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Somedays are just a process. 

I don't mean that necessarily in a bad way. Some days are just a lot more of getting things completed, and working step by step through them. Days where you find any creative time is smooshed in between certain other things that have to get done. I'm thankful that the creative times are still there even when the time is scarce. 

Today was a process for me.

It started with many drop-offs (more cards for Dabble's holiday sale and dropping off artwork for the North East Minneapolis Art Association member's show this weekend) picking up more printer ink, and thankfully some coffee. Studio time was spent mostly on sorting through pottery to go to the various holiday sales, and completing the application for the Bloomington Art Center's holiday sale. (I'll find out in a couple of weeks if I got into that one or not.) By the time I finished with that, dad was back from work and it was time to work on loading pottery into the kiln and finish a few other pieces that will hopefully be complete in time for the glaze firing the week of Thanksgiving. 

In between it all, I did manage to write a bit. Something that as I have said before, I am trying to do more of during the month of November. Recently, when looking for something else completely, I found a fountain pen that was given to me by my granny when I graduated high school. Today, while I was in my studio, I dug out my bottle of purple india ink, and used that pen to write for a bit. I must say, it is a very nice pen to write with, and not hard to use at all, unlike some fountain pens. It does make you slow down though. You have to take the time to fill the pen with ink when you want to write, and take the time to clean it when you are done, but in between, the ink will flow smooth. I found that it made me want to keep writing, even when my mind was going blank, which is a great thing. One of the things they teach you in writing classes is to just keep writing. Maybe this is something that will push me in that direction more.

When I went to drop off my artwork this afternoon, I took my Mamiya C330 with me. It has been awhile since I have taken any photos with that camera, and it was really fun to have it with again. It is another little thing that makes me slow down just a bit. There is no seeing what I have taken immediately. The film has to be developed and all that first. It is a process. It was nice to be back in that process again though. 

Next week I'm planning on being at my studio Monday and Tuesday. I'm planning a few more things to work on that can only be done there, such as film developing, and maybe playing with my Polaroid negatives a bit.

I'm looking forward to it.

Until tomorrow.

~Peace~

I actually accomplished things this weekend. 

Actually, quite a lot.

Saturday and Sunday, between working at the restaurant, I finished two big jobs (one will be posted later after one last look over of the photos). 

One job was a set of family photos for my friend S and her cool family. She blogs about them here, and it is a pretty great blog! 

They were a lot of fun to work on!

Today I spent uploading their photos, (this website didn't want to cooperate a whole lot!) getting artwork ready for the NEMAA Fall Members show (to be dropped off tomorrow), making cards to drop off at Dabble for their special event this weekend, and getting art work ready to photograph tomorrow for one more holiday sale application. To say I'm a bit beat would be an understatement, but I feel like I have accomplished something and that means a lot to me right now!

Until tomorrow.

~Peace~ 

No, I am not ready for Christmas yet! I might be ready by Christmas Eve. Maybe!

There are many other wonderful people that are much more prepared than I am, and many of them are putting together some great Holiday Sales for you to get a bunch of your Christmas shopping done at!

Here is a short list that I will keep updating of some of the best Holiday Art sales coming up that I know of, and all of the sales I will be participating in.

Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, it is a great time to go shop anyway!! So support your local businesses and artists and go spend some money! :)

The last late Holiday Shopping day on Johnson Street including Dabble is over! But you can still go shop there during their normal hours. They have lots of great items left!

I always have some artwork up for sale at The Countryside Family Restaurant in Roseville. Many framed photos, and lots of pottery! Come check it out, and get lunch while you are there!

The Holiday Art Sale at Bloomington Art Center is over and was a success! Thank you to those who came!

The Annual Holiday Sale at Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts is always a great place to find wonderful handmade fine arts and fine crafts for yourself or someone you <3 (I will have some pottery and some photographs for sale here.) The sale opens Thursday, December 4th at 7pm with a tea party and silent auction benefiting the art center's programming. The sale will be open regular shopping hours through December 19th. More details soon.

My aunt is working on putting together a holiday boutique at the Corner Coffee House in Little Canada. It starts Friday, November 13th, from 5-8pm, and will be held every Friday night until Christmas. (I will have some photographs, cards and pottery at this one!) I've heard they have great coffee and great snacks too! Eating, shopping, drinking coffee, life is good!

Keep checking back! I'll keep this post updated.

I'm finishing things. I don't know how many times I have already said this in this blog, but I really am. I feel like I made more progress today anyway.

There is still a long way to go.

Tonight was the first night of Art Attack. John and I went, I saw many creative friends, and came home feeling a bit more inspired and renewed. 

I dropped off some new pieces at Dabble. They are having a big shin-dig on Friday, November 13th from 4-9pm with lots of arts and crafts and many cool things. Please go check it out! My work will be there too!

I took these polaroids yesterday. I'm anxious to work with them a bit more.

That is about all of the scattered thoughts I can fit into one blog post.

Until Monday.

~Peace~

I framed 3 compilation prints and glued together quite a few cards to bring to Dabble tomorrow.

I also made prints of two of my polaroids and framed them. We'll see where they end up. 

I finished off the pack of expired Artistic Z film that was in my Sx-70 today. I had a wonderful time taking pictures for just a little bit while the weather was so nice outside today. It renewed my brain cells just a bit.

Until tomorrow.

~Peace~

It is still Polaroid Week! The excitement of that, and how inspiring it is to look at the Flickr group and see how many people still use film has been helping me a lot this week.

Some weeks it takes all you've got to keep your head above the water and to keep going. 

Seeing the things I am most familiar with, being aware of my surroundings and allowing myself to just be there in that moment help to ground me a bit.

Notice what is familiar.

Until tomorrow.

~Peace~

This week I am working on finishing two more little projects, and getting back to working on my big project. I have really missed focusing on it while I have been working on the other things, but there will always be times like that. The important part is that I do eventually get back to working full time on my big project. 

There are also a lot of Holiday sales coming up soon at many of the art centers. I will have a few prints for sale from my newer work. I'll make sure to post where when I have that all figured out.

I'm not really fully awake yet, so my thoughts are still really scattered. Today is mostly just going to be a work day for me. Next week I'll get back into more project stuff again. I'm still working on it, just in very little bits right now. 

A couple more of the Polaroids I took on Halloween. I feel like I'm really starting to get the hang of my Polaroid Sx-70 camera. I always carry it with me in my purse now. It folds up flat, so it fits really easily. 

The marquee sign at the St. Anthony Main theater. The sign is really bright, so I was able to just take this without doing anything special. 

The Hennepin Avenue bridge. I didn't use my tripod on this one. I just set my camera on the railing of the 3rd Avenue Bridge that we were standing on. There were cars driving behind us on the bridge, and the vibrations make the camera shake just enough to get the light streaks. I really like how they came out though. This will be great to use as a layer in a compilation image. This was a 15 second exposure.

That's all for now.

Until tomorrow.

~Peace~

Halloween was a lot of fun this year.

With the weather as decent as it has been, I made plans to go out and take night photos of my favorite skyline. There were more people than I thought that were willing to go with me and stand in the potential cold while I took some pictures, and soon it turned into a wonderfully fun night including dinner and drinks and a walk around St. Anthony Main and of course, pictures. I loved it, and I'm hoping to do make it an annual Halloween outing!

The photos are definitely helping to get me out of my funk. 

These 3 photos were taken with my Hasselblad 501c/m using my Polaroid back and the Silk 125i peel-apart film. I am really happy with how these photos came out, and I'm looking forward to using them somewhere in my project.

(30 second exposure)

When you walk towards the river,  you can walk through this area by a church. There are a lot of stairs to walk up, but when you get to the top you can look out across the rooftops to see the city skyline. I have always loved that view. 

(45 second exposure)

Once on the path by the Mississippi, you can see the skyline, the Stone Arch bridge, the cold cold river, this is one of my favorite places to be at night.

(50 second exposure)

Our last walk of the night led us up to the 3rd Avenue Bridge. From there you have a wonderful view of the Hennepin Avenue Bridge all lit up for the night. I think this is the first picture I have ever taken of this bridge.

I am aware that November is National Blogging Month and National Novel Writing Month and while I think that it is a bit beyond my capabilities right now to participate in either one, I am working on writing more in the month of November. In face yesterday I did find some time to work on some writing exercises and plan on continuing that. So, expect to see a few more blog posts this month with dialogs and other writings as well as photos. 

Also, Happy Polaroid Week!

Until tomorrow.

~Peace~

There are times when inspiration is really hard to come by. Things seem to become mechanical and robotic.

It is hard to beat that feeling; hard to plan a way out of feeling like that. 

Today has been one of those days. It has actually been awhile in coming I think. The whole week has honestly been kind-of tough and quite a bit bland in the inspiration department.

It seems that everyone regains their inspiration in different ways. If anyone reading this has any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. I have a few tried-and-true methods to get myself back on track, but I'm always looking for more to add to my list, more things to try. 

Right now I'm in some serious need of refueling, and I'm hoping this weekend will help with that. 

Saturday, we have a wonderful evening out with friends, that will involve me bringing an assortment of cameras and film along with me. No matter what happens, I know the night will be fun. Hopefully, I will be able to take some wonderful new images as well. 

Sunday, I plan to work on some writing exercises and get back into writing more. That is honestly one of the first things I neglect when I get busy, and one of the last things I should be neglecting. 

I'm really hoping that this weekend will fill my inspiration levels back up again and lead to a much smoother, more creative, and more productive week. 

Until Monday.

~Peace~

It was kind-of a slow, blue day.

I'm looking forward to the weekend!

Until tomorrow,

~Peace~