Janeys Journey

A little holiday

I think I need to take a little bit of a break from blogging, concentrate on my life, take care of things.  I'll be back soon.

The gift

This is 11"x17", unscannable and obviously not photographable either.  At least by me.  The gray areas are actually white.  It's crayon and marker on bristol board.

My sofa quest

No more heavy duty renovation until next year for the guest bathroom.  And that one will be a piece of cake compared to the rest of the apt.  My friend H (he who can do no wrong ever since he backed up on the shoulder of the highway to reach me when he saw my car accident, stayed with me and followed me all the way home - talk of a run on sentence, in parens no less) is going to do the bathroom.  I want to re tile the bathroom white, paint the tub white, new toilet and pedestal sink to replace the falling apart cabinet.  The old glued on wall mirror stays since I rather like the shabbiness of it.  But that's a year or more away.  Right now I want a new sofa which I can't afford to buy.  The one I have is a solidly built leather sofa in a great shape.  Only one little problem.  It's the most uncomfortable sofa you ever sat on.  It's over 10 yrs old and in perfect condition because no one will sit on it.  When I invite friends over, they  say oh sure that's nice but do I have to sit on the sofa?  Plus it's too small for the room.  I had some cheap bookcases in back of the sofa which pushed it forward some.  Now that they're gone, the room echoes.

So what to do about a sofa?  I really want leather because of cat fur issue and allergies and stuff.  I'd like something with modern, clean lines.  My dream sofa is a case study one but that's a dream.  My problem is that I can't afford my taste.  The alternative to a modern leather sofa might be an old bamboo & fabric one.  There are loads of them at thrift stores.  I'd have to rehabolster the cushions (not leather but at least washable fabric).  My new found love of garage sailing and thrift store diving could come in handy
now. 

And here's the 2 IKEA metal PS cabinets I bought for my flat screen tv (37").  H put them together 2 weeks ago but had to go to Orlando for work. He's coming back this week and will even them up and bolt them to wall. The only thing I didn't realize when I bought them was the remotes don't work through metal so the dvd and cable hd will be on top of the cabinet. And those are 2 huge plastic trays I got at a thrift store last weekend - 1 ea yellow and red.  I love trays, they're all over the apt.  I keep the plant cuttings on them and paint and pens.  Saves alot of wear and tear on your counter tops.



H is also putting up shelves in the new master bathroom linen closet.  When the shower came out, the wall was also going to come out and I had planned on some flea market furniture to go there.  But there were pipes in the wall and now I have a large closet in the bathroom without a door.  The opening is 36X36".  Big closet.  I bought the cheapest IKEA doors instead of shelves because they're already finished on all sides.  They're different depths - 2ea 21", 2ea 18" and 1ea 12" and 30 wide. That leaves 5" open between the wall and the shelf.  I wanted a space on the side to keep the ironing board and small vacuum cleaner.  I put an outlet in the bathroom in the closet wall so that works out great for the vacuum.  I ordered a fold up shade from Home depot for the closet door.  No strings, you just push it up and down.  It's bone color.  The bathroom tile is white and the walls yellow and I didn't want the first thing you see when the door is open to be bright colored curtained closet.

And all of the above not only proves that I have no sense of proportion or perspective but is why I'm never going to retire.

Sunday Draws and one from Friday

I'm back, I think.  These are all crayons.

   

 

and the soul takes flight

Still here.  Just taking care of stuff.

Renovation continues

Sort of.  Nothing major thankfully.  One entire side of the apt faces the patio.  My only neighbors are across the golf course.  Well I hate vertical blinds.  You can't keep them clean, they yellow etc etc.  So I'm taking them all down.  First this window. Even though you'd really have to make an effort to see in, it didn't feel comfortable without something there.  The window is 48".  I got 2 inexpensive Ikea wire shelves which were 24" each (step style) and they fit perfectly in the frame of the window.  I moved the thrift store glass and the cutting garden and the snow globes and my robots and I like it.  It sort of breaks up the view from outside, camouflages the backs of my patio chairs and still lets in lots light in.  The window faces the side of the sofa and that's 1 of 2 thrift store end tables I just bought.

Here's the day view.  The hanging plants are on the patio.

Evening view.

What's up?

Pictures of the aftermath of my little accident.  It seems I was luckier then I knew.  The airbag didn't go off not because the impact wasn't that great but because where I hit the other car missed the sensors.  So now I'm driving a rental for 2-3 weeks. 

Life Gets Tee-Jus, Don't It?

Song by Doc Watson and how I feel at the moment.  I was in a car accident last night coming home from work.  It doesn't rain in Florida, it pours, it drenches, it makes the roads slick and my brakes didn't work and I slide right into the car in front of me on I95.  No one was hurt except my car doesn't look so nice right now.  I'm waiting for the tow truck and then I pick up a rental. 

And the good thing (there's always a good thing), a friend was coming over last night.  I didn't have his number with me so I called my friend dbd and told her about it and asked her to call H and tell me to cancel.  Well he was on I95 and he realized the accident he passed was me.  So he got on the shoulder and backed up all the way to me.  I was able to drive the car home and he followed me the whole way.  The way I feel right now the man could do no wrong.

Gotta go, the tow company just called.

A little book of figures

This is a very little book of drawings - 3 1/2" x 5". There are 14 drawings, some on double sheets, a little color here and there. Each one is hand drawn and original, not prints.

I really like the idea of someone holding my drawings in their hands. Not a print, the real thing, the real me. This little book is very handmade, some drawings are better then others. In that way, it's more a sketchbook then anything else.  

Little Book is available on Etsy.  The link is on my profile and blog.

Bits and Pieces or That Zine Thing

I'm not sure what this is really. So let's just say it's my zine thing again. This is a handmade, machine sewn 10 page artist book. All drawings, all original, all hand drawn, all hand colored. There are 8 drawings plus one bonus because I didn't like one drawing. So I drew it again. The book is 5"x7".

I intend to do about 10 of these over the next 2 weeks while I get back into the other postponed zine.  Bits and Pieces is for sale on my Etsy shop.  I hope you like it, I liked making it.

Gert and Mom

Not together of course.  My mom is terrified of animals.  Fortunately, Gertie is old and likes to sleep all day so they don't run into each much in the apt.  Gertie is being very stoic about it all.  First going from a 3 kittie house to 1 and all the renovation and strangers in the apt and now Mom.  I took the step away from the bed so Gert won't climb on it.  I'm sleeping on an airbed in the studio and I moved Gerties basket and toys in there. It's just not the same for Gert.  I see her walk by the bedroom and look longingly at the bed she can't get to.  Poor baby.  .

Yesterday's Leaves

As soon as mom goes home, I'm going to post drawings every day. I will I will I will. 

Here's yesterday's leaves and they're dedicated to Bella who left so many nice comments.

Day one of mom's visit

Conversation #1

• I left the pen on the counter for you mom.
• Uh, maybe you should come into the kitchen for a minute.
• Yeah
• Uh, maybe I shouldn't use the pen on the counter, maybe somewhere else.
• Why? Oh, I'll try to get the ink off the corian countertop tomorrow mom.

Conversation #2

• I was looking at at your drawings. You really are an artist, you know. No getting around that you really are.
• Why thank you mom. That's just about the nicest thing you've ever said to me.
• You just don't do anything about it. You don't have any push. You really need to make an effort.
• Thank you mother for that momentary lapse in your personality there. Don't you remember that conversation we had before?  You were to treat me like a total stranger?  Right? 

Ok so I said I'd wait but...

I just have to post this most interesting experience with the contractor.  He finished on Tuesday.  I come home in pain from my back.  So happy I have my apt back. As I brushed my teeth in front of the glass tile backsplash, I almost chocked.  Toothpaste and water splattered everywhere.  Gertie slid across the tile as she ran to get away from that awful scream.  Can you guess why?  Yep, the tile was crooked.  How can someone not see this you ask yourself?  I asked myself the same question when I finally stopped chocking.  I called dbd.  Please come over.  Do you see anything?  No.  Are you sure, look again.  Oh, yeah.  Tile's crooked. 

. 

I waited 2 days to calm down and left him a voice mail.  Please fix my expensive glass tile.  He leaves me a voice mail.  Oh yeah I noticed a few tiles were crooked.  No problem.  I'll be over Friday and fix them.  He noticed?  He knew they were crooked and didn't do anything?  A few were crooked?  How about 10 rows down 14 across.  I put blue tape diagonally across the tiles with a note.  Remove and correct.  I came home.  He fixed 10" x 12".  The others are still crooked.  Not much.  If those were the only ones wrong I probably wouldn't have noticed. 

If I wanted crooked tile, I would have done the job myself.  But it's over, no more, that's it.  I'm moving on.  The shower works fine, the wire baskets in the shower tile are crooked but I can live with it.  He lost my drawer pulls and charged me for getting new ones but you know ok.  He didn't put enough spacers in the legs on the Ikea vanity so the legs will loosen over time but I think I can fix that.  There's still some paint on my new lights but that can be fixed when I paint the apt next year. 

Really, I don't know what's been more painful, the bathroom renovation or my back. 

Note from the absentee artist

Well the bathroom renovation is over and it was certainly not pleasant.  I'm trying to let the anger go and just get on with things.  One of these days I'll write about it.  When I calm down.  For now at least I have my life back.  Of course now that I do, I hurt my back. 

I was putting a table together and pulled something.  In and out of work all week.  Finally started feeling better today.  And on Sunday my mom is coming to stay with me for a week.  Her building has mold and asbestos so there's a cleanup all week and everyone has to leave.  She wanted to go to a hotel but I can't really let my 85yr mother go to a hotel (I'm suicidal aren't I?).  But there is a bonus in mom being here - I get to have my very first real live model to draw.  Of course I don't think she'd take kindly to posing nude but I don't think my psyche could actually cope with drawing 85yr old mother nude either.  I think it's going to be an interesting week.

Anyway, as soon as my back is better I'll get back to posting and commenting and over due zines.  I feel like I've lost whatever audience I had but it's probably good not to be so self involved with numbers anyway. I just feel bad about not visiting people.