Well, here is what I started working on a couple of days ago. As you can see, the bottom half has had the water wash applied, and thus you'll see curling edges. And this is 140 lb. watercolor paper. (Thank you, Julie!) I'm still working on the top half. The photo doesn't really do the color saturation justice. I'm really happy with the 'rustiness' of the browns, reds, and yellows, though.
My left leg is quite painful today. It's very obviously muscular and I wonder what I did to deserve this. Must have pulled something whilst I was digging out my painting supplies. :D
Jane took a picture of our cat, Jaina, today. The silly thing looks like she posed for it. Cats are strange creatures. I can read quite a bit of disgruntlement in her face. :D
As cats go, she's relatively decent. Antisocial, but when she WANTS company, quite a pest. Luckily for her, she's also beautiful.
Tomorrow, I have to head to Sonora Quest for my pre-chemo lab work, then get poisoned on Tuesday and start the week long joy of Xeloda pills. This could be quite annoying, but I think it's going a long way towards keeping me alive, and so I can't complain. :D
Now, I'm off. My sister Cee, the wonderful Bud and my niece, CeeCee are on their way for a visit. I love them so much; I can't wait to see them!
Love, hugs and kisses to all!
It's been ages since I picked up my watercolors, but my sister, Wendy, got me inspired and I started working on a triptych yesterday. I was rather ambivalent about how it was progressing in the watercolor pencil dry stage, but today, I started to apply the water, and I am LOVING how it is looking.
But, frankly, I have crappy brushes, so I will need to find a good hobby store or something and see what I can do to rectify the situation. I find myself, instead of gently swirling my colors, attacking them instead. It's almost like I'm stippling instead of painting. And it's doing something special to what I've laid in with the pencils. In any event, I so enjoy painting and being creative, and even though I may not have any finesse, I have FUN! :D
What I was doing with the triptych was essentially practice because I want to give Wendy and Dean a triptych for their living room for Winter Solstice. I have the canvasses already, but I wasn't ready to hit them immediately. I need to play first. Not that what I'll be doing with the canvasses won't be play time, but it'll be a little more thoughtful playtime. ;)
One of the watercolor books I have shows techniques for creating a parrot. I was thinking of doing a triptych of three of the same parrot, only different colors for each canvas. But don't worry, Dean and Wendy, I doubt that'll be what you get... hehehe.
Anyway, thank you, Wendy, for inspiring me to get out the watercolor pencils again. It makes me very happy.
Hugs, kisses and love to all!
I saw Dr. Tsai after today's radiation, and she was concerned about my lungs because Dr. F told her that I wasn't moving much air on Thursday. She listened to them, and was glad to hear more air movement today. I told her that the change in the weather was definitely affecting my asthma, but I watch my sats and my peak flow meter numbers, and I'm doing pretty well.
Dr. T said that she and Dr. F want the CT on the 30th so that we can see if there has been any change in the tumor. If, as she suspects, there has been some shrinkage, then she wants to recalibrate my radiation and shrink the area of effect to best save my lungs. I *knew* December 8 wouldn't be my last radiation. :P
Here is my Hibiscus. It still needs a bit of polishing up, but I think it actually LOOKS like a hibiscus blossom, so I'm happy. :)
And so, two more radiations this week, and Dr. T gave me a couple of prescriptions just in case things get bad over the long weekend. I kid you not, one is for Magic Mouthwash. It's Lidocaine, Maalox and Benadryl... I'm supposed to slurp it down with a straw, so it goes into the esophagus and not in my mouth. A lidocained tongue is no good to anyone. ;)
The other prescription is for some heavy-duty painkillers. I'm not a big fan of painkillers in any way, shape, or form. I will have to be in a LOT of pain before I will take one. After my mastectomy, I took ONE painkiller, and that was because the ride home from the hospital was really ouchie. My sister says I deal with pain very well.
I'm starting to play World Of Warcraft again, so at least I have lots to do. And with my new watercolor crayons, holy cow, life is good. :)
Hugs and kisses to all! Extra ones to Jon and Michelle, as they are experiencing the joy of cross country flight. I love you both very much.
Alas, it barely wet the ground, but, wow, it's really cooled off here in the desert. Michelle, my dear friend from Chicago, is making us a baked chicken with veggies and tarragon and white wine. Jon is making a potato terrine with Yukon Golds. I made a huge pot of rice. :D Fear not, I have the coolest Zojirushi rice maker on the planet, so no labor involved. I adore rice. We actually use a mix of Texmati, Red Rice, Barley and Rye. Gotta get those grains, folks. :)
Both Michelle and I love to use watercolors in any way, shape, or form. I really enjoy using watercolor pencils, but Michelle gave me a tray of watercolor crayons, and seeing as how one of my favorite Hibiscus is in bloom, I decided I would paint it and try out the crayons. What fun! I've got a bit more work to do on it, but I'll post it here when I am done. There is something very serene about the application of the wet brush to the laid out watercolor; watching the interplay of the colors and knowing there is no way you can ruin your work. It's yours. If you think it's great, then it must be. :D
Three days of radiation this week, and then Thanksgiving. I have always loved Thanksgiving; Auntie would get up really early to get a HUGE bird in the oven. We'd search the stores for the biggest, because we actually would need it. There was no telling who would be over for dinner on Thanksgiving. We expected a crowd, and we usually got it. Of course, there were parts of the meal that were not my favorite: oyster stuffing. Oh gods. But I guess my dad liked it. ;)
There would always be those creepy canned cranberry dishes.. not one of my faves, you can tell, but Auntie would have made her pumpkin pies. Very little sugar in those pies, but they were the most heavenly thing on earth. Some years, I'd get a couple of Bean Pies from the Shabazz folks on Martin Luther King Boulevard. Oh, those were awesome. I think mashed potatoes were the order of the day for Thanksgiving, so my mom was happy. Give that woman a potato, and you made her day. Must be that Irish in her. :)
Now, to go off on a tangent, just let me tell Cee that I have started reading 'The Shack', and I am enjoying it. I love you, big sis. :)
Hugs and kisses to all... keep warm and ... GIVE MORE HUGS!
