Getting back on track, I hope!

Good Sunday to all!

It has been more than a difficult time for me over the past three months.  I am telling you this not to get a sympathetic nod, but rather to explain what has been going on in my life.  Early in September, I caught what the doctor called a lower intestinal gastric bug.  Translated, that means I had a bout of the flu that took me down for just over eight weeks.  Not impressive, nor was it a productive time.  Just as I recovered somewhat from that particular ailment, I managed to catch a cold that has been more or less with me until this week.  While I am now finally feeling better physically, I have to own up to the fact that I have been more than a little depressed.  That is a difficult statement to make, much less post for all to read.  However, in the hopes that my being open about this problem, maybe it will help someone else know that they are not alone when they have what is truly more than a little case of the blues.

There was a time when a person feeling that little case of the blues was told that they should just go out and treat themselves to a little shopping spree.  Sounds nice, but the reality of that is that in today's world, most of us cannot afford to go on such a spree and it really does not help cheer you up long term.  Rather, once you look at your budget and see what chaos you have caused, you sink deeper into despair and the whole viscous cycle repeats itself over and over.  Being fiscally aware of the limitations of my budget, I refrained from shopping for frivolous items and only allowed myself the necessities plus a few pouches of treats for Molly Cat.  No matter how dark things may seem, Molly will always be able to depend on there being a dish of treats set out for her each morning along with her regular bowls of kibble and water.  Should I be late in getting the treat dish filled, Molly has been known to drag the pouch of "cookies" into whatever room I am in and sit there looking at me with a look in her eyes that clearly tells me that I had better not think of making a pot of tea until I take care of this essential part of our morning routine.  And, I perform this task immediately, apologizing profusely to my little feline telling her that I really thought cleaning the litter box to be equally as important, but I now realize my error in judgement.

Such was my case of the blues that tidying up my studio was a hit and miss task.  More miss than hit I am afraid.  Finally, last evening I forced myself to go into the room and was determined to make a dent in the clutter with the goal of everything being pretty much back in place for Monday morning.  I sat in my much loved rolling office type chair and started sorting out items and returning them to their appropriate boxes and disposing of empty tubes, rolls from tape and other such items into the refuse or recycling bin.  Deciding that some music might make the task a little more enjoyable, I looked through my collection of CD's and chose one that I thought might be medicine for the soul.  The disc was by an artist named Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, the name of the disc being "Facing Future."  How appropriate!  The male vocalist goes by the nickname "Iz" and the playlist definitely gives you a taste of Hawaiian type music.  But, on this wonderful CD, there is a rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" that really speaks to the heart and soothes the troubled soul.  I had to stop working when this selection was playing in order to pay attention to just this piece of music and allow its healing properties to permeate my body.  Result:  I felt so much better after listening to this CD, but more so that one particular piece of music.

Thanks to Iz, I am feeling much more like the me that enjoys life, but more importantly can get back into the business of art and start getting colour back into my life.  I was up earlier this morning despite going to bed much later than I had planned.  Somehow, as I was heading off to bed, my sketchbook, a stash of coloured markers and my case of regular sketching tools ended up being brought along with a tin of soda and I spent a couple of hours working on some designs that I have been thinking about for a long time.  When I looked at the time, it was just after 3 a.m.  Yikes!  I set my alarm for 8 a.m. wondering if I would be able to pull my body out of bed and to my surprise, I was up just after 7 a.m. and heading to the kitchen, with Molly Cat in tow, and got our Sunday started.

The therapeutic value of music cannot be denied.  Find the right music and banish the blues, sometimes even the most stubborn case of depression will respond positively.  As I sat with my first cup of coffee of the day today, I realized that music had been lacking over the past few months.  If I had the radio set to my favourite classical program that I normally enjoyed each morning, it grated on my nerves and I would develop a major headache.  Consequently, I banished the radio and all forms of music from my life.  When my cleaning lady commented on the lack of music each time she came (on alternate Fridays), I knew I was not my usual self and that something was amiss.  A day without music is just not acceptable to me.  Even when I worked in an office, I was known for always having music playing quietly in the background.  The music kept my work day moving along, smoothing out the inevitable bumps along the road that happened every day.

I am feeling physically better today.  Whilst I still have a stubborn cold hanging on and making its presence felt, I know that I can deal with it.  The studio is looking pretty good and once I dust and hoover it Monday morning, I will be back in the business of making art.  Hopefully, some art that captures not only my emotions, but also reaches out to others who see it over the next month.  Thursday is the first day of December and whilst that month is not my favourite one of the year, I will be able to work my way through it.  I am getting back on track.  I am making plans for art projects that I want to work on over the next few months.  This is all progress in my eyes.  I will not allow myself to go into that dark corner to sit and worry.  But, I will make the most of each day and be sure to listen to my music and let it help me find my way on this artistic journey.

Getting back to tweeting this morning and posting my status on Facebook proved to me that all is well.  Setting up a display of the holiday wreaths made for friends makes for a splash of colour in my front reception room.  One wreath will go with me for my appointment with my doctor tomorrow.  He has just moved into a new office in a newly built medical building and I suspect holiday decorations are the last thing on his mind.  He usually makes a point of decorating the office, making it quite festive.  Hopefully, the wreath I bring will kick off the holiday season for the doctor and his staff as well as thanking them for all their help over the past year.  I am grateful for their many kindnesses.

The illnesses that pulled me into the feelings of depression are moving on and I have diverted myself from that particular detour on my journey.  Amen to that!  I much prefer pathways that add a little colour, excitement with the knowledge that I am adding to my treasure chest of art techniques.  Now, back to the studio for me!  And, Iz is going to sing those soothing songs once again as I gain control and order takes over what was chaos for so long.  It is a good day for me and I hope an equally good day for you.  Celebrate even the little victories such as cleaning stamps that have been inked.  Even little victories are still just that, victories.  With every little victory you celebrate, the momentum gains and soon you will be feeling pretty fine.  There will always be those days that take me down, but as long as the good days out number the not so good ones, I will consider myself to be on the path where I belong on my artistic journey.

Have a great week!  Hopefully, by next Sunday, I will have some new art or works in progress to share with you.  That is the plan and my aim is to stick with it.

Sincerely,   Rutheemac 



 

So many ideas, so why am I not progressing?

It has been a couple of weeks since my last blog post and I really do not have a good reason as to why.  I love to blog, it feels very much like I am having a chat with you about what is happening in my studio.  Maybe the truth is that I seem to be at an impasse artistically and not able to decide which way I should be heading with what I am doing.  Or, maybe I am trying to go in too many directions at the same time and am not able to focus clearly on any one thing.  I suspect this last thought is the one that is most accurate.

So, when I find myself in this situation, I sit back and look around the studio hoping to find some divine direction and when that fails to materialize, I decide to gut the room and rearrange it.  And this is what I have been doing for the past two weeks.  First the storage area got a good tidy up, but that meant that a lot of boxes ended up sitting on the floor of the actual studio.  It was then that I knew that the whole set up in general needed tweaking.  Bins have been moved and still have not found their way to their permanent placement, boxes are still scattered about, but a new six foot table has been put in place necessitating my moving another table and two storage towers to new locations.  I am bruised, but the feeling that I am getting closer to having the room set up so that it better suits my varied interests keeps me motivated.

Hopefully, by the end of the day on Monday, I will be organized and ready to tackle some of the many ideas floating around in my mind.  I know that I need to focus on one project at a time, but that never seems to work out for me.  I tend to move from one area to another and work on different artistic endeavours on a whim rather than out of an organizational method.  I try to justify this telling myself that while one piece is drying, I can work with some clay, beads, ribbon and whatever else draws my attention. That in turn draws me over to the bookcase to get some information that might help with what I plan to do, but then I get interested in reading something and before I know it, a few hours have passed by without my being aware of the fact.  The same holds true whilst I have been organizing the studio - I start going through a box of stamping materials and get distracted only to find myself setting up a box of stamps to use in another project.
Seriously, I have major issues with committing myself to one and only one project at a time.  I say this with a smile since I cannot take myself too seriously when it comes to organizing my room.  My little furry assistant, Molly Cat, does not help matters when she jumps out of boxes at me or runs about the room with small rolls of ribbon, decorations, paint brushes or whatever else captures her attention.  I suspect I would get more done if I were to close the studio door with Molly left to roam around the rest of the flat.  But, it would not be near the fun that we have together in the room.

This will be the week that I get organized.  I am determined to accomplish a few mixed media pieces over the course of the week and hopefully have something worthy of submitting for a competition wherein I show that stamping is far from passe and that it does have a place in art pieces today.  I can see in my mind one of the pieces that I want to capture on canvas, but whether this translates well in the final piece is still debatable.  Fingers crossed, I will make this happen and be satisfied that I have achieved what I set out to put together.  Somehow, I always change elements of the design at the last moment, but maybe this time I will leave well enough alone and see what comes of it.

I hope you have been working on something artistically satisfying over the past few weeks.  I would love to hear your suggestions as to how you keep on track and not roam all over the map trying too many ideas at the same time.  I suspect I am not the only one who finds this a problem, at least I hope I am not the only one with commitment issues. 


Have a great week!  And, I will commit to letting you know how the studio turns out and if anything of merit was put together over the upcoming week.


Sincerely,   Rutheemac

Holiday Madness

Well, it appears the holiday madness has started if the shopping frenzy I witnessed on Saturday is any indication.  I went for a little journey to my favourite craft shop and people were definitely in a mood to be purchasing items.  With all the holiday decorations out on the shelves and displayed temptingly thoughout the shop, it would have been easy to fall victim to the insanity and buy items which I doubt would ever be useful or decorative in my flat.  It is sad that some people go to all the trouble to decorate their homes with all the latest pieces and fall victim to the colours dictated by all the chic interior decorators.  Whatever happened to showing a little creativeness and decorating your home to suit the colours you favour along with the type of pieces that suit your particular and individual type of decorating?

I have not got a clue how I will decorate this year.  Other than a wreath on the door and a few little decorations sprinkled about the flat, I really do not allow myself to buy into the premise that if I were to decorate every room, deck the halls with festive boughs and have a miniature Dickensian village winding its way around a holiday tree, that the holidays would be all the better for my efforts.  I am not one to get too wound up over the holiday season.  It is a nice time of year to visit with friends who may have landed in the vicinity to visit other family and friends.  Of course, I will bake a number of goodies and have little gifts for guests who are expected to drop by.  But, I cannot and will not be held hostage by a season in which one can easily spend much more than they budget and still be paying off the debt come the next holiday season.

Maybe I am sounding a little dour and not trying to play nicely with the holiday crowd.  But, when people get so wrapped up in their shopping that they are grabbing things wildly off of the shelves and not really thinking about their purchases, I have to wonder about them.  Are they buying gifts that will really appeal to the recipient or are they purchasing gifts that they think will make them appear to be in the know of what the hits of the season are this year?  Far better to take a little time to think about the person for whom the gift is intended and maybe make all or part of the gift.  Purchase a pretty container and fill it with homemade cookies, candy or whatever.  Maybe a pretty glass jar filled with scented pinecones with a festive bow tied around the base might be just the ticket.  I am just saying that sitting down with pen and paper in hand and making a list of ideas along with a plan of action as to how to proceed this year might save a lot of time, money and prevent the inevitable mental letdown.  You know, the one where you feel that you cannot do anything right, least of all, pick out a gift that the intended recipient will enjoy.

Back in the craft store, people were loading up with all sorts of tree trim, figurines, chargers, strings of lights and filling their carts with candles, bolts of ribbon, and premade artificial holiday arrangements that were marked to half price when we have not even reached the first of December.  What does this tell you about the pricing?  Maybe I am a tad cynical since I once worked in the floral industry.  But, if a store can afford to mark down items this early in the season, then perhaps the items were massively overpriced to start with and even at half price, still command a hefty investment.  Premade bows are displayed in all their splendour with a rainbow of colours, patterns and designs parading down the length of the bolt.  But, again, the cost of having a designer make these ribbons had my heart rate racing.  Four of these lovely bows would feed a small family for a week.  Seriously, it is time that we stepped away from the displays, put our credit cards back into our wallet and walked out of the store, went for a coffee and gave serious consideration to how we tart up our homes to show our holiday spirit.

My vote is that we all look at the decorations that we have collected over the years.  Some of them are truly past their prime and need to hit the dust bin pronto.  Other decorations could be spruced up with a few less expensive additions and some reasonably priced ribbon.  Another thought might be to have a holiday swap  and get all your friends together along with their used but still attractive decorations.  Maybe if everyone traded off their old and brought home some gently used decorations, everyone would be happy and feel good about decorating hearth and home.  I would love to hear what you have to say about this idea and what you think about the holiday madness in general.  Do you fall prey to all the insanity or are you able to remain clear headed and stay on target budget wise?  I suspect that this is all a matter of priority.  Many would rather die than use the same decorations year after year and feel that if they did not follow the colour trends, that they would end up being on the worst decorated home list.

I enjoy seeing certain decorations year after year.  They remind me of holidays past and bring a sort of tradition to the day spent putting out a few much loved treasures.  I do like to see a different wreath up on my door each year and since I am able to put one together myself, the cost is minor.  Add to the fact that someone generally buys my used wreaths, I do not feel too badly about this little indulgence.  A wreath on the front door or in my case on the door of my flat, welcomes people to the home and says a lot about the person who placed the wreath on the door.  You can easily spot the homes that bring in a decorator to put up the decorations and follow a dictated theme each year.  When you come to visit me, you will see what intrigues me this year and how I incorporated these ideas into my way of decorating.  I do enjoy decorating, but I just do not feel the need to go overboard and have my entire flat become a Winter Wonderland with flashing lights, moving figures and holiday music played nonstop from mid November until the dawn of the New Year.

There now, I have had my little rant and I feel much better for it.  Just to show that I am not a total heathen to the decorating gods, I have put up a little Hallowe'en decoration and incorporated it into my autumn wreath.  We do not celebrate Hallowe'en, but some of the neighbours, myself included, like to take part and see who puts up an innovative display.  One door down the corridor sports a wicked witch in black with the body made out of straw strands and hangs low enough that Molly Cat on one of her sojourns into the corridor, runs past and tries to grab a piece to bring back home.  I must admit that I do chuckle at this, but get Molly home sans any little souvenirs.  I did not spend much on my little decoration, but it suits the purpose and since it will be taken down on the first of November, there really was not any reason to be outrageous and have a towering Frankenstein hovering outside my door.  I mention this because someone I once worked with got into the office early one year and when I turned on the lights as I entered the room, the over sized Frankenstein was hovering over my desk area and I have to admit I was quite taken aghast and uttered a few unladylike words which no doubt made their way back to the culprit who arranged this little vignette.  Consequently, I do suggest to keep in mind whether or not your display is age appropriate or the type which might necessitate the use of an AED to jumpstart one's heart.

Artistically, I am working on holiday cards, some wreaths for friends, along with a few other things that friends have asked me to make for them.  Since I am the one at home with some time to spare, I can easily make up little decorations, place marker cards, along with other requests.  I enjoy doing these little things to help out.  But, I also have a stash of canvas that is calling out to me to open it up and get messy.  This will happen, but may have to wait a week or so until I finish off my own holiday cards so that they are ready to send off at the appropriate time.  I have decided on a colour theme, but not the actual scene to be portrayed on the card front.  That will come to me as I look through my treasure trove of rubber stamps and my collection of pretty Japanese papers which I promise to make use of this year.  Well, a little of it.  It is just too pretty to use and yet to keep it in a drawer is pointless, no one gets to enjoy it and that is not why it was made in the first place.

Have an artistic week!  Share with us how you decorated for Hallowe'en if you did and what your plans are for decorating for the upcoming holiday season.  You just might inspire one of us to try something new and get out of a rut or maybe show us that it is possible to decorate and stay on budget.

Sincerely,  Rutheemac 

Autumnal decorations fill my flat, autumn meals bubble in my kitchen

I know this is late going online today.  I promised myself that I would be up early and moving at the speed of light or at least fast enough to keep up with Molly Cat.  Such was not the case.  I seem to get a series of nights where I am unable to sleep and life goes awry with me trying to play catch up.  I firmly resolve to get back on track this week.  Knowing that I have to be up early tomorrow to take Molly for her appointment to get  her annual vaccines along with a check up, should help to get the day off to a good start.  The appointment is for 9 a.m. and so I will need to be up no later than 7 a.m. to get ready and then capture the little rascal to get her into her carrying cage will keep me moving at a good clip.  I am already praying that the kindly vet will proclaim that Molly is a healthy little imp with all her vitals being normal.  The only problem we might be scolded on is that Molly has an appetite for popcorn as do I.  Generally, most nights I make up a bag of microwave popcorn and my little companion holds me hostage until I dole out a handful of the fluffy popped kernals of goodness that she so enjoys.  How bad can a little popcorn be for a cat?  Well, I suppose that tomorrow we will both find out.

I  made up a series of autumnal wreaths for some friends this week.  They purchase the materials or have me do this and reimburse me the cost plus a little extra for making up the decorations for them.  Generally, the cost to my friends is less than what they would pay if they had a shop make up these wreaths for them.  The plus side for me is that I get to keep my hand in the floral industry which I love and I work with materials that I very much enjoy.  Set me lose in a shop containing ribbons and you might not see me for days.  Every piece of ribbon is used, none goes to waste, just as my treasure trove of Japanese papers is utilized to the max.  I have even found paper punches in various sizes of flowers that I use on scraps of paper and ribbon so that I have little decorations for greeting cards, but that is a whole other entry for my blog.  Suffice it to say that I am frugal and make the most of every piece of material going into my floral pieces.  Little strands of grapevine can be wound around gourds, miniature pumpkins or worked into another piece as accents and painted a contrasting colour.  Autumn is a time of colour and I make full use of all colours, mainly darker hues, to show the best that Mother Nature has to offer at this time of year.

I am also getting back into cooking heartier meals.  My soups tend to acquire handfuls of barley, rice, beans or other additions that make a bowl of hearty goodness into a full meal when a piece or two of crusty bread are dipped into the broth.  I love soup.  It makes me feel warm, happy, at peace.  When the day has gone along in a manner that does nothing to soothe the soul, there is nothing like a bowl of warm, homey goodness to bring you back to your happy place.  I firmly believe that if everyone sat down to a bowl of soup every day, there would be much happier and healthier people out and about.

Are you at a loss for some wonderful soup recipes?  Not everyone has a family collection of soups and so my suggestion is to turn to the most wonderful and gracious Julie Anne Rhodes who runs a personal chef operation in Los Angeles, California.  Known on Twitter as @JulieAnneRhodes, she also has a web site where you can read her blog and join in a community of people devoted to making good, healthy food.  Check out http://julieannerhodes.com/ and read her blog accompanied by a recipe suitable for the season.  If you choose to go one step further, you can become a premium member for an extremely nominal price and have access to weekly menus that include shopping lists and details for freezing the meals.  The Personal Chef Approach teaches you that spending a few hours on a weekend in the kitchen can translate into 8 - 10 hours saved on weeknights since when you get home from work, you have a meal ready to pop in the oven or microwave instead of starting from scratch or resorting to the take out menus.  You not only save money, but time.  That time is better spent with your family, catching up on the goings on of the day or even supervising the inevitable homework.  Think about it, go to Julie Anne's web site and read her blog.  This lady is immensely sensible and can help you get your act in gear and get eating healthy meals without a horrendous expenditure of time.

What else am I up to?  Besides cooking, I am making up some holiday tree ornaments, each of them hand sewn.  Gingerbread boys, houses, and angels are being cut out of felt and stitched lovingly together.  Each year, I like to come up with a new theme for my holiday celebrations and I suspect that these handmade treasures will be part of the homespun theme for this year.  I like to make gifts for people that I know will enjoy them.  There are always those whom I know to be more enticed by a store bought ornament or gift and I try to accommodate them, but sometimes it just cannot be done.  I like to give things that friends or family will enjoy and can use and so in some cases when I know that someone has more decorations than necessary, I resort to baking mountains of cookies, treats and so on.  Sadly, fruit cake is no longer enjoyed by many.  I love fruit cake, but it is not worth making it for myself and my friends are those who do not enjoy a slice of this rich treat.  And so, I generally purchase one from a shop, but it never really tastes like the ones from my childhood.  Maybe this will be the year that I find a recipe that makes just a loaf or two and tastes like the fruit cakes of my childhood.  I remember my mum starting her baking in October so that the fruit cakes would have a chance to mellow.  She would soak the fruit in some sort of liquor and then blend it in the batter.  After the cakes were baked, she would wrap them securely and freeze them until the holidays.  I somehow think she may have wrapped the cakes in brandy soaked cheesecloth, but cannot be sure of this as it was many years ago, the early 1960's to be exact.

So this is how my week has played out.  I anticipate more holiday decorations over the next week along with cards, tree ornaments and a few other surprises.  Meanwhile, I will put up some pics of the wreaths that were made along with a picture of my mum circa the late 1930's.  I do not look at all like her.  I remember her as being tallish, slim, elegant - none of these words describe me in the least.  She was a lady and I am more often a nondescript middle aged woman wandering about in track pants and a hoodie.  While I do clean up well when there is the need, in my lifestyle, the artist in me requires old, washable clothes that can go the distance.  Mum would frown, but maybe she might have a smile on her face, watching the youngest of the brood happily splashing paint about, getting her hands covered in ink, glue and other artsy elements.  I really hope that this is what she is thinking as she watches over me.

I just picked up a copy of a new book -  Raw Art Journaling by Quinn McDonald.  I am just getting into this and will let you know how it is changing my thoughts on the way I usually journal.  Quinn is also on Twitter so check out her tweets and follow her blog.  I think you will find her information interesting and perhaps decide that the art of journaling is something that you might want to try.

That is it for me this week!  I hope you got some inspiration, some ideas or thoughts to ponder from this post.  I would love to hear from you and definitely want to know what you think.  Do not be shy, I read and ponder every comment and reply to them all.  Take a moment to jot down what you liked or didn't like.  Maybe, I can persuade one of my friends to take on a guest post to give another side of the artistic journey, give another perspective and let us get this journey into high gear.  So much to learn, to practise, to do.  I must be getting my second wind as I am feeling excited by the thoughts of all I want and need to get working on.

Sincerely,   Rutheemac

Life is getting back to normal!

Okay, life is getting back to normal after having been ill for the past six weeks.  Just when I thought I was feeling better, I was body slammed by the flu bug, landing me right back into bed.  That is all in the past and I am gradually getting back to full strength and able to participate fully in life.  Amen!

Suffice it to say that all things art related were left to gather dust in my studio.  Molly Cat spent more time in there than I did.  But, now that I am up and moving again, studio time is gaining momentum and with any luck, I should be able to make up for the lost time.  I have some fall wreaths in progress with one of them decorating my front door to welcome visitors to my flat.  I have plans to alter it a bit to bring in a bit of a Hallowe'en theme and spice it up just a little.  I know that Hallowe'en is really not celebrated so much, but being the quirky woman that I am, I like to push the envelope and bring a little of the supernatural into daily living.  Enough said!

I am also going full tilt in the production of making greeting cards.  One special batch that is in production right now is some that I am giving to a group who raises funds for breast cancer survivours.  The cards have a holiday theme with a little angel dressed in pink, decorating a sparse little holiday tree with pink ribbons.  This is a design of my own making and I am happy to donate packages of these to the group to sell at a bazaar that they are holding in a few weeks.  Time is the biggest element in the making of the cards, time well spent.  I can totally lose myself when I am making cards and have looked up to find that I have lost all concept of time and that the clock on the wall reads very late into the night or very early in the morning, depending on how you view the actual time.

Whilst I was down with the flu, I spent my time watching movies on my little DVD player along with some old time television programs that have been brought back to life with the new technology.  The hands down favourite of all I watched was "Julie & Julia."  For those who have not seen this movie, it is about a young woman, Julie, who needed to challenge herself and decided to work her way through Julia Child's cookbook on French cooking, recipe by recipe, and to blog about the experience.  Meryl Streep played the part of Julia Child and her performance was amazing and so true to life.

What a wonderful way to challenge yourself!  I was so impressed with Julie's way of approaching each recipe and sharing her ups and downs of the process with the readers of her blog.  Julie told her readers the ups and downs of her methodology and in the end, transformed herself into a true foodie with a great appreciation for the art of cooking and an even greater appreciation of Julia Child.  Cooking is truly an art, but it is one that each of us can master if only we put a little time and thought into what we are preparing.  I spent a few days thinking about this movie and actually watched it three times in one week.  Cooking is the way we express our love to others.  Whilst we eat because it is necessary for us to survive, cooking can be a way of expressing feelings, a way to challenge ourselves to learn new methods of preparing something that we have only ever eaten in one particular way.  It was interesting that in the movie Julie gained a new appreciation of eggs.  She had only ever eaten them when they had been incorporated into a recipe and never on their own.  And so, Julie learned to poach eggs and after hours of practice, she poached the perfect egg and savoured the simple taste of a food that we all take for granted.

Cooking for many of us is something we do, but we do not really enjoy the process.  We think of cooking as being the means to an end.  We are providing nutrition and not really interested in challenging ourselves to try different ways in preparing them.  Finding time to cook is getting more and more difficult with our lives being held hostage by jobs, time spent commuting, finding time to do laundry, tidy up our homes and spend time in a relationship with a significant other.  Consequently, we hang on to the tried and true methods of cooking our meals and do not look for ways to bring in new tastes and keep the prep time to reasonable blocks of time.  Enter Julie Anne Rhodes (@JulieAnneRhodes on Twitter) who can teach us all her Personal Chef Approach to getting meals on the table and having time left to spend doing things we really enjoy.  Julie Anne's approach is to make several meals in the course of a few hours, package up the meals into the appropriate portions and freeze these and bring them out as needed.  To learn more about the PCApproach to preparation and cooking with the bonus of having having healthy meals on the table in minutes each night.

Take a look at Julie Anne's web site, http://julieannerhodes.com/ and you will see that she writes a wonderful blog about cooking, life and so many other things.  There is the cyber living room where premium members can connect and talk about problems or successes they are having with their meal prep.  If you decide to join the community, for a nominal monthly fee, you have access to a library of recipes, menus and advice.  What more could you ask for?  This is just like having your own personal chef standing beside you, helping you prepare meals ahead of time and safely storing them to bring out when needed.  You are able to sign up and receive just the weekly menus, but I strongly urge you to sign up as a premium member in order to get the most of your membership.  You can sign up for a trial three month membership and see how it will help you change up your meals, learn how to prepare foods that you may never have tried before and connect with other members who share the same challenges on a daily basis.  Thinking ahead, a trial membership might be just the gift for a special someone this holiday season.  We all have a few people on our gift lists that we can never think of what to buy for them.  What could be better than to give them the gift of time which is what the Personal Chef Approach is all about.  By following this approach, you can take a few hours on the weekend and translate them into meals for the upcoming week.  Take a look at Julie Anne's web site and see how she can help you make meal prep into a time that you actually look forward to and most of all, enjoy.

Watching Julie & Julia made me think a lot about Julie Anne's approach to cooking, but most of all the enjoyment in making real meals that are healthy and taste amazing.  I have been following her approach for a few months now and knowing that dinner is only a matter of minutes away from being on the table frees me up to spend more time in the studio.  The approach really made sense when I was ill for so long.  I had made a huge pot of soup, some meatloaf, and a few other mains which were all stored in my freezer prior to becoming ill.  Thank goodness I had prepped all these meals and the soup was my main stay over the past few weeks.  I defrosted countless bowls of a hearty vegetable soup, and that along with some toast, was just what I needed to warm my body.  I am planning a morning of cooking and prep for this upcoming week in order to fill up the freezer again.  Every Wednesday, Julie Anne posts a new menu with five mains, side dishes, recipes, cooking and reheating directions and how to package up your meals safely.  She has a grocery list done up for you and other bits of information that you need to make meal prep a breeze.  You have nothing to lose other than the wasted time and money spent on take out meals which never really satisfy you.  Take out a premium membership on a trial basis and use the approach to simplify your life.

Julie followed Julia Child's approach to cooking and gained a whole new appreciation of what had been a daily chore.  Her blog inspired countless others to take on cooking as a challenge and learn to enjoy meal preparation as a way of expressing love to their family and friends.  Julie Anne's approach simplifies meal prep and in a few hours, make meals for a week leaving you time to spend with your family and friends.  Involving your family in the meal prep is such a great way of teaching life skills, a way to connect with each other and so much more.  For the single people in the community, think of getting a few friends together and spend a morning cooking together with everyone taking home a week's worth of meals.  However you use the approach, it's a win/win situation.  You will save time, money, and eat healthy meals.

So, that is how my week played out last week.  A little art, some cooking, and some time spent enjoying movies.  This week, I plan to spend more time in the studio, but I also plan to devote one or two mornings to cleaning out the fridge and refilling it with lots of nibbles.  I hope you take the time to wander over to Julie Anne's web site and see what it has to offer you.  With the holiday season coming up, you will be in good hands and have a personal chef helping you navigate through family dinners, both casual and formal.  The best part of it all will be that you will have the time to enjoy the family gatherings because you will not be tied to your kitchen, you will be the hostess enjoying the pre dinner chatter with your guests or just be able to sit down with a cup of tea and catch up with your own family about what happened during their day.

Well, I am heading into the kitchen to make a cup of tea before heading off to bed.  I will be in the studio for most of the day on Monday prepping cards for the holidays, making some more autumn wreaths and hopefully get a few holiday decorations made.  It is a welcome thought that I have enough energy to do the things I enjoy.

Wishing you a healthy week!   Rutheemac

Dang, that flu bug took me down big time!

I am not sure what is happening to me right about now.  One moment I think I am feeling okay and getting over the vile flu bug that took me down two weeks ago.  Then, I get a not so subtle reminder that I am not quite in control of my body just yet.  The worst part is over and I am now just not feeling strong enough to do all the things that I normally enjoy doing, such as blogging, tweeting, playing in my studio or playing a rigorous game of peek and hide with Molly Cat.  Seriously, this bug is ruining my life and I am about to go to war to regain control and get my life back on the gentle but enjoyable path that I try to follow.

I did manage to get out briefly today to pick up a few essentials but had to head home before a couple of hours had elapsed.  No lingering over a coffee and a bagel, no stopping by to sniff at some fragrances, have a boo at some new metal wall art at another shop I love to stop by for a browse.  I did not even stop at the kitchen supply shop to look at the white dishes that are on sale.  As much as I love a good sale, my head and my insides told me that heading home for some tea and a nap was the wise thing to do.  And so, Molly Cat and I joined ranks and curled up for a quick snooze before trying to put the studio in order for getting back to the business of making art. 

I have not held a paint brush for a long time and the last creative thing that I did was to send in the exhibit piece in late August for the September show.  I have since heard that I did not place and no one has inquired about purchasing the piece.  I am not discouraged, nor do I feel that I need to stop making art.  I make no apologies, my art is evolving much the way that I feel that I am changing with each day.  Whilst I seem to be fighting an uphill battle at present to regain some semblance of normalcy and live life the way I choose to, I am going to commit to spending the better part of the upcoming week in the studio.  The flu bug needs to get packing and move out of the premises pronto.  I will not tolerate another week of lethargic movements, taking a few nibbles of toast to see if I can quell the unsettling feeling in my stomach.  I want to be able to drink a few cups of coffee each day in addition to my usual quantity of tea and diet cola.  I will even substitute diet ginger ale for the diet cola and did purchase said ginger ale again today.  I picked up more crackers and bread to make into toast to quell the queasiness that seems to have made itself at home in my body.

The point of this little rant is to make everyone aware that we are heading into flu season quickly.  Prepare yourselves now and keep essentials on hand just in case you are not able to get out of the house.  Wash your hands frequently and keep hand sanitizers in your pocket for when you are out and about.  Eat healthy meals, keep yourselves hydrated and well rested.  Cough into the crook of your arm or into some tissues. Dispose of the tissues properly. And did I mention to wash your hands?  Do not underestimate how important it is to wash your hands properly with soap and warm water.  I am not being an alarmist, not in the least.  Every year many people contract the flu virus and some are not as lucky as I have been.  And, I have been lucky.  Despite the duration of this bug, I know that things are looking up and I should be back to what passes for full speed in a matter of a few more days.  I will see my doctor this week just to be safe and I will ask when he thinks the flu shots will be available.  Likely not for another month or so, but I will be one of the first in line to get my shot.  I have had a shot every year for many years now and I know that things could have been a lot worse even with this brush with unpleasantness.  Not everyone is as lucky when battling the flu.  An elderly neighbour told me that she also was down for a week with the same bug and is just now getting back on her feet.

Life will return to normal soon, of that I am confident.  I will get back into the studio and get the paints out, start making the copious quantities of cards that I seem to go through, and work on some other artistic endeavours that are part of a project I need to get moving on to meet the submission date.  I have so many things to do and I will be working on them this week.  But first, I needed to let you know that I have been thinking of all of you and wishing I could once again be part of the cyber world where I have the best friends and meet new people all the time.  The tweets will once again start flying out as quickly as I can queue them up.  I will be back on Facebook

For now, I am calling it an early night and planning to be up with the birds tomorrow.  After a quick run to pick up some fresh fruit and veg, I will do the daily tidy up and then go online briefly before heading into the studio for some quality time with my treasured supplies.  Molly Cat will be her usual chatty self and we will spend several hours working on something fun.  Mind you, I will make time every so often to play little games with my furry friend.  Molly Cat has been be a trooper and has taken very good care of me over the past two weeks.  I plan to return the favour and keep her amused and intrigued with little games of chase, peek and seek, and reward her with her favourite little treats.  That is what fur baby parents do and I am no different.

So, for now, I am saying good night.  But, I promise to be more of a presence in the various social media venues where I usually post each day.  I will be thinking of all of you as I putter around the flat and work on artsy pieces.  And I will be hoping that all of you to stay healthy. 

Sincerely,   Rutheemac

Miniature pieces, but major effort!

Sorry for being MIA for the last while!  Life got a little out of control and I had to stand back and let the chaos settle for a bit.  I try to do too much at one time and consequently, put a little too much pressure on myself causing me to withdraw into myself and figure out what it is that is troubling me.  There is something about the start of September that pulls my stomach into knots and I have to slow down to a crawl, get myself together again (mentally and physically) before I can resume a somewhat normal schedule or what passes for one in my life.  Once again, my body has made me realize that putting too much pressure on myself to produce is not healthy nor is it productive.  Lesson learned, I will slow down the pace and be creative when I am rested and feeling that I want to unleash the artistic self in me.  Enough said!

I have been playing with the idea of making miniature art pieces for a while now and for the past week have been cutting, pasting, stamping, adding embellishments and so on.  I have found that although the pieces I have been working on are tiny, the effort that goes into them is major.  I am working on sturdy cardboard arches that measure 4 3/4" x 3 3/4 ".  Finding images for such a tiny "canvas" and adding other elements to complement the main image takes a lot of time, more than I had ever imagined.  Deciding on the colours to use in the background and for making the stamp impressions means doing test runs on scraps of paper and then try to coordinate a colour of washi tape to use as an accent before moving on to the actual piece of cardboard being used.

I have been thinking a lot about old photos, images of the past, stamps of antique light fixtures and days long past in general.  There is something about the early 1900's that is appealing to me and consequently, ladies sporting fashions from around the 1920's have been finding there way onto my pieces.  Finding decorative paper accents to work along side of the images is an endurance test because once you find the right paper you need to decide on how it will appear on the finished piece without taking away from the main image.  In some cases, I find a piece of interesting paper for the background, add some other colours in the form of ribbon or tape before I actually decide on what will be the main focus of the piece.  This sounds like a very backward approach to making a miniature piece of art, but, it seems to work for me.  Once I see what the accenting colours and images are going to be, I can focus with a clearer mind on what I am trying to put down on the page.  I use the word "page" loosely, meaning whatever I am using to build my mixed media piece upon.  I guess in a way, you could say that I am making a collage of an earlier time.  I picture this time as being dark and consequently use blacks, bottle greens, dark purple and some sepia or brown tones.  I have put up three images to the side for you to have a look at.  

The first picture is of a lady from the past with a very curious hair style and hat.  The word "Haunting" appears on the right side of the piece.  Some textured paper in blue and black with white outlines of petals making up daisy like flowers works in with the darkness of the piece.  Black foliage works its way around the perimeter and an old fashioned chandelier is stamped at the top.  But, there is no light in the chandelier and so the art piece is left in its darkness.  Looking at this image, I feel haunted and try to discern a meaning to what I have put together and why.  I suspect the darkness of my mood when I was working on this is making itself apparent to anyone who looks at this.  Strangely, while my mood was dark, I cannot truthfully say that I was in emotional turmoil at the time.  Frustrated, annoyed, introspective would be adjectives that more closely described my mood, but never fear, I had not gone to that dark place that we all have within ourselves.  I was just not my usual complacent self.  Is it not amazing how you can look at a piece of art and immediately know the artist's frame of mind when he or she was working on the piece.  This miniature evolved over a three day period, taking many hours to think about and put together to my satisfaction.

On the flip side of the first piece, I have stayed with the dark colours and you see a bird sitting amongst various bits of greenery.  The foliage is black and the stamping of the bird's image came out lighter despite my having used the same onyx ink pad.  The background colour is the same as the first piece, a golden olive colour, drab, but at the same time giving a shimmering effect.  The daisy pattern on the paper is brought through to this piece as is the bottle green washi tape.  I really do not feel that this is a particularly cheerful piece, but that is the way life is in reality.  We cannot be perpetually cheery or at least I cannot pull that one off successfully.  So again, we have another bleak image, nature not showing its wonderful colours, but at the same time maybe I have put down an authentic depiction of what I was feeling when this came together a short while ago.  I feel that the look of the piece is almost as if the bird is in camouflage, hiding itself (or me) from impending danger.  Do not be alarmed, I am not in any way in danger of anything other than using my mood to help me put out a piece of art.  Maybe my psyche is in turmoil because I should be making some decisions about how my life unfolds over the next few years.  If so, I have got a lot of thinking to do and might as well use the well of emotions as subject matter in different art mediums.

The third piece is again done on an arch which is in the process of becoming an accordion book.  Again, dark colours - purple, deep gold and black stamping.  The background is from some paper that I happened upon that has lovely little sentiments from a love letter of many years ago, elegantly inscribed on ivory paper.  The stamp of two little birds, obviously in love as depicted by the hearts, makes me smile.  Both the birds and four of the hearts are done in black ink.  The elegant flourish stamped at the top of the piece is done in black.  I wonder if this is my inner self showing cynically how I feel about romance.  I guess it is pretty obvious that while I will acknowledge that romance does exist in some form, it just has not made itself present in my life this time around.  This is a statement of fact, not a cry of a wounded soul.  I actually feel that romance does not have a place in everyone's life.  So be it, get over it and get on with the life you currently inhabit.  Maybe in my next life, there will be romance, but I strongly doubt it.  Chaos seems to be a constant for me and something that I deal with rather well. 

So, this is what I have been working on for the past two weeks along with a few other pieces that are still in production, but in many pieces scattered around my studio.  I need to do a major tidy before I go any further with anything art related.  Wiping down the flat surfaces in the studio might put some positive energy into the air and spark some bright colours to be coaxed out of their tubes.  I have some lovely sandalwood incense that I can burn and hopefully that will permeate the air with a sense of anticipation of things to come.  Autumn is here and although it is sad to say goodbye to the summer, autumn is a wonderful time of the year, special in its own way.  It is up to me to find the excitement in the change of seasons and I will.  It just might take a few days.

I hope you are all involved in amazing artistic journeys right now!  Have a great week.

Sincerely,   Rutheemac