realizing zen

it seems that completing one thing will cause an avalanche of sorts and it will become lots of things. it was this i was trying to get to with the whole finishing friday concept, but didn't seem to achieve. (when will i learn not to force these things? ) somehow tho' finishing wednesday just doesn't have the same ring to it.

not forcing it, but just going with the flow once you're in it, leaves you with the most wonderful zen sort of feeling. maybe it was all of these lovely stones i gathered on the beach yesterday, sitting there on the table in a big bowl, that set the tone, but i got completely on a roll. it all started with finally finishing that binding on this quilt:

once that was done,  i also finished a tea cozy and my basket of clarity birds and got them all tagged for the april market. once i had all that done, i allowed myself to start some new projects. as a sort of reward.

i guess i'm the kind of person who has to work hard to get into the groove, but once i'm there, it feels pretty unstoppable. i wish i had a bit more discipline and could make it happen more often. does anyone else out there struggle with finishing projects before beginning new ones? how do you discipline yourself?

gimme some stats stat

what's the first thing one does when embarking on a new venture?
one orders mini MOOs, of course!

i always find it amusing to look at the "stats" button here in blogger. i'm far less obsessive about it than i once was, but i do like to see which browser people are using, what they searched, how they found the blog. and i'm quite pleased to see, for example, that on the sustainable life blog, at this moment, only 14% of the readers are using the archaic internet explorer (isn't it so early noughties to use IE?) while 37% are using safari (yay mac people!) and 31% firefox (my own preference). it's telling that chrome is right behind IE at 13%.  here on MPC, firefox is beating IE by a nose (at this moment - it changes, all the time, you know).  i am a little concerned that the top referring URL for this blog at this time is some kind of sex site, but i suppose it was the ruin porn title last week that did it.

i'm spending time on this stats thing to avoid the photoshop elements window that's open in the background. i'm trying to put together a little html newsletter and all of the templates have a photoshop base. and i have to tell you, i find photoshop to be the least intuitive, most cumbersome program, ev-ah, and i've only got the elements version of it. maybe i'm just too old, but it simply doesn't work in a way that my mind can make sense of. (i know that's a dangling participle, but i just can't bring myself to write: "it simply doesn't work in a way of which my mind can make sense." can't you just feel the difference? did photoshop wander away yet?) masks, layers, vectors...i find it all very confusing.

i guess i'm generally going through a period of adjustment. although i love the idea of being independent and working at home, rather than going to an office, i sometimes struggle with the lack of structure it gives me. while i can easily sit all day at the computer and at times, even longer than i ever would if i was sitting in an office, i have discipline issues. the hours i can spend are looking at inspiring things other people are doing on flickr or in the blogosphere. and that doesn't make me very productive. tho' i have bursts of productivity, i'm really inconsistent.

so i procrastinate by looking at blog stats and sniveling about photoshop. i guess i really should just get down to work...this newsletter isn't going to put itself together.

if you have any tips for developing discipline for working at home, do let me know!

update on my art journal calendar

as you know, i embarked on a daily art journal calendar on january 1. i started off very enthusiastically and really enjoyed the process. i wasn't sure where it was taking me, but i liked the ride. february went well and i began to get into a groove. march, with our impending move, got a little more rocky, but still i persevered. and now i'm here to admit that it kinda fell apart for me in april. although i made a little mini-stash in an old suitcase, and had all sorts of good intentions, my daily art journal was what had to give.

the portable stash in a modified (by me) vintage suitcase

april 1 - 2, 2010
april 1 - was when i photographed paul's beautiful rug for british home & garden
april 2 - i was on a weaving kick, so i wove fabulous washi tape (bought here). i love that stuff.

april 3 - 4, 2010
april 3 - still on the washi tape thing. i'll admit sabin inspired this.
april 4 - washi tape tree (also copied from inspired by sabin).

that's pretty much as far as i got in april - wrote this note of assessment may 1.

may 1 - 2
may 1 - new house, new resolve. so i started with a little sketch of the new plants in the garden.
may 2 - had discovered loads of rhubarb in the garden and was holding out hope there would be asparagus (there isn't).

may 3 - watching one of those fabulous BBC nature shows with sabin.

may 19 - was the day i discovered that gorgeous little nest in a bush in the yard.

and that's as far as i got in may. restarting my daily practice proved difficult in the new surroundings. and it's rather ironic, because i think that with the stress of moving, i have more need than ever for a daily creative act. there are so many adjustments at once - house, job, routine, kitchen, garden, sabin's school, caring for a horse - and so many new demands on my time. but i haven't given up on myself and have decided that looking back on these couple of months (let's hope it doesn't stretch into june as well) of empty pages will also be a record of the time and place i was in. they say when you fall off the horse, you have to get back on, so i'm trying to persevere with june's little moleskine. i'll be back with more on that when the month is over.

daily art journal: march

this month, the details are on flickr, so click each picture below if you want to know more.

1. daily art journal for march, 2. march 1-2, 3. curiosity bird detail, 4. march 3-4, 5. march 5-6, 6. march 7-8, 7. march 9-10, 8. march 11-12, 9. march 13-14, 10. march 15-16, 11. march 17-18, 12. march 19-20, 13. march 21-22, 14. detail - march 22, 15. march 23-24, 16. march 25-26, 17. march 27-28, 18. march 29-30, 19. march 31, 20. daily art journal for march

i'll admit the project grew more difficult in march and i fell behind, sometimes by a week at a time. i could definitely feel the effects of house- and job-hunting this month. it ended up both good and bad. good in that i had room for more two-page spreads, which i felt gave me greater flexibility on some of the pieces and some of the thinking it helped me do. bad in that i didn't get the daily creative practice that i embarked on this project to have. but april is a another month and i'm back on track. well. almost anyway. but i blame husband because he said yesterday was only the 2nd and it was actually the 3rd.

recurring themes - maps and eyes continue to crop up again and again. i'm beginning to see that come out when i look back at previous months. in any case, it's an interesting project and i'm starting to see a glimmer of where it's taking me.