand-niece!), so I applied myself to getting everything up to date.
On a whim, I pulled the 300 Things To Make Me Happy book off the shelf, too, and flipped through it until I came to this page and answered the questions.
Recently, when I was organizing some craft bins, I found a bunch of 30-year-old iron-on transfers that I’m sure are way past their usable date. Instead of tossing them, I decided to save them as coloring pages.
I colored this one today and kinda love him.
Now I’m ready to read and make small changes to the first book in the Neverending Saga. I hope this is a fast process for all first five books. Then I’ll be ready to input my edits to the sixth and move on to writing number seven!
Hope you’re all having a comfortable Saturday, whatever the weather’s doing where you are. Please stay hydrated!
I was finishing a new painting that would work to represent the manuscript I just completed. Although it’s the sixth book, and I have six Spirograph paintings, I wanted one that looked more autumnal, since most of this takes place in the fall and early winter of 1974. It’s a book in which a lot of plot lines from the previous three books wrap up. As you might guess from the items, some of my characters could be experiencing a new baby, others a wedding, and you never know when a golden egg could show up.
On to the seventh book of the Neverending Saga, and may it be less challenging to write than the sixth. In truth, the sixth was also fun to write because it asked a lot of me.
Didn’t feel so great today and thought I probably needed to get some perspective on what I was writing now that I’m at least halfway through the final chapter of the sixth book in the Neverending Saga. I also needed more rest. So after getting up too early and taking care of some household things, eating breakfast, and showering, I took a long nap under the friendship quilt I posted yesterday. More rest did help, and I figured coloring would be a good way to think about what I’m writing.
I flipped through one of the coloring books I got in late May/early June and haven’t used yet. Of course I picked the 70s because I’ve been trapped there in my own fiction for years now.
When I saw a drawing of Debbie Harry, I knew that was the one. When I posted it to Instagram (that’s where all my coloring buddies and I follow one another), I mentioned that I can still remember the first time I saw Blondie and Debbie Harry on TV. Lynne may not remember, but we were at my house, watching “Midnight Special” because the Beach Boys were hosting. Blondie was was one of the bands featured that night, and Debbie Harry was really good (as was the band). Lynne may remember that Debbie was dancing on stage and nearly tripped, but recovered and never stopped. Attagirl, Debbie.
If Lynne doesn’t remember Blondie, she might remember me cussing as I sat on the floor capturing photos of Dennis from the TV screen. The cussing was because that’s when I found out our dogs had fleas, because I was being mercilessly bitten by them. Right now as I’m composing this, I’m being mercilessly bitten by a mosquito. The more things change, the more they stay the same?
Today, July 9, is Fashion Day, and Debbie Harry was a fashion trendsetter when she burst onto the scene, part glam, part punk, all Debbie. You may remember that back when I was doing Runway Monday, I found Mattel’s Debbie Harry doll not in a box and without her original fashion. But I quickly made her an outfit all her own.
Funny thing. In the work in progress, my record producer character mentions “Midnight Special.” Here’s the lineup and music from that night.
S07E24 Hosts: The Beach Boys
April 27, 1979 NBC
–The Beach Boys (hosts) – “Good Vibrations,” “Here Comes the Night,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Angel Come Home” & “Lady Lynda”
–The Beach Boys, Roger McGuinn & Wolfman Jack – “Rock ‘n’ Roll Music”
–McGuinn, Clark and Hillman – “Don’t You Write Her Off,” “Surrender to Me,” “Backstage Pass”
–Blondie (clips from 19-Jan-1979) – “Heart of Glass” (lip-synch); “One Way or Another” (live) & “Hanging on the Telephone” (live)
–Tavares – “Straight from Your Heart,” “More Than a Woman” & “Never Had a Love Like This Before”
Music videos: –Bad Company – “Rock ‘n’ Roll Fantasy” & “Can’t Get Enough of Your Love” (concert footage)
I was finishing a new painting that would work to represent the manuscript I just completed. Although it’s the sixth book, and I have 
