Tired, But Happy ...

I meant to be in bed by now, but I have a case of restless legs so bad that I can barely stand to be in my skin. Even my arms are restless! I've taken a couple of pills; when they kick in, I should be able to lie down and sleep. In the mean time, I thought Id post an update, since it's been a few days!

I've not posted because I've been incredibly busy! Saturday morning, I led the final ATC workshop before the show-in-a-show next week. As usual, it was a great time. There was an 11-year old boy there, and it was great fun -- and inspiration! -- to be around him. He created with such abandon and enjoyed himself so much; it was good for me to be around that. I still have a tendancy to get caught up in how things look, but this young man just played with the supplies and had such a good time doing it. I need to do that more often!

I came home, unloaded my car, loaded it back up with the Featured Artist items and rested for a bit.  Sandy Davies called around 4:00 for us to meet at the Gallery to hang my show. YAY! That was quite an emotional experience for me. She was great to work with -- full of good ideas, and ever-so-patient. I was tired and so sore I could hardly move, but we worked together just fine. I was afraid that I was going to be a bit bitchy, but I was so on-cloud-Nine that I easier to get along with that I might otherwise have been! We worked until about 6:45 (she had to leave to watch the Dodgers game with her husband) and I stayed for about another half an hour. Things weren't completely finished when I left, but I was done. I had forgot a couple of things, and hadn't thought of a few other things, so I wasn't completely prepared. I came back Sunday and finished up.

I can't describe the experience of being the Featured Artist. I have been so moved by it that I've choked up a couple of times. Tears have definitely come to my eyes more than once. Everyone has been so supportive and encouraging. I've worked really hard, both artistically and personally, to get to the point where I could do something like this. I've grown so much since I first started dabbling in art. I can remember when -- not so long ago! -- I was embarrassed to even tell people that I played in art, for fear that they'd want to see some of my work, and now I've got a whole corner of the Gallery to myself! Back then, I was certain to make the distinction that I "played" or "dabbled", lest anyone judge me too harshly, but now, I call myself an artist. I've certainly come a long way!

So, I've spent the past few days catching up on things that I got behind on while I was preparing for my show.  I've been terribly busy, but I'm very happy. I'm behind on my drawing, but I mean to get back to that, starting tomorrow. I'll either double up on drawings or draw into November -- or some combination of the two -- to get my 31 drawings in. 

Thanks so much to everyone for their kind comments as I've gone through this Featured Artist stuff. I really appreciate your interest!