Painting Frenzy and Risk Taking

A while ago, Ilese was camping in her Honda Element on some nearby BLM land, and we got together several times to chat and a couple of times to do artwork.  She's worked at all different kinds of artwork for many years, and she does very cool monoprints using Gelli Arts off-press gel plates.  I have been coveting these plates for a while and they will probably be my next big art supply purchase. But, in the meantime, I decided to try doing some simple monoprints with what I had around the house and then use the prints as the inspiration for painting.  

The two paintings shown above were made by first painting a canvas a solid color and then printing circles in a contrasting color with painted bubble wrap.  Really easy peasy and fun to do.  After I got a grid of circles, I started painting what else seemed to be important to bring out.  

This one was made using a sheet of paper towel that was embossed with a connected hexagonal design.  Instead of adding the print to the painted canvas, the paper towel absorbed some of the paint and left blank spaces, which I proceeded to paint.   

Then I tried printing with a heavy piece of hand tatted lace that I'd come across in a thrift shop or someplace.  I printed it four times in the above painting, then started to paint.  You can sure see my background as a mosaic artist in this piece.   

This one, based on a different paper towel pattern, is the last of five monoprint paintings that I've created over the past five days.  I was kind of on an OCD or manic frenzy.  Or, as Steve says, CDO (since it's important to put the letters in alphabetical order, dontcha know).  

These five paintings will be part of my upcoming April-May show at January's Gallery in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.  I'll be driving my car over to TorC to put up the show in early April, leaving my RV here in Arizona, since we plan to summer in northern Arizona this year, anyway.  

Remember my fantasy road sign series that I painted last summer?  Well, I decided to take a small financial risk and I've just ordered some note cards made from four of the designs.  I will try selling these on eBay and I'll probably also visit some store owners I know in New Mexico to see if they'd like to carry them, individually or as card sets.  Here are the designs I picked:

No cat pics today.  It's windy and Sonja is hiding.  Occasionally she comes out and meows at me to make it stop. 

New Work, and Some Thoughts About the Summer

 Steve's altar--you should see the cat jump when he plays the singing bowls!

It's that time of the winter here in the Senoran Desert that I begin to feel like one of the luckiest people alive.  I read about snow deluges in other parts of the country, while here it invariably turns into shorts and T-shirt weather every day by noon.  I have a quiet routine of getting up at sunrise, having coffee and thinking thoughts, doing artwork, selling on eBay, cooking good meals, sitting outside with a book, and being semi-social, then turning in around 9:30ish.  Life is good and simple.  
  

  
This past week our friend Janice came from Truth or Consequences, NM, to visit for about four days.  It was great!  I showed her around the area a little bit, and we played lots of games of Quiddler (a rummy-like card game, with alphabet cards, where you make words instead of runs or three-of-a-kind) and we had bonfires every night.  I decided to take a few days off from my strenuous routine while Janice was here, so it kinda felt like being at summer camp with a good friend. 

 Janice and me in front of the Beluga

Artwise (apparently not a real word 'cause it's got a squiggly red line under it), I continue to work on boxes, plus I'm painting for an April-May show at January's in Truth or Consequences.  I'm painting scenes from my own life, some pivotal moments when something inside me came alive.  Sometimes it's hard and I don't want to do it, so the mixed-media boxes are a welcome break, like going outside for recess.  

 Here's a box I made for Steve for Valentine's Day.  It's decorated inside, too, 
but that's a secret.

So, the only thing that's not going well in my life, which I haven't talked about much here in my blog, but which my closest friends know, is that my left knee is almost useless these days and I really, really need a knee replacement.  I haven't had health insurance since 2012 or so when my ex's COBRA premiums became too burdensome, and then I was turned down for insurance due to pre-existing conditions (I had arthroscopic surgery on this same knee in 2011).  I've been limping along for about 2.5 years since this knee became a debilitating problem that causes severe, chronic pain.  Now it's gotten to the point where I can barely walk, so I'm finally turning to some social services to get some help.  I'm hoping to get onto some health insurance within the next few months, probably through the State of Arizona, and eventually get this surgery done.  We'll see how it goes!

 A mixed-media wooden champagne box, with hinges and clasp

In the meantime, I think Steve and I will be staying in Arizona for the late spring and summer this year rather than going to New Mexico as we usually do when the weather is nice over there.  As I'm being considered for several programs, I'll need to maintain an Arizona mailing address and presence.  So we're thinking of heading up to Prescott!  I've only been there once, but liked the look of the place and have heard so much positive about it from other travelers.   

That's pretty much all the news.  No picture of Sonja this time--Steve rang his chimes and she skedaddled!

I Was Interviewed for the eBay Scavengers Podcast!

A few days ago, I had a really nice time talking on the phone with Jay and Ryanne Dedman, the eBay Scavengers.  They are really nice folks who moved to a rural area where living was cheaper, and they make their living by selling stuff they find at auctions, yard sales and thrift stores.  They also grow some of their food and make things, and they're friends with my friends Wendy and Mikey of Holy Scrap and Good Life Lab fame.

Our phone call was recorded and edited and became the Scavengers' latest blog and podcast post (#91).  For about two years, the Scavengers have been blogging about all different aspects of eBay selling--where to find inventory, how to sell, how to pack and ship, etc. A lot of their blogs and podcasts are about the eBay selling lifestyle, and they've featured Wendy and Mikey in several.  For easy reference, there's an topical index.  

Jay, Ryanne and I specifically talked about my eBay business, operated out of the Beluga, a 35-foot Class A motorhome.  They wanted to know where I find my inventory, how I decided to concentrate on selling vintage scarves, how I ship while I'm on the road, etc.  The podcast lasts about 20 minutes and I hope anyone who is considering selling on eBay while traveling will find it helpful.  (I'm also working on a book, but it is not finished--you will definitely be able to read all about it here when it is published!)  To activate the podcast, just click on the "Play" triangle button that's under the photo of my RV. 



   

Update from a Norwegian-American Sitting Quietly in the Desert

I'm continuing to do mixed-media decoration of little boxes, journals, shrines, altars, etc.  All of the small places where we keep God.  I find nice wooden, cardboard or tin boxes at various thrift shops when I'm out looking for eBay fodder.  I also find some pretty great magazine photos, wrapping papers, scrapbook papers, etc., in my wanderings. 

These boxes are for my "Faces of God" show at RioBravo FineArts gallery in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, at the end of 2014.  There will be a table in one corner of the gallery with an installation of dozens of little boxes.  The other pieces for the show will be BIG.  

This peacock hexagonal box attracted some attention when I showed it to my FaceBook friends, so now it's in the mail to Joe Possley, a friend from my college days back in Wisconsin in the 1970s. 

This mixed-media mostly-painting is called Amour-Dillo.  It was suggested by my friend Cindy Mitchell, who knows how much I like to paint animals weirdly.  I'm entering it in The Red Show in Ajo, Arizona.  

Ajo is 10 miles north of Why, and it's where we go to buy groceries, get library books, mail my eBay packages, etc.  There is a lively arts community in Ajo.  There aren't as many opportunities to show work as there are in Truth or Consequences, because there are few galleries.  But the community definitely supports its artists.  The International Senoran Desert Alliance (ISDA) rehabbed the old Curley School into artisan apartment/studio spaces. 

Besides doing artwork, I've been having a little more social winter here in Why than I have in past years.  As I mentioned in my last blog, several TorC friends have camped here at Coyote Howls, and my friends Susan and Dan from Eugene, Oregon, visited for a few days.  I've also gotten to know Michael and Pam, a couple from Albuquerque who are new to RVing--they also happened to stay at the Artesian, the same place I was in Truth or Consequences, but I missed meeting them there.  The longer I stay in this area, there are more parallels and ties between TorC and Why.  I look forward to my friend Janice coming to visit me from TorC next weekend.

I've been up to Phoenix a lot lately.  Five trips up there in about a month.  Really a lot for me, since I prefer to sit around by myself most of the time.  I ran across the perfect meme on FaceBook to describe my attitude:  It's not that I'm anti-social, I'm just pro-solitude.  But I needed new glasses, which took a couple of trips, and then my younger brother Sheldon, his wife Lori, and their four younger children were vacationing at a resort in Peoria, so I went up to spend some time with them.  In the picture above, Sheldon is whistling and acting innocent.  I can't explain why. 

Here's a picture of most of the family--Andy (14), my sister-in-law Lori, Elena (16), Charlie (the small person turned away from the camera), and Sheldon.

 

Here is a picture of seven-year-old Charlie, whom Sheldon and Lori began to adopt when he was an infant and were finally able to bring home from Guatemala last year.  Lena is in the background.  Charlie's favorite thing is to tickle and be tickled. 

 

Val (age 18) did not make it into the family picture in the kitchen because she'd been working out and then showering.  Sorry about the wet hair pic, Vali!  

On my latest trip to Phoenix, when I visited with Sheldon and family, I also got to have lunch with Roxanne of Good Luck Duck fame!  

I've been keeping busy with eBay in addition to artwork.  Yesterday I mailed out some borderland cowboy boots to a New Yorker.  I'm trying to stay focused on work right now, during this quiet time in the desert where I have good Internet access thanks to the cell phone tower at the nearby Border Patrol Station, because I simply do not know what's next.  I'll definitely be here through the beginning of April, when I'll have a show to hang at January's gallery in Truth or Consequences, NM.  But after that?  Steve and I are undecided.  Maybe a work camping job somewhere, maybe wandering the New Mexico state parks for the summer, maybe a knee replacement.  

Living the Good Life in Why, Arizona

 Our Christmas tree--a thrift store wooden saguaro cactus that I painted

When I last wrote, I was struggling to get ready to leave Truth or Consequences, NM.  I had to replace all of the batteries in my motorhome, and get some work done on both the Beluga and my new Tracker in order to tow. 

Steve came over from Why, Arizona, via public transportation, helped me get ready to go, and then drove back with me, which made the trip much more pleasant.  We both drove and found that driving a big rig with a car behind it isn't that much different than driving a big rig without towing.  It takes a little longer to stop, you have to consider the added length when you are changing lanes, and you never ever want to put yourself in a situation where you'd have to back up.  But since most of the time, you're just tooling down the highway, it's really not that big of a deal.  

Getting the car unhitched once we got here was a little more of a challenge than I'd realized.  But, like everything else I've learned since taking up RVing several years ago, it's just a matter of getting used to stuff like this.  Eventually hitching and unhitching will become routine.

Baskets that I admired at the Heard Museum in Phoenix

I have had one more hiccup with this Tracker.  Once we got the Beluga to Why, we turned around and drove the Tracker back to Tucson where Steve could pick up his truck at his sister's house and I could get the Tracker retitled and registered in Arizona.  But, after spending several hours at the Motor Vehicles office, it turned out I could not get the Tracker street-legal because there's a restitution lien on the car.  A previous owner had a DWI and owes money to the court.  I had to file a motion with the court, asking that they remove this restitution lien, since the guy who owned it hasn't owned it for several years and there have been several sales of the car since he had it.  We'll see what happens.  In the meantime, I've got a 90-day temporary registration sticker in my back window. 

Oh, and the Tracker has some sort of a short that makes starting it interesting.  If it won't turn over right away, I have to get out and wiggle some wires until it does.  It's better when I have someone with me to act as Wire Wiggler while I stay in the driver's seat.  

My friend Feral Willcox is a great Wire Wiggler, but she's leaving.  I've had a really nice time getting to know Feral, first in Truth or Consequences and now here in Why.  I met her at the TorC Poetry Reading one Sunday this past fall.  We sat next to each other and quietly introduced ourselves.  The following week, I must have seen Feral a half-dozen times at various coffee shops and stores.  Finally, I thought maybe I'd better sit down and talk with her, before I get hit on the head with a 2 x 4 or something.  Well, it turned out we have lots in common--both former pottery, tile, and mosaic artists who are now doing lighter forms of artwork due to health issues and having a mobile lifestyle.  Lots of other commonalities as well.  The type of person I could talk to all day, probably, if I wasn't quite so introverted.  

As a result of our first meeting in TorC, Feral came to Coyote Howls for a month!  She was heading west towards LA, anyway, and wanted to try some inexpensive camping for a while.  She tented and hung out in her pickup truck.  Feral told me yesterday that she's basically treated the front bench seat of her pickup like a couch.  At dusk, she'd sit there and watch nature unfold just outside her truck.  Coyotes would walk into her campsite and she watched lots of birds, rabbits, and ground squirrels.  I had never thought to do that in my several years of coming to Coyote Howls in the wintertime.  I'm usually fussing with making supper about that time of the day, but maybe we'll just have to start eating earlier or later.

Feral has probably already pulled out of camp this morning.  She's heading to LA to stay with friends and get things arranged to leave for India, where she hopes she can live and get needed medical care more cheaply than here in the U.S.  I may be following her sometime in the future--not to live in India for very long, but perhaps to have a knee replacement done there.

My friends Pat and Fred from TorC just pulled in to Coyote Howls on Sunday and plan to spend about a month, maybe more.  They have been full-time RVers for years and usually are either work camping in a park or boondocking in National Forests, and this is their first time to Why.  

Sly on a day trip to the Tohono O'odham museum

We celebrated Christmas with a nice dinner at the Why Senior Center, and we went to a lovely open house on New Year's Day at the new home of Donna and Noel, the managers of Coyote Howls.  Then my son Sly visited for a little over a week.  I went up to Phoenix the last two weekends, first to get him from the airport and then to take him back up to the airport.  It's only a couple of hours to Phoenix, but each time I made a little overnight trip out of it, doing some tourist things and shopping at thrift stores and staying in a motel.  It was nice.  Sly and I especially enjoyed the Heard Museum and a nice dinner out one night at a Thai restaurant.  I hadn't been to a Thai restaurant since my last trip to Seattle over a year-and-a-half ago.  Sly is doing well--he's been on the same job as a barista in a coffee shop for over a year, and he is moving this week from a residence for at-risk youth to an apartment with a friend.  

These two panels provide me with enough power to run my computer or sewing machine in the Beluga, and also run the furnace for a little while in the morning to take the chill off

Today is one of those much-needed days when I don't have anywhere I have to go.  I relish the thought of staying home and getting things in better order and doing some artwork and eBay work.  I've already cleaned the fridge, and Steve threw the uneaten leftovers over the fence for the coyotes, so this evening might be a good one to follow Feral's lead and sit in the driver's seat of the Beluga and look out at the wildlife.  I feel so fortunate to have such a great set-up for my lifestyle here in Why.  Steve is lending me a couple of solar panels until I buy my own to install on the roof of the Beluga, and I can spend time in my own rig doing my art and business, so I don't have to drag everything into Steve's space, which we reserve more for relaxing. 

A God box in the works

Art-wise, I have started on something for my "Faces of God" show that is scheduled out about a year.  As part of that exhibit, I envision having a table full of mixed-media altars, shrines, reliquaries, God boxes, journals, etc.  All of the small places in which we keep God, y'know.  So I'm acquiring boxes and stuff as I browse thrift shops and eBay, and I'm doing a mixture of collage and painting to richly decorate them.  

A small completed God box, formerly an Altoids tin

Like a Bad Country Western Song

Last week I was planning to take the tow bar that my friend Brian had given me to the mechanic, have him install it, and then I figured I'd zip off to Arizona within a few days.  But it didn't go exactly like that.  

"There was a hitch in my travel plans, and I'm chained to the place I am."

Twang-twang!  Sing it, Sister!

It's all gonna be fine, though.  It turns out that the base plate that was already attached to my Tracker fits the Blue Ox tow bars.  So I checked into buying one of those, decided to buy a used one from an online seller, and should have it here by FedEx today...or tomorrow...or whenever.

In the meantime, Steve heard the anxiety in my voice while we were on the phone one night, and now he is here to help me with the details of getting the Beluga and Tracker road-ready, and he'll be making the trip back to Arizona with me.  Yay!  

It's a good thing he's here, too.  I seem to have a mental blank spot when it comes to adding water to my various batteries, and everything was down and problematic when he got here.

Maybe another verse?  

"I'm powerless to leave this town, because I let my battery levels get down..."

I also found out that I needed to have some wiring done in both the Tracker and on the back end of the Beluga to get the lights set up for towing.  I mentioned in my last blog entry that I was working with Travis at Pit Stop here in Truth or Consequences, NM.  He's been doing really good work for me and has helped me a lot, so here's another pitch for him and his new business.

"I'm getting wired to travel, and so is my tow,
When everything's done, I'll be ready to go..."

Friends ask me when I'm leaving, and I am glad I've learned to be comfortable in the unknowing.

Gearing Up to Tow My New Toad

I'll be leaving Truth or Consequences within the next week or so.  I'm not picking the date of departure yet.  I'm trying to get a bunch of stuff done by the end of the week, and then I can leave whichever day I feel ready to go.

On Thursday, I'll take down my solo art show that I talked about in my last blog post, and my friend Janice and I will be hanging a group show in its place.  It's an annual Postcard Show.  All of the pieces are 4 x 6 inches, but they can be any media.  It will be interesting to see what people contribute.  The prices will be moderate (nothing over $50) and the Happy Belly Deli takes a reasonable commission.  So we're all hoping that there will be some impulse holiday gift purchases  made, and that all of the artists will make some money.

 I'm punctuating this blog entry with my own postcards, which are acrylic on canvas board.  

 I don't need to stick around to take this show down--Janice will do that in January.  I also left about 10 of my own paintings at Grapes Gallery to be shown for the next couple of months.  

The biggest news for me in the past couple of weeks is that I bought a toad!  This was not something I was planning to do immediately.  I had a 1998 Ford Windstar minivan that I'd been keeping here in Truth or Consequences as my getting around vehicle, and I wanted to get it sold before I leave for Why, Arizona, for the winter.  But I did not expect to replace it so quickly with a smaller vehicle that I could tow behind the Beluga.  I figured on buying a toad in Arizona sometime over the winter.

But, lucky me!  I saw a nice 1992 Geo Tracker parked on a nearby street with a "for sale" sign on it, and I managed to get the van sold quickly to a friend.  So now when I leave for Arizona, I'll be driving this big honking Class A motorhome that I'm not yet altogether comfortable driving yet, while towing a car, which I've never done before.  Oh, boy!  

The Tracker already had a base plate, and my friend Brian gave me a tow bar which I'm having installed tomorrow morning.  I also went to buy a hitch for the back of the motorhome today.  I've met a nice mechanic here in TorC, Travis from Pit Stop on Date Street, who has been super to work with on several things lately.  (That's a recommendation to anyone who needs work done while in this area!)

I had a very nice Thanksgiving with friends, and I'm relishing my last few visits to coffee shops, thrift stores, book shops, etc., here in Truth or Consequences. 

That's all the news from me for now.  After staying in one place for nearly half a year, I'm pretty busy stowing things away and wrapping up business here.