More watercolor facial studies….

In my last post I talked about the first watercolor facial study I did for a 21 Secrets class I took. Repeating the technique was not so easy on my next watercolor study which was focused on the nose, a feature I often have difficulty with. I didn’t have any left over skin tone mix from the first one, and several days had gone by, so the skin tones do not match.

On the same day, I also worked on a study of the mouth, mostly just the lips.

Several more days passed before I worked on the last one, which was the left eye. This one I actually worked on today. In the class, Jodi Ohl demonstrated both the dry method and the wet method for applying watercolor to the paper and though her wet method ended up very loose, mind did not.

I started all of them by wetting the paper first and then applying the watercolor. I will admit the perfectionist in me immediately started trying to control exactly where the colors went. If you haven’t worked with watercolor, then you don’t know how ridiculous that statement sounds. On this last one I tried to be looser than all the others ones and was not very successful. Loose technique in anything, just may not be my style. I’m working on it though. I’m better at loose technique when it is abstract.

After I completed my watercolor study today and it dried, I decided to see how all four of the pieces looked displayed together. Here is what it looks like:

She is a bit wonky but that is to be expected since I didn’t lay down all four pieces of watercolor paper and sketch her out first so all portions would be symmetrical. Even so, I like how they all look in a collage. I may mount them this way permanently but not sure at this time.

My next venture in watercolor? Maybe, I’ll try to do her whole face and see if she ends up looking anything like the reference photo.

~Patti

Loving Watercolor

Watercolor is quickly becoming my favorite of all paints to work with. I don’t know how to express the joy I feel every time I work with it. Today was no different.

Most of my watercolor experience has been only recently in the past year. It started with just playing around with watercolor pencils a year ago when I discovered bullet journals. I decided to use watercolor pencils to decorate my pages. I knew absolutely nothing at that time about how to work with watercolor pencils, let alone watercolor paint.

I came across videos on YouTube but my general interest at the time was mixed media, so I was hopping around all over the place watching videos on all different types of mediums. I think the only medium I haven’t touched is oil paints. Some day I might but not right now. I have too many types of mediums I want to perfect my skills within.

I think when I was a teenager watercolor terrified me. I think this because when I returned to studying art, in the past year or so, watercolor was the last thing I considered pursuing other than just simply playing around with it. I never thought I would pursue it as a medium I would desire for any serious art.

Isn’t that how it works sometimes? The things we least desire or think we have the remotest chance of being even close to good at, ends up being that one thing that makes our hearts soar and our souls sing. This is what I’m finding with watercolor.

About a year ago, I purchased 21 Secrets “Tools and Techniques” course. One of it’s lessons is by Jodi Ohl, called Flowing Facial Features. I have probably put off doing this lesson for at least three months if not more. Guess the medium yet? The word ‘flow’ should give you an indication. If you guessed, watercolor, you would be correct.

I studied her videos, watching them in their entirety probably three if not four times before I attempted just one facial feature study. Why did I wait so long? Trepidation for one. My inner critic for another. My perfectionist personality for another. I knew very little about watercolor. I didn’t even know what it meant by stretch the watercolor paper, or how to tape down watercolor paper properly. I tried one time with some painters tape but the tape ended up releasing from all the soaking in the water.

I finally found a video on how to properly prepare for doing a watercolor painting, thanks to Lindsay Weirich’s YouTube video. She has a wordpress blog too.  She does live streams on YouTube, which I try to catch as often as I can.  I don’t know how many videos of hers I have watched before I felt confident enough to try my first facial feature study.

Here it is:

I had a couple issues, that involved retaining the white spaces, especially the white highlights in the eye. My paint ended up bleeding into the space I had reserved for the highlight so when I finished with the watercolor paints, I used colored pencil to bring out the highlight more. White for the highlight and some black around the highlight and pupil to bring it out more.

I also, over worked the eyelashes but once overworked I couldn’t undo it, so I used some black colored pencil to try and bring forward some eyelashes hoping the rest might look like shadows or would recede enough to not distract. Lesson learned though for the next eye on my facial studies.

I have three more sketches I did for the facial feature studies. Another eye with a partial nose, a nose with a partial eye, and the lips. In the end, I hope they will create a full face when tiled together.

What I learned while working on this piece was even if it looks like the color is too dark when I apply it to paper, it isn’t the end of the world. I can lift some of it up to lighten it. Something I’m learning to do without scrubbing and pilling the paper. After working with acrylics it is sometimes hard to remember to not apply pressure when doing a slight bit of scrubbing.

I love that Jodi Ohl recommended focusing on one facial feature. It took the pressure off of trying to paint a full face. I need to take this approach in other things like drawing. I become overwhelmed when I consider creating a large piece, even if it is just a face with all its features. It can be rather daunting.

I used to think watercolors were unforgiving and difficult to keep some semblance of control over. That is the perfectionist within me wanting everything to come out perfectly. She doesn’t believe that something that will bleed and move around on its own could end up in all the right places creating a beautiful piece of art. I’m working on proving her wrong. I think I made a beautiful start at it today.

Feel free to leave a comment if you feel moved to do so.

~Patti

Bloom’n Hand

Artists are faced with all sorts of challenges, not just trying to find ways to deal with their inner critic. Though the inner critic can be rather creative in its way of manipulating the artist. Every inner critic has its own unique way of working its interference in trying to protect the artist. This is by no means, the only challenge some artists have to face.

Of late, I have become aware of just how many artists within the online communities I am part of are working through their own challenges. Some of them face mental illness, while others face physical limitations. Some face both, while others face their own demons in the guise of their inner critic.

These challenges are in no way small or insignificant. For each of us, they are powerful. The type of power they wield, depends upon the artist. Some artists are completely controlled by their challenges, while other artists work hard at controlling and utilizing their challenges to create beautiful and sometimes startling pieces of art. You can find examples of this all over the internet all the way from masters to novice. No one is immune.

I am also not immune. Up until recently I have not had any physical impediments as a challenge that has hampered my journey as an artist and writer. Today, I find myself struggling with the use of my dominant hand, consequently, I am trying to train my left hand to do much of what I have relied upon my right hand to do for my whole life.

My inner critic is having a wonderful time with this. As you maybe able to imagine, she can’t find anything worthwhile in what I create when I use my left hand. I’ll prove her wrong eventually. For now, I’m learning to mentally accept what maybe a permanent impediment.

On Sundays, I usually start thinking about my weekly spread, sometimes referred to as an MDS or multi-day spread. A term I learned from Effy Wild’s Book of Days course and Boot Camp. By the way, if you want to experience a free lesson by Effy Wild, check out her Book of Days Boot Camp. It is amazing. You can find a link to the class on her right sidebar here. The amount of content for a free class is unbelievable. While I was thinking about what I wanted as a focal image, my dominant hand was prominent in my mind, so I decided to have it as my focal image. I traced it and here is the result:

This piece was done in watercolor, Faber-Castell Pitt pens, Posca pens, and Uniball Signo white gel pen. It is a sort of play on words and an attempt to feel positive about my dominant hand.

I am not sure if this will be my weekly spread or just an art journal page honoring my dominant hand. Or possibly both. I may pick it up at the end of the week and just journal about my week all over it. Or it may stay as it is.

~Patti

 

Survivors

I worked on this piece for a few days, layering and layering acrylic paint. After each layer I gave it a day or so for me to come back to it so I could look at it with fresh eyes. I’m glad I did. I had no forethought for what I wanted this piece to be. Intellectually, I understood the concept of how a sculptor would say, all they did was bring out of the marble or the wood what was already there.

In a way, this is what happened with this painting, but not until the next to last layer. It took a day or two for me to see it. Once, I did, all it took was black and white oil pastels to bring it out.

If you like this painting, you can get prints here.

Merging Poetry with Art and more artwork…

I have been playing around with the concept of merging my mixed media art with my poetry.  I have been wanting to find a way to do this for a while now. I have added some of my poetry to a couple of my art journal pages but something felt missing.

The below spread is from a lesson on Mood Journaling from Book of Days 2017 by Effy Wild. The concept is when something is bothering you, to sit down and just let yourself go, feel your emotions, and just reach for whatever paint color immediately comes to mind. Then just slap it on the page, making marks with whatever medium you reach for and allowing your mood to express itself through the application of the medium. Her lesson is much more descriptive of the process of how to do this and I’m hoping I’m not revealing too much by the description I have given so far.

For this piece I really didn’t have any strong emotions but did tap into some of the feelings I have. The point is to tap into your feelings and get them out. This is usually what is behind my poetry as well, which is what made me think about using the mood journaling process to help me merge my poetry with my art.

Once I completed the lesson, this is what I ended up with:

At first, I considered using it as a spread for an MDS (Multi Day Spread) for journaling my week. Then one of the individuals in the class Facebook group suggested it would be a good spread for reflection. I liked this idea. Then I thought about a poem I had written earlier in the month and thought it would go well with the spread.

I chose to add a second silhouette, making it look like she was on the other side of the window. Then, I took a picture, imported it to my editor on my computer and added the text from my poem to see how it would look. Here is the result:

I like it. I like it a lot, although the wonkiness of the boxes kind of bothers me. That perfectionist side of me being too critical but, it will do. I plan on using the spread to add text about what I learn about myself, positive things. Things that are insightful and uplifting.

At first I wasn’t sure how I would add the poetry text to my actual page. I did some calculations and found if I place a line every 1/4 inch I can have 36 spaces for writing which is just enough to fit the poem in the same way it appears above, only it will be written in my handwriting.  I won’t be placing any other pictures of it here, because the rest will be very personal.

I do, however, love this process. When I read a poem I have written, I can usually tap into the original emotions I had when I wrote the piece . I should be able to use this same process to create a mixed media page which will become the background for the poem. Maybe one day I can turn them into a book of mixed media poetry.

I worked on some other art lessons this week from Life Book 2017 organized by Tamara Laporte. This first one is a lesson given my Tamara. I love her whimsical animals. She gives them all human eyes. My daughter thinks my elephant looks cute but creepy with its human eyes. I sort of like her.

The next lesson is also from Life Book, the teacher Amber Kuileimailani Bonnici, is the Intuitive Warrior. I am loving all the different techniques I’m learning. I would not have considered using the colors I have in this piece if it wasn’t for this class.

This last is a lesson by  Melissa Dinwiddie on Less is More. I’m not crazy about how this one came out. Abstract painting doesn’t come easy to me. This is something I will need to work on if I want better results. I think I used too many different colors and too large a canvas. The instructor used small canvas so this minimalist approach seemed to look better. Or, maybe I should have had a larger variety in shape sizes. It is something to consider if I want to do another piece like this.

My journey into meeting my inner artist has been and continues to be an interesting one. I’m learning a lot about what makes me happy in my artwork. I love it when I can do a face or in this case, the face of an elephant and have the shading come out so well. I am learning, I’m not a fan of collage, especially not when it comes to mixing different decorative pattern paper together. It doesn’t come out looking right to me. I have yet to put my finger on exactly what or why that is. I do, however, love collaging with old text paper. I’m learning the more I work with watercolor, and other water soluble products the more I love them and the easier it becomes to work with them, this includes acrylic paint.

This week has been the best. Finding a technique I may actually be able to use to mix my writing with my art is a feeling I find difficult to describe. Oh, heck, it makes me happy. And, I just realized, the last piece I don’t like so much? That technique will also have a place in merging with my writing. I almost missed it. Looking at it just now, I realized, with a little practice, it could become a very dynamic technique that will merge well with my writing. giving plenty of white space for text.

The other great part of my week has been, I have finally narrowed down a process for editing my ink drawings. I was getting frustrated over not having crisp, clean lines, that looked like a print shop created them. I finally realized, “Hey, these are hand drawn pieces. I don’t want them to look like they were made by a computer digital program. I don’t want them to be perfect in that way. I want them to be perfect in the imperfections that come with something made by hand.” These will be my one of a kind hand drawn pieces which once I have the majority of them edited, I can sell individually or in a collection for people who like to de-stress by coloring or just want an ink print. The editing I’m doing is to mainly clean up any stray marks and to make sure they will print clearly when enlarged.  I have over fifty drawings I can convert to digital files, most of them are mandalas. I’m looking forward to when I can open up a web store to sell them.

~Patti

Designed and made by hand…

I created my first greeting card ever. It is a thank you card. I have an intended recipient for the card. I absolutely LOVED making this card. At first, I tried just making it on plain card stock but soon discovered why those who make cards do their artwork on a separate piece of paper first and then adhere it to the card stock. The watercolors I was using bled through the card stock which would interfere with the writing space on the inside of the card. So, I started again.

I cut down a piece of watercolor paper to 3 3/4″ x 5″ so it would have a nice border around it when I adhered it to the card stock. I used a wet-on-wet technique using Prang watercolors. I am falling in love with Prang watercolors. They are so vibrant as you can see in this card.

I have learned to let watercolor dry on its own for the most part. Especially if I want to get the granulation, blending and bleeding that occurs over time when you let it dry without the aid of a heat gun. Believe me, there is a difference.  Half of the blending and bleeding you see in this card would not have occurred if I had dried it with a heat gun immediately after putting down the watercolor.

Partially through the drying, I used a paper towel to dab up some of the excess water once the blending and bleeding had done its thing.  This left some added texture in the watercolor paint which I totally fell in love with.

Once it was completely dry, I used Permapaque black marker to write the words. Then a Signo Uniball white pen for the highlights on the letters. The last step was to use a final fixative, oh yeah, and dark blue ink around the edges.

I used double sided tape to adhere the piece of watercolor paper to the card stock. This was not a pre-made folded card. I used an 8 1/2″ x 11″ piece of 65 lb. card stock and cut it in half to 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″, then folded it so the card would be 4 1/2″ x 5 1/2″. This created a 1/4″ border around the watercolor paper.

That is all there was to it. Simple and easy.

I also made the envelope out of 65 lb. card stock. You can see it peeking out behind the card.

Have I said how much I love the feeling of creating something beautiful completely with my own hands? That includes, not using stencils or stamps made by other people. This card, other than the paper, is completely designed and made by my own hands. It is such a wonderful feeling.

I am in love with this card. It will be so difficult to mail it to its recipient. However, it is for a good cause and I think they will appreciate it just as much as I do.

I realized when starting to write this post, I forgot to post the completion of one of the pieces I posted that was in progress. So here it is.

This is the piece in which I showed the beginning sketch here, for Effy Wild’s “Mirror of the Soul” lesson in Kiala’s Pull, Pen, Paint course. Again, I used Prang watercolors to paint the image, as well as, some gel pen for highlights and added details.

This was only my second time painting a horse’s head. Sometime, I’m going to find some videos or courses on drawing and painting animals. Though I like how they came out, I know I can do better.

The inspiration for this painting was my Soul card, VII The Chariot, which also happens to be my Personality card. I feel a sort of affinity for the card and feel it has a special message for me whenever it turns up.

I may do more cards. In fact, I’ve been looking up printing options for playing cards. I’m thinking about having a deck printed up using one of the images from the back of this card deck I made by hand. I love playing with this card deck. It gives me such pleasure knowing I created it. It has a completely different feel to it than a regular playing card deck. To have an actual card deck printed up from my designs would be awesome.

Have a fabulous day.

~Patti

My first canvas painting…

I could not ignore my calling to create a canvas after I had created the MDS I wrote about in my previous post.  A long time ago, when my daughter and I were in Michaels, we purchased two packages of canvases each one different sizes. I’m sure it was probably more than a year ago and they sat in my house untouched. At least until last night.

I could no longer resist the pull I felt towards working on canvas. I knew I could always paint over it if it came out horribly. I wanted to experiment. This is new to me. I know I’ve been experimenting for a while now but generally I have to push myself in order to do it. There was no pushing involved here. I was being dragged, not necessarily kicking and screaming, but definitely dragged.

Why?

Because my  logical mind told me I needed to watch some videos on the proper way to paint on canvas with mixed media.

Am I crazy, or what?

This other voice was telling me to just go for it. Just have fun. EXPERIMENT!

It is probably needless to say by now that my creative mind, that other voice, won out over the logical side of my brain. For years, my logical side had the say so. It controlled everything I did. It made all my decisions.

But now?

Well, what do you think? Should I listen to my creative side, or my logical side, after looking at the picture below?

Personally, I love the painting. I am going to hang it on a wall in my house where I can see it every day. It will be my reminder of what I can do when I just sit down and EXPERIMENT.

I want to do a larger canvas and I’m not talking about a canvas just a couple inches larger. I want one of those big mamas that take up a large portion of the wall. But, hey, there goes my logical brain telling me I need to learn more about painting on canvas. I need to get better at working with mixed media. I need to plan out what I want to do on such a large surface. IT CAN’T JUST BE AN EXPERIMENT!

Go figure. I’m learning my logical side isn’t quite so smart. Doesn’t always give the best advice. And… can sometimes make me feel like I’m stupid for ever going down this path.

See that corner over there, Miss Logical? Go claim it. Go sit in it for a while in silence and think about all that you have told me. Then think about why EXPERIMENTING is so wrong on a large canvas. Ask yourself, “should I really listen to you, who hasn’t lifted up a single paint brush in her life?” Go on take your seat, claim your spot, and find out how golden silence really is.

Yes, I think, I’m going crazy.

~Patti

Choosing a style…

Style has always eluded me, no matter the category. Whether it is clothing, hair, makeup, or even art. I can look at someone or their art, and if someone has a rather unique style I can usually see it right away. I often wonder why it is I can’t seem to find my own style.

I can choose clothing that looks good on me, but style always eluded me. I had nothing cohesive. My wardrobe was all over the place. Makeup was similar except I preferred a look that was natural and not bold or brazen.

My art is a different story. I have been all over the board in regards to learning different techniques, emulating other artists styles, and not landing solidly upon any particular medium of choice, which is probably why mixed media appeals to me. And yet style continued to elude me.

The other day, I had an idea that maybe style is just about doing what I love most from all the techniques and mediums I’ve been learning. Could it be as simple as applying those things which I go back to time and time again? While at the same time, incorporating new things to see how they mesh?

I decided to give this a try.

I’ve been doing a challenge called Daily Minimoley. It is simply working in a small journal to create small pieces of art. This enabled me to do a small piece of art each day and be able to experiment with different techniques and mediums. Doing this helps me to discover what I like most. Like bright colors for one, and flowers for another. I’m learning more and more every day.

Time and again I return to mandalas though I never did any in my minimoley practice. My mandalas usually are just ink drawings and no color.  I want to add color, but how to do a mandala on an art journal page and add color is a challenge because I like to use precision when I’m doing my mandalas. I start with pencil to draw in the grid and some of the design before I move to ink.

Pencil doesn’t always work well over paint, depending on the paint or mediums used. Erasing pencil can be even more problematic. I wasn’t sure if I could draw it in ink before laying down the color. Depending on the medium for the color it could completely obliterate my ink or pencil lines.

I am determined to find a way to do this and decided my minimoley would be a good place to start even though it is a journal meant for writing with pencil or ink and not art mediums.

My first go at it came out much better than I expected.

I started like I normally do, using pencil on the untreated paper to draw out my grid for the mandala. Then I used Sakura Pigma Micron to draw over the basic shape of the mandala, then erase the pencil lines. I continued with the micron to draw in more details until I was completely satisfied with the whole page. I had added some doodles and tangles for embellishing the open areas of the page. Even though the lines from the lined paper showed through the design they were light enough to not be distracting from the overall design. This is where I stopped on the first day. I had at least done a mandala in my minimoley using the method I normally use.

The next day, I created my second page. These pages are facing one another so I used the same process as before, then added some of the same embellishments as on the other page so it became a 2 page spread instead of 2 separate disjointed pages. Now was the time for color.

When I first started out drawing the mandalas, my idea was to try and use watercolor. However, I was concerned the amount of water required for watercolors would cause my pages to breakdown, so I opted for trying Inktense pencils. I have about 8 of them in various colors, including blue, red and yellow. Using a minimum range was going to be challenging but also encourage me to try blending to produce other colors. Here is the result:

I did use light blue craft acrylic paint for the background, but otherwise, I only used the Inktense pencils, Sakura Pigma Micron, and White Uniball Signo pen. I went over the black lines after adding the color to make them bolder again since the color dulled them a bit. I used the White Uniball Signo pen to add highlights. I like the result, even with the craft acrylic wash for the back ground. Mandalas will start showing up more in my work. I have no doubt about that now. I have some ideas brewing which I hope to work on soon.

The next experiment will be to put down color, either watercolor or acrylic wash for the background before drawing the mandala.

Here are the flowers I did a while ago with colored pencils over watercolor I think or it was an acrylic wash. These are easy to do over either because I’m not trying for precision like I am with the mandala. So, I just draw using a micron pen or permanent ink and accept any “mistakes” that happen and work them into the piece.

This is probably my favorite page so far in my minimoley. I think I need to create an index of my flowers so I can flip through it for inspiration when I’m not sure what to add and know I want a flower.

Both flowers and mandalas can also be used for wonderful collage items. There are no shortage of ideas brewing.

~Patti

Changes…

I’m working on updating my website. Changes are needed. I never liked how it functioned from the time I created it which might be why I’ve been so absent.

I’m a perfectionist trying to learn how to be a non-perfectionist. Imperfections can be beautiful, endearing and creatively brilliant. This is why I do not throw away any completed art work even if I don’t like it. Looking back I will see how my journey has changed not just my skills but me as a person.

For instance, I’m working on creating art journal pages from Journal52 prompts. The below are from Week 6 Dream and Week 7 Dawn. I’m working in mixed media which is a challenge because it involves learning how all the different mediums respond to each other in all their various combinations. Sometimes you just go with it to see what happens.

Dream was made with watercolors, and water soluble crayons and a bit of acrylic paint, paint pens and gel pens.  I love how this one came out. The bright colors are beautiful and it is probably one of the best I’ve done so far of skin tones. This was all layered over a collage of text paper.

Dawn was done with acrylic paint, all except for the collage of text paper which was layered on first. I am fond of this one when I look at the actual painting. When I look at pictures taken of it, then I’m not fond of it. The picture shows a definite need for learning how to blend acrylics and also how to achieve a ‘glow’. For my first attempt, I think it isn’t bad.

I have been learning on my own about mixed media art which started with true intent about a year ago. I’ve been very selective about paying for e-courses that would give me the most high quality instruction and supplementing it with free video instruction from various artists.

In 2014, almost 3 years ago, I started just trying to awaken my inner artist by doodling, learning tangle patterns and putting them together to make designs. I started with things like this…

Which eventually moved into mandalas, like this…

Eventually adding color…

I have to admit that mandalas have become something I love to do and I go back to them again and again when I’m seeking inspiration.

I heard someone the other day, talking about taking a class and given the suggestion to use a reference photo. She said the problem with her using reference photos is it brings out the perfectionist in her. Using a photo and her perfectionist wants to recreate it in all its fine details, perfectly.

I get this.  Every time I use a reference photo, I feel the same desire come over me. The Dawn art journal spread was created from a reference photo. It will never be comparable to it in likeness and my perfectionist finds it very difficult to appreciate its roughness and imperfections.

Can you believe living like this in every day life? Do we chastise ourselves if we place our foot down imperfectly upon the ground as we walk to the corner store? Do we dislike our hair if we brush it back from our face and every strand isn’t perfectly placed?

The point is, what I want needs to be functional and pleasing to the eye. Therefore, I selected a different theme for the website. As I try it out, if it doesn’t serve me well then it may change again. It may morph over time, just as my art will definitely morph.

This is my place to talk about my creativity. What I love to do. I want to express my joy in what I create. Please feel free to comment, ask questions, and share your own creativity.

~Patti

Handmade journal and art journal spread…

It has been a painful week for me. Which means with pain, I struggle with my art or craft or whatever I’m working on.

I’ve been watching Cat Hand’s Mixed Media Morsels videos on YouTube and trying out the techniques she demonstrates in the videos. I’m doing them in a journal which is about 5″ x 7″, writing any notes about the technique on the opposite page. Some techniques I end up doing more than once due to issues I run into and I want to try it again in order to get a better understanding of the process.  Last night I finished #11 torn paper strips and #12 easy handmade journal. Although I haven’t embellished either of them, I consider them done at least as far as doing the technique. I will embellish the journal later and add pages to it. I’m still trying to determine if I want to stitch the signatures in or use an elastic band to hold them in place like a midori. I’m leaning more towards stitching, mostly because I need the practice.

torn paper strips background on a journal page

easy handmade journal, made using boxes from packaged food.

inside of journal, decorated with decorative paper

Over the past few days I have also been working on an art journal spread. I’ve been following Barb Owen on YouTube, watching her live streams as well as her recorded videos. During one of her live streams, she showed her art journal she was making using positive words. I thought this a great idea, since I needed to be more positive in my life. I am up to letter F and decided I loved the whimsical birds from one of the Mixed Media Morsels videos and thought they would do nicely for the subject matter for this spread.

Positive Words “F” art journal spread

Generally, I work on more than one thing at a time and as you can see the past few days was no exception. However, it seems everything completed all around the same time.  I’m never at a loss for projects, just have to decide which ones I want to work on.