Things I have learned week of Oct. 1, 2017

This is the third installment in the things I have learned that are related to my hand injury.  It is amazing how things has changed or is changing my outlook on many things.

Oct. 1 - The ability to be able to smile in the face of adversity is priceless.

Oct. 2 -

•  Stitches removed today.  I am normally a woose when it comes to things like this but I put on my big girls pants and was brave.  It did not hurt much.
• the mass shooting in Las Vegas was very emotionally draining.  So many lives lost and so many injured.  It saddened me greatly

Oct. 3 

• I was able to crochet today.  It hurt a little, but I have to use my hand as much as possible to get my range of motion back into my fingers.

October 4

• Washing dishes is a good way to soak my hand and fingers and get exercise. Who knew.

Oct. 5

• Exercise 6 times a day, wow, made a schedule so I can get it done.  
• While at PT yesterday I realized how blessed I am  when I see the injuries of others.
• drawing is good therapy also.  All of the things I like to do will help my hand.

Oct. 6

• Exercise hurts a lot, but it is worth it.
• Working on a scarf (knitting) and it is going ok.  
• I am project managing my exercise plan....it is in my bones.

Oct. 7

• Last day of what I have learned----everything I like to do, paint, draw, crochet and knit are part of my therapy program.  This is going to be good.  Getting ready to make some cards.

Love this flower, so bright and this is how I feel today.

See you later....pilgrim

Lesson I have learned week 2

Second week of healing and living in the non-dominant hand world.  I am doing something a little different and writing something each day of the week,

Saturday - Sept. 23rd:

• decided to concentrate on my art as if I only had a left hand.  Today's lesson, it is not possible to paint and not be messy; hence paint on my bandage, so much for trying to keep it squeaky clean.
• you have to be willing to laugh at yourself.

Sunday - Sept. 24th:

• exercising fingers to rocking music at church is pretty cool.
• drawing faces with left hand has a sketchy look which I think I like
• use my tools (more on this in a later blog)

Monday - Sept. 25:

• Time to evaluate things and places that no longer suit my needs or represent me

Tuesday - Sept. 26:

• I cannot knot or crochet with left hand.  boohoo
• a hot cup of tea before bread is so relaxing
• paint crackle medium on deli paper and use as collage pieces.

Wednesday - Sept. 27:

• Healing takes time and you just have to be patient.

Friday - Sept. 29:

• It is better to be open and honest when making major changes.  It can help to eliminate rumors.

Art work done with non-dominant hand this week:

This has been an interesting week, would not have changed a thing.  until next time.....pilgrim

Things I Have Learned......

Results of a Fall

You know how people always say it could have been worse?  Well, truer words were never spoken this week.   Early in the morning on Sept 18th I fell dislocating fingers 3, 4 and 5 on my right hand.  Fingers 4 and 5 went back into place with heavy sedation and a pull.  Finger 3 required surgery, stitches and a soft wrap to fix.  Now I am at home resting and healing.  I have had a time to think and the result will be a few blog posts about what I have learned through this experience.

What I have learned 9-18 to 9-23

• I have some really great friends, especially Marge who took to the hospital and stayed with me for hours
• I always try to be the best patient I can be, it can make a very trying experience somewhat better, if that is possible.
• Using a pepper grinder is out for a while, using black pepper in the can.
• I am somewhat ambidextrous and that is a blessing in this case.
• while I try to be a good patient, I DO NOT LIKE getting my blood pressure taken every 4 hours, it hurts people.  That automatic BP machine puts a death grip on your arm.  About the same pressure as the masochistic mammogram machine
• I can make greeting cards with my left hand Yay!!!!!!  
• Cutting up my food is a challenge, but I will not starve
• It truly could have been worse, I could have broken my leg, broken my arm...so I am so thankful and have been letting God know this all week.
• greatest invention ever, sleeve to cover arm and wrap to keep it dry when taking a shower
• I have to learn to slow down and take it easy.

That is my list for this week. Next week I am going to try art journaling with my non-dominant hand, should be interesting and fun.

until then.......pilgrim

Creative Retreat Weekend

I spent this weekend and will spend part of today, participating in the Art is Magic online Creative Retreat and it was wonderful.  Sponsored by Galia Alena, it was a smorgasbord of classes presented by awesome teachers.  A side effect of this retreat was to convince me to get busy working on the online classes with unlimited access that I have not worked on in Ages.  I can have my own creative retreat just working on these classes.

I am going to post a few photo's of paintings and try to get the name of the teacher correct.

Eye Practice - Lauren Rudolph

This is a use what you have moment, so this was painted in watercolor since I did not have the 

colors in acrylic.  I loved this lesson. Takeaway from this session, you can get deep colors
using watercolor. You can see notes to the side that I wrote for myself.

Backgrounds - Amanda Grace

I love creating backgrounds that can be used later or just just left as is. Takeaway from this session
backgrounds are so inspiring and liberating.  I can leave them as is or use them as a basis
for more in-depth painting.

Rise - Lady Mille

Again this was use what you have lesson for me.  I did not have pictures

of butterflies for collage, so I drew one on tracing paper, painted it with watercolor

and collaged it.  The layering was so much fun.  The shabby chic look is one of my favorites..
Takeaway from this lesson,  soft colors is in my soul.

Black and White - Denise Daffara

This was a Sunday after church project.  I only completed the first half and it was fun.  

I do love working in black and white; however, instead of using white I used the color Vanilla

 by Craft Smart.  She is a little crosseyed, but that is okay.  Plus...drawing the sketch with stabilo woody is a great way to  gain depth.  This was my takeaway from this lesson.

Draw and paint what you see - Fiona Haight Clark

This lesson is something I have done before, but not to this extent.

Drawing squiggle lines on a page in charcoal or stabilo marks all and then

looking for items to draw.  Started with the face and then formed a body.  Some of the

class mates had beautiful forms and then there is me keeping it real (LOL).  Takeaway from
this Lesson, develop a discerning eye to see what the marks tell you.

Beyond Word - Gaila Alena

Ok, why do I like this?????The vines and leaves.  I mixed the color using jet black by Apple Barrel and 

Mint green by Craft Smart.  I did not have a leafy green color, so I thought to mix black with the green

to get a deeper color.  My takeaway from this?  I love drawing vines and leaves and color mixing is

a valuable tool.

Garden of Tranquility - Tiare Smith Woods

This is a Sunday project that I did this morning.  I am in love with this painting.  My takeaway from

this lesson?  Using baby wipes and sponges for the majority of the background and the flowers in the grass.

I have a few more classes to complete this afternoon.  Great way to spend a quiet day.

Take care my friends.....pilgrim

#21Embody - Day 10 - Nose

Improving

I really was dreading attempting the nose.  It is not my favorite body part to draw, but it is an essential part of our anatomy.  I did not want to paint it or do too much shading as I like what I did and did not want to mess it up with paint.  I think the eyebrows are a little to high up, but oh well it will be get better with more practice.

For today, this nose actually looks like a nose.  Woohoo.

see you tomorrow....

#21Embody day 9 - Lips

Lips

Lips, I think I am getting better at capturing the contour and expression.  Arting pretty much everyday is becoming a welcomed habit.  It allows me to relax.

see you later

#21EmBody - Day 8 Eye

The Eye

Day 8 is the eye,  I painted this eye a while ago and my spirit kept telling me to use it as it fits into my premise that no one part of the body is more important than the other.  However, the eyes have a story to tell.  Often times, I can tell when my friends are in pain because of the story their eyes tell.  We have to look and pay attention to see what the eyes are saying.

see you later.

#21Embody Day 7 Arms

Holding on

This was fun to do, reminds me of days gone by.

see you later......

#21Embody day 6 - In Position

Dancing Feet in Position

I really started to collage some feet, but something in me said, go ahead and try it and I did.  I have never drawn, much less painted feet before.  It is really interesting to try the different parts of the body.  It also made me think of a class I taught last week at church.  We were talking about the Body of Christ and how no one body part is more important than the other.  Each part plays an important role and when you put them all together, they make a very strong presence as the body.

see you tomorrow.....

#21Embody - Day 5 Hands

Hands of Love

Hands have never been my strong suit in the world of art.  I started to cut out hands from a magazine and collage; but, I thought I would give it a try.  Granted this is a pretty simple solution; however, I am so happy that they really look like hands.  It is amazing when I really step outside of my comfort zone to try something that gives me problems and arrive at a solution.  I will probably try to draw hands in more detail, but for tonight I am really happy with this effort.

see you tomorrow.