July 12, 2011

Yard work is magic.


I'm filling the cavity with Great Stuff and then painting it with Montana Spray paints to match the tree. It's rather obscene looking at this stage with this thing oozing out. I need to buy a couple more cans of Great Stuff and do the process again until I fill the cavity. It's home improvement, not art, and it's tucked away in nowheresville, not visible to anyone really, but I still want to do a nice job. Maybe I'll add googly eyes to it. I suspect insects have been nesting in there. Insects of the prehistoric, hard-shelled, diemuthrfckrdie-and-stay-out-of-my-home variety. 

This weekend, I worked on paintings at the home studio in-between some yard work. I stayed away from the train car studio all weekend. Yesterday I was at Home Depot and ran into one of the guys responsible for giving me the residency. I was buying gutter guards after having my gutters cleaned. I heard a voice behind me at the check-out jokingly say, "You should be painting." I tuned around and jokingly said, "This is what I do in my spare time." Neither one of us was really joking. My solo show in conjunction with the residency is in mid-October. I should be painting a lot. 

Today though, I was once again a genius in the studio. First off, I walked in and was greeted by 3 paintings I had forgotten I finished last week. I love when that happens. It's like having friendly amnesia. They need a bit more work, but more or less they're done. I then took a large canvas that was directionless into an unexpected direction. I'm liking it and it's surprising to me so I'm not questioning it. I also started another self-portrait which by end of day was coming along nicely. Just a few more things needed but the paint needed to dry a bit before I could go in again. A full and respectable day at work, and another day of grace and ease. When I left the house this morning I was anxious about stuff in general, but I was okay after a few minutes at work in the studio. Yard work is magic. 

3 comments:

Carla said...

I've been "letting" myself spend more time in the yard this summer, and it does seem to help me in the studio, a lot. Interesting cavity filling technique on the tree.

That sounds like a dream day in the studio, finding finished work, etc.

M.A.H. said...

Sadly though, I have not been doing anything remotely associated with gardening. I think I have an unpublished post where I disclose hauling a couple of year's worth of dead branches to the street. The gravel drive yields a lot of weeds so for a while I was pulling weeds a little bit each day until I woke up one morning to "You Betcha Garden" and there was a listener asking about controlling grass in her gravel driveway. The solution was to let it go and mow it. http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=1099
I had seen the paver/grass look out in LA and liked it, so i was considering that here. Cheaper solution was explained on the link above, so I'm going to give that a try.

I've had to have help with tree limbs and major brush cutting. I keep thinking about getting a chainsaw, but when I get a new tool, I tend to overuse it.

Elaine Mari said...

"I was thinking about getting a chainsaw, but when I get a new tool, I tend to overuse it." Mad pictures are rolling through my mind now as i lie on the floor laughing.

It's over.

Nov 7, 2020. Tears of joy and relief. It's been unreal and I'm ready to get back to a sense of normalcy. The desert has been tough.