tashina knight

I’m back. Turns out that when my mother left she also left me a bunch of stock from her old bead business to go through. I’ve been hip deep in sorting ever since. I’ve been giving away stuff left and right which is sooo satisfying. In the last week I’ve given away 2 boxes of Beanie Babies, one large altered art lot of dominoes and tiles (to a mosaic artist so I gave her a bunch of other stuff too), & all the display lights and tablecloths and bags from the business. I’ve been trying to give away a ton of magazines for free but have yet to successfully get someone to pick them up. Next is a kiln, CD changer, huge cutting mat, and a sewing machine if I can figure out which one of the two to keep. Suppose I’ll have to sell that though. I have an old solid Bernina 830 and a newer Babylock Ellure I was given. I like the new shiny computerized one, but the Bernina has the knee lift which I love. I actually only sew a few times a year so I need to get rid of one or other other.

Oh yeah, back to the subject of my post. I’m going to issue another bold proclamation. I am going back to the beginning with my art. I didn’t start young like many artists do. I have a few half-hearted art attempts from childhood, but I actually bought my first art supplies at 27 years old. I am 43 now.

I had lots of fun with art when I started. I had never heard the word archival so didn’t worry about alcohol based markers and acid-free papers. I just bought some paint, canvases, pens, and paper and started in. I got lost along the way. I had an ex that was an accomplished realist artist that had been drawing since he was a wee thing and was voted most artistic in high school. He had done gallery shows of his horse paintings. I was just learning perspective and he never had a nice thing to say about my art. Took me 4 long years to figure that he was the sort of person who could only feel better by knocking people down.

During that whole time period, I stopped doing what I loved and searched for something that I could be “good” at. Not just merely good actually, but more like instantaneously talented which would have been the only thing that would have satisfied him. I got books on basket making, quilting, enameling. You name it and I tried it or poured over the books and pondered it.  And I lost a lot of good years feeling bad about my art.  During that time, I also collected a lot of supplies. If I’m going to be a superstar quilter, can’t do that without a ton of fabric and a sewing machine, right? So I’d focus on accumulating whatever it took to try that artform and then at some point, I’d move on to the next thing because my heart wasn’t really in it. So for the last 10 years or so I’ve been totally weighed down by the thought that I need to use all these things that I don’t really love.

What do I love? A blank piece of paper and some markers. Alcohol based non-archival markers. So there. :)  But now,  I wouldn’t see the originals. I can scan them and sell prints though. I also love acrylic painting and watercolors too. Watercolors are one good thing I’ve found in my searching. I also love little sculptural things. So I’m going to have some paperclay around and maybe take some ceramics classes someday. I’m going to keep my papers and rhinestones and all my treasured mixed media stuff. Everything else goes. It’s just cluttering my mind.

I have to wonder why I still have a beading kiln and a hot head torch and supplies when I haven’t made a lampwork bead in 10 years. (I used to sell lampworked jewelry in San Diego galleries). Why do I have 200 fat quarters of fabric when I’ve never made a quilt and probably won’t? Why do I have 5 enameling books when I’ve never enameled?

The drawing above is just a little doodle I did 15 years ago and scanned into the computer to color way back when. Back when I drew to please myself instead of an ex or some unknown audience. Back to basics. That’s where I’m going.

There won’t be a lot of posting for a week or so while my mom is in town. We’ll be going down to San Antonio and maybe wandering the Hill Country a little. Will try to get some photos. Hope everyone is having a productive week.

Just listened to the free song for the week on iTunes and really liked it. It’s Jarhand from a band I hadn’t heard of called Immaculate Machine.  Sort of alterna-pop but with a smooth folky singer. Give it a try!

Give a listen to The Essex Green while you’re there. A bit Weepies-like but with their own vibe.

I had been working on this one back in November but didn’t like the face so I reworked it this afternoon.

This is part of my effort to clear a few unfinished things off the desktop. This spring the theme is “clear it out”. I have probably given away/recycled 300 pounds of art related materials so far. Sold some books on Amazon (note to artists - occasionally take a look to see if any of the books you don’t want anymore are out of print. Sometimes they sell for $2, some times for $80!).

The best thing I’ve done so far is to give away my whole collection on Bead & Button magazine to a new beader. I put them on Craigslist and she and her husband came to get them on Saturday. We had lots in common as did her husband and mine and we all talked for several hours. New friends! She reminded me a little of Jordin Sparks on American Idol - in the looks and the sparkly personality. Lots of fun.

I also actually cooked this weekend which is unheard of. Confession- I have a terrible diet. I eat Top Ramen for breakfast at least every other day. I’ve been trying to eat healthier to encourage my husband who is on a heart healthy diet. I thought I’d try 2 little stir frys so there would be one left if I ruined the other.

Here’s my effort and both were good! One is Indian curry potatoes and cauliflower - I mixed a tablespoon of water and a teaspoon of margarine in the pan and added about 1/2 teaspoon of madras curry powder and 1/4 teaspoon of tumeric. I then added one large potato in chunks. I cooked on medium heat stirring often for about 7 minutes then I added some cauliflower and chopped red onion (should have added the onion at the beginning but didn’t think of it). Cook another 7 minutes and it’s all done.

The other is fresh asparagus and chicken with lemon and garlic. With this one I cut up a chicken breast into bite size pieces and put it in the pan with a little tiny bit of margarine. After 3 minutes, I added chopped asparagus and red onion and one cherry tomato from the garden (that’s all there was this early in the season. In a few weeks we’ll be giving baskets of tomoatoes to the neighbors). Then I threw in a few squeezes of lemon from the plastic yellow lemon and some chopped garlic. I cooked all of this in an Ikea Grilla to get the grill marks.

My husband gave it all rave reviews and life was good.

This one didn’t take me much thought at all. My paradise is wherever the sun is. A sunny day, a blue sky, warm breezes. That’s what makes me happy.

We have the opportunity to move to Portland. I think of how many artists live there or are from there, Judy and Kelly for example. I think of how many art galleries and events take place there and I will myself to be able to make the move. I just don’t think I’d survive the winters though. A week without sun starts to make me a little crazy. My poor husband lived with me for a year in the Bay Area in 2004 and would come home every winter day to The Wife Of Gloom. Ha.

Arizona, Palm Springs, Southern California. That’s my paradise.

Where’s your paradise?

Happy weekend!