Self Induced

Blog silence does not necessarily mean that I am away from home. However, that is exactly what it  meant this time and the last time. Between the 4th of July holiday, the vacation in Hartford CT/Springfield MA, and, returning today from my friend’s cabin where I've been the last 5 days, I haven’t been home or worked much in July.

While I love going away on vacation, I do suffer from self-induced stress associated with getting ready to go away. Some is carryover from my first job out of college which left me with a permanent hatred of packing. For the better part of two years, I had to pack every Sunday to travel the next day. The most frequent exception was if I was out of town for 2 straight weeks rather than 1, which meant I was already out of town. Although, I landed an assignment where I was home for maybe 2 months or so. It got to the point that I would do things like get my bike boxed up and mailed to my work site, if I could figure out a way to get it stored over the weekends when I was home.

These days, it just seems like there is a lot to do before leaving with having to do things related to the house, yard, garden plot, cats, and so on. Of course, I also always manage to add to the list at the last minute.

This time, I packed my painting stuff the night before, including palette paper and extra stuff so other people at the cabin could paint if they wanted, when I decided that I should do a few postcards for the summer postcard project for Wet Paint. 

Suddenly, the morning we were leaving, I was cutting out 4" x 6” pieces of paper, mounting them, and priming them with gesso. I was hoping to get people to join me. As I was doing this, I felt my stress level rising, until I caught myself (and laughed at myself).

In the end, I mostly took another painting hiatus, although I did paint a bit and I drew a bit, as well. Here is one completed project. I don't like it, so I'm not sending it in. This one is from a picture I took at the cabin last year.

#246 - Hummingbird at Cabin - 4" x 6" - paper

I started another one, which I may or may not finish now that I am home. There's a tight time deadline, since any postcards must be received by Wet Paint by 8/2 and they have to arrive my mail. This one is from a picture my friend took this year at the cabin with my camera.

#247 - Unfinished Chipmunk - 4" x 6" - paper

While I have enjoyed being on vacation, it's good to be home. Since I don't have any other travel plans, I intend to get back to painting daily.