I got tagged

I have "e-known" Cheryl Prater since mid- December or so. Very early on in our communication, I expressed to Ms. Prater my dislike of tagging. But did this stop her? No.

So today, she tags me to show how messy my studio is. I just took these photos of my home studio. My work table is pretty much covered right now. I haven't been working out there too much lately because of how hectic our schedules have been with the girls' sports. We are on a bit of a break right now - down to only soccer; track and basketball are over. The kids get out of school next Wednesday and I am done next Thursday. Then I can clear off the table and get down to business. I am currently working out of my giant red tote bag. I almost always have a project with me to stitch or glue while watching whatever sport they are playing. The next photo shows some of my shelves - not too bad, I guess. The last one is a canvas bin of fabric scraps. I hate neatly folded fabric. So uninspiring. I was talking to a lovely mom and daughter at the Chicago thing. They stopped by my table at the virtual studio and, as they looked at my books and stuff, expressed a frustration at not knowing how to get started on mixed media projects. They said they had bought all the stuff and had it all organized neatly in their craft room, but couldn't seem to get going. I said maybe that was the problem - that everything put away all neat and perfect is a good way to stifle creativity. I pulled out a bursting-with-stuff gallon ziploc from my giant red tote and told them to get a ziploc and toss some random junk and scraps in and see what comes out. Like I always say, You gotta break a few eggs if you're gonna bake a cake.

My beloved husband, J.R., does not approve of my mess. My real studio is above his shoe store and whenever he ventures upstairs he fusses at the scraps on the floor. That place needs a good cleaning, too. I HATE the thought of buying plastice tubs to store stuff in - they have no soul. Generally, I don't worry too much about where things are. If I am workin on something and think "now where did I put those gold wings I got from artchix?" and I start looking for them, it is altogether possible that I find something else that will work better, or at least give myself options I hadn't considered. The clutter doesn't bother me in all honesty. I feel a little bad about that. A good artist/wife/mom would not only care about the mess; she would clean it up.

I really want Blake to win American Idol, but I don't think he will. Elliot Yamin got new teeth and let his hair grow out. Dancing with the Stars was fixed to not let Cheryl win again. What do you think of The Fray? We love them. How about Matt Kearney? Have you heard anything after "Nothing Left to Lose" - what a great song.

I get to move into 2 brand new art rooms next week. Two of my schools have been building new digs this year and they are so beautiful. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that my precious students out here in rural Indiana are getting these shiny, gorgeous schools. I am getting SMARTBOARDS in both of my new rooms!! They are the perfect compliment to the current e-curriculum I am using and the kids are so motivated by the technology. Our summer break is 11 weeks this year. One week will be well-spent at Arrowmont, one in the mountains of New Mexico, one taking a class at IU to renew my teaching license. Whit starts high school in the fall, so she will start training with the high school soccer team sometime soon. We can't really plan a vacation until we know what that schedule will be like. There is no place on earth that girl would rather be than on the pitch. She used to be one of the tallest girls in her class, but she has about stopped growing at about 5'5" or so and maybe a hundred and 5 lbs. She plays like she's 5'10" and 150, not afraid of the devil himself. I wish I was that assertive. I want to be her when I grow up.

BLAKE JUST GOT INTO THE FINALS - which prolly means jordin will win, unless he cover maroon 5 again!!