Problem Solving. . . Off the Wall Friday

 

How many times have we heard, "The problem with kids these days. . . "?  Well,  what I really like to say is that the problem with people these days is  .. . . they don't know how  to problem solve.  Everyone is always looking for the instant quick fix to life's dilemmas.  Even me.  Especially me.

HOT MESS

This became abundantly apparent on Sunday when I was having trouble in my studio.  I just couldn't seem to get myself to focus on my work  and when I finally did  finally focus on it - it was not going well.  I had a strong value sketch - I had the right materials - I had the time.  And what else did I have  - yep - you guessed it -
 A Hot Mess.  sighhhh - read #somylife.

What was wrong?  I took a deep breath, a step back and thought about it.  The problem wasn't just my hot mess of a piece (as if that wasn't bad enough!) or  that at this rate  it wasn't going to be handed in on time.  It was bigger.  Being a menopausal mess - I haven't slept in about 2 months - I haven't been exercising  - sunshine has been at an all time minimum (even by Lake Erie standards), my studio was cold (by my standards) andddd I haven't found a way to structure my studio time.

So I problem solved. I'm exercising every day now.  I started my light box therapy - along with going to bed earlier.  My husband got me a nice space heater for my studio anddddddd I got a really nice calender to log in my studio hours.  

All of that added up to me finally getting something done in my studio this week (not to mention feeling a ton better!)  As you can see I picked the third sketch - like most of you it was a toss up between the second and third but I was in the mood to try a monochromatic palette and thought the third would lend itself better.  The problem of Sunday's hot mess was easily solved today (once I got enough sleep!) with a quick look at the value sketch.  That dark was wayyyy too dark.

With that solved - I re-vamped my focal points and got the piece blocked.  Looking at it though the proportions were wrong.  Instead of going back to the full size pattern (that gets way to literal for me!) , I took out my overhead and lined up the initial pattern that way.  That worked nice and slick!  This new design wall is such a blessing!

Anyways  - 5 hrs later - I have the beginning block.  I want to add some interest and play with moving some of the focal points around but I do like where its going.  I love playing with this color - Chino and I like how its abstract but approachable.

Find of the Week

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Art2014 Desk Calender

This is just the greatest desk calendar.  Not only is it bigger then usual (7" by 6") but the paper its printed on its really nice.  With each page having  2 nice size pictures of their collection (front/back), you can save them at the end of the year for inspiration and education.  I love studying a new piece of art every day.   I got this one at Calendars.com but I also see the Met has their  site's calendar's on sale. (Use the code FBO16   for $10 off - since the calendars are under $4  - they are practically free! that's the Letter O - not zero)  Can you tell I'm a sucker for calendars?  grin

So what have you been up to creatively?