Today for T stands for Tuesday I’d like you to help me celebrate a real milestone…an entire decade of blogging!!!

I am so incredibly shocked that I have been at the keyboard sharing my work with the world for 10 years now! I started the blog on a whim and wasn’t sure if I’d even had any readers but was thinking of it as a digital diary of sorts. I hadn’t ever had success a paper diary or journal so who knew I’d still be at it all these years later.

Take a peek at my very first post…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The blog itself has went through many changes over the years, but though it all the content has remained the same. The visual presentation and the platform have changed. I was on Blogger for the first 5 yrs then purchased my own domain and moved over to WordPress.

Blogging helped me learn to identify myself as an artist…something that was very difficult to say out loud for the first time. Of course, part of that is likely due to growing up in the upper mid-west, raised in a conservative Lutheran church.  We cannot take a complement. No seriously…it’s a sickness. If someone says, “OH I love that new blouse!”  Instead of just saying “thank you” like a normal person, people like me will try our best to avoid accepting the complement by down playing everything… “Oh gosh, you wouldn’t believe the great deal I found on it at blah blah store…I’m sure it would look even better on you…” totally avoiding the acknowledgement of the compliment because that would be to “full of yourself”.

Ok not sure where that tangent came from but hey…it’s my anniversary…I can get off track if I want.

I’ve “met” so many wonderful like minded people through blogging from all over the world. I shared my art, crafts and photography. Gardening, travels and kitchen experiments. My failures and celebrations. Blogging has become an integral part of my self-expression.

I have noticed a tendency lately for people to use more social networking than blogging. I have found myself falling into that trap as well. I post something on Instagram so I don’t bother creating a post about it.  Such as this…

A painting in progress. I was commenting that I wasn’t sure where I was going with it or even if it looked best in this direction. This quick superficial post without a followup on the blog is what I want to stop myself from doing…mainly because it’s a little lazy. It’s tendency I’d like to break myself of quickly.

So have you had enough deep, introspective thoughts from me yet today? It’s been that kind of day. Having an introductory meeting with hospice will do that to a person.

We do have some exciting things on the horizon though…a wedding anniversary and a choir trip. Truth be told, I’m only going in spirit on that trip, but I can’t wait to see and hear all about it! More on that at a later date.

So what’s on tap for me…an appt for mom and a parent meeting about the trip to NY.

What are you doing today?

Welcome to T stands for Tuesday! This week I wanted to share the progression of a painting…from blank canvas to hanging on the wall.

I’ve had a 30×40 inch canvas standing in the corner for a good month waiting for me to get inspired or brave. My original thought when I got the canvas (at 70% off) was to do another poppy painting. After some time had passed, my excitement for more poppies dwindled.

Since last week we had a couple of simply perfect Fall days, I decided to set up outside. I tried to hang it, brace it, stand it etc but in the end I set up on the ground on a sheet with it leaning against a tree. I used latex wall paint…I know…crazy right?! But I had 5 small partially used cans of paint tucked away in the storage room.

I started out using brushes and a large plastic lid as my palette…soon I was dipping my hands directly in the cans.

At this point I knew things has gone terribly wrong…I hated every single bit of the painting. I went in, washed up my hands and grabbed my phone to snap the photo. I decided that this was going to be a good learning experience.

Next I got the garden hose…yep…the hose. I sprayed off the still wet paint and scrubbed the canvas with a rag.

It was already looking better and had some amazing texture. I left it to dry for a good hour and thought about what I might want to do next. Since I was experimenting I thought it was a good time to use the brayer I bought over a decade ago and still hadn’t used.  Keeping the rule of thirds in mind I painted the bottom two-thirds a grey tone and the top off-white being careful not to completely cover the background.

I then added some red iron oxide (actual artist paint) then some little touches of black craft paint with a palette knife. At this point I was totally happy. I let it dry completely and brought it inside. It stood in the livingroom for a couple of days and kept bugging me…I liked it but…  Finally, one evening staring at the painting while chatting on the phone with a friend, I envisioned something curving down through the empty space…but what? Circles of course…I love circles!!

The next morning I added the circles at the kitchen table. I was so excited about the way it looked I couldn’t even wait for it to dry before photographing and posting to social media.  I had to stand on a chair to get the whole canvas in frame. :)

And here it is on the wall above our bed. In reality, it’s hung a little to high but I was just reusing the nails already in the wall. The previous framed print we had there was a little larger, I also really want to repaint our bedroom…since the painting doesn’t especially “go” with the icy blue wall color…it’s a good excuse to make that happen.

I congratulated myself for a job well done with a glass of new kind of wine. I almost forgot to snap a photo before it was gone.  It was a prosecco in a lovely gold bottle. Honestly I think I bought that particular one totally based upon the pretty bottle. It was good but not something I’d bother with very often.

Tuesday has the last volleyball game of the season and the first choir concert of the year. A day of firsts and lasts. I’m excited for both! At least they are in the same building and won’t overlap time wise. Of course, fitting dinner in for all will be a challenge.

What are you doing today?