21/365 - string

I'm always wanting to try new things, and I saw a pic somewhere ... probably Pinterest.... of a string art project. What I really liked about it was that the string was strung in a semi-random, carefree way. Most string art that I have seen is very.... structured. Beautiful, but certainly not random. I decided to go the random route. I didn't want to sit there and calculate and measure and follow a pattern. I just wanted to wrap some string around some nails.

My favorite part of this - the nails.

That part of the process is very significant to me.

The last day that I worked before surgery, I had to leave after just an hour and a half. I had already had few days when I left early or had to call in sick because of seizures and/or headaches, and they have always been very understanding and accommodating. Best bosses ever.

So on this particular day, a big slab of granite in the lobby was being replaced. How do you remove the old granite? With a sledgehammer, apparently. Breaking up a piece of granite with a sledgehammer is LOUD! It's loud enough to give anyone a headache. For me, it felt like someone had  taken a sledgehammer to my skull. Picture a cartoon character about to pass out, with stars swirling around over it's head. That was me. I was told later on that my face turned as white as a ghost.

The noise literally made me sick, and I had to leave. I don't remember much about that day, I mostly just remember the excruciating pain in my head, and a feeling of almost panic - like 'I've got to get home, NOW!'. 

I had to call in sick the next day, because I just couldn't get ready for work. I think I was having small seizures. The following day, I had an MRI, and the next day I got a call from my Neurologist's nurse, asking me to come in the next morning. This was by far not the first MRI I've had, but I've never been called in so soon after one. And I could tell by the sound of her voice that it wasn't good. The first thing that I heard, bright and early the next morning, "we're concerned about this area here, and this excess fluid, and want you to see a Neurosurgeon as soon as possible.". 

My condition deteriorated very rapidly from there. I had been sick for a while, but not sick like I was shortly before surgery.

Sooooooo..... back to the nails - turning  up the music and hammering nails into a board without a care in the world was absolutely fabulous to me. I loved that I could do that without seeing stars or turning as white as a ghost.

And I have a  new, *positive* memory of a hammering noise... granted, it's not as loud as a sledgehammer breaking granite, but still... 

I am finding that I have a much greater appreciation for simple things like hammering nails, today.  I guess a serious illness reaching a crisis point can have that effect, when you come out on the other side of it.  It has for me, anyway. 

20/365 - stencil

The prompt was to make a stencil and use it in your work.

I used it on an art journal page.

19/365 - gobble gobble

Happy Thanksgiving <3

18/365 - birdhouse surprise

I wonder when my mother will notice that a flamingo is perched on one of her bird houses.......

Day 17

16/365 ipad

Laying in bed, playing with a new iPad app....

Still resting, but starting to feel somewhat human again. Thank God,

Day 15 - bed rest.

<3

Bed rest today. Instructed to lay flat.... groggy on pain pills & phenergen.

 I'm so grateful for the loving support that I have.

Day 14 - ER

Spent the day in the ER, hooked up to IVs, monitors, & whatnot. More x-rays, ct scan, and valve reprogramming. Fun times.

13/365 - steampunk sketches

Today's flamingo is just flamingo sketches. Very rough, preliminary sketches. I'm intrigued by Steampunk art & wanted to get some ideas on paper. The larger one was done today. One day, I'll have a finished steampunk flamingo drawing, but it won't be today...... and it'll probably morph into something quite different than these two first sketches. It's already changed from the first little sketch to the second one.

Kinda fitting, since I feel a bit steampunked, myself.

Still feeling  pretty rough today & ready to go back to bed - again.

I've had a few very draining days. Literally.

12/365 - bubble bath

"Make something ephemeral. Can you create something using a material that will dissipate quickly, like soap bubbles, smoke, butter on a griddle, or cream in coffee?" (365, A Daily Creativity Journal). 

Left temple is swollen and realllllllly hurting today, after all of the poking and prodding and checking and valve resetting and whatnot yesterday. Imagine if your hand was broken, and you had to spend 4 hours shaking hands with your broken hand..... that is where my head is at tonight.

I need a helmet. A helmet covered in bubble wrap. A helmet, covered in bubble wrap, with a "Do not touch" sign taped to it.

11/365 - Mischer Mask

Long long long day.

41/2 - 5 hr drive to see my Neurosurgeon in Houston.
On the way there, I made a flamingo mask from some instructions that I found online. (I am not very experienced at doing crochet....)

After having my head x-rayed, getting a CT scan, and having the level that my shunt valve was set to lowered, I left the little flamingo mask there.
I wanted to tie it on a skull, but the exam room that I was in only had a spine.... no skull. So I had to settle for the spine. Oh well!

Tests over for the day..... I don't like days like these.
I don't like all of the poking and prodding and whatnot.
Ouch! Stop touching my cracked skull! Hands off of Christy's Cranium....

Meh- Just gotta do whatcha gotta do sometimes.

10/365 - Gratitude

Today I used a prompt from a Facebook group (Art Every Day of November) for my daily flamingo.

this is the prompt:

November 19th: Welcome to Tuesday. I hope you are all enjoying the journey. 

Warm Colors: Can you use reds, oranges, yellows in your work? Color directly affects our well being. RED is dynamic! Its the longest wavelength of all colors, a little makes a big statement! It appears 'nearer' than than other colors in an image, therefore it grabs our attention first. It can stimulate and raise the pulse rate, you would never see red walls in a hospital. Think of the color of blood or red traffic lights! Orange and yellow are much more subtle. How do you use warm colors? 

(Thank you, Diane, for your inspiring prompts)

I decided to do a quick sketch on an ATC (2.5" X 3.5" sheet of Bristol paper), using Prismacolors. You can get fabulously rich & vibrant colors with Prismacolors. I love them. 

My left eye is bothering me a bit today, so fine details in the small field of vision that I can see clearly are a bit blurry. I thought that a pair of prescription reading glasses that I have would help with this. They did help. But I took them off, quickly. They were pressing on what feels like a screw directly under the part of my scar that curves from my left temple to directly in front of my left ear. Ouch. No glasses for me for a while. Bummed me out for a few minutes. Damn, this sucks! I had to spend a few minutes digging myself out of that hole of self-pity that I found myself slipping into. 
I've come to far to go to that dark place. 

 Soooo....no laboring over details and greyscale and all of that stuff today. I'm keeping it simple. I'd like to spend more time working on a larger drawing & focusing on the texture of the feathers and whatnot.... but I'll put that on the back burner for when my vision is better and just enjoy and be grateful for what I can do today.

Flamingo theme of the day - gratitude.

this is one of my go-to songs to brighten a 'poor pitiful me' mood..

9/365 - Steambird

Today marks 6 weeks since my surgery.
I'm not thinking about this because I'm keeping track, because I'm not. But I probably should....

My body is reminding me today that it has only been 6 weeks since surgery. And it was not a simple, quick recovery type of surgery.
It's been 6 weeks since my craniotomy. Recovering from a craniotomy takes time. And I had a "double surgery", which included opening up my stomach, as well.
My energy level is higher, but I have a bad habit of overdoing it when I have more energy. I still need to be resting, too. Naps are my best friend. The last day that I stopped to take a nap was Friday.... and I'm feeling it today.

I'm out of steam.

I feel like crap today, but it's nothing that a day of rest won't fix. It's not a bad day, it's just a day. It's a day to remind myself to take it easy. That's all. I don't really feel bad that I feel bad.... I had a good weekend, even if it did knock me on my ass. I just need to remember to stop and rest, too... my body isn't ready to go full force, even though my mind is. Lesson learned.

My attire for the day - PJs.
Comfy PJs.
I took a shower, and changed into clean, comfy PJs.
And I drew today's flamingo on the steamed up mirror. So at the end of the day, if I have done nothing but lounge around in PJs all day, I still will have accomplished something - I did #9 of 365 daily flamingos.
Accomplishing something, no matter how small the accomplishment may be, is better than accomplishing nothing.

9/365 complete. Nap time.....

8/365 UCBR

7/365 - Mars Red PPU2-11

Day Seven - Mars Red PPU2-11

Today, I did my own version of a prompt that said to create something with paint swatches from a hardware store. I used only one.....

The last couple of months before my surgery, the headaches were so bad and so constant that I had to find some way to distract myself. Conversations were getting very difficult, too..... the left part of your brain (left temporal lobe, to be exact) controls language function. If your entire left hemisphere is being severely squished, it makes communication very difficult. I was in my own little bubble. The headaches couldn't be treated pharmaceutically  ~ there is not a medication that can help a headache that is caused by intercranial pressure. The only relief is to relieve the pressure through surgery, which I eventually had. So what do you do when you feel like your head is in a vice, are basically home bound, and can barely stand to be around anyone because it is so exhausting?
You find some form of distraction.
I redecorated my apartment. I painted everything, except my bedroom. And I mean everything.... cabinets, walls, picture frames, knobs, if it could be painted, I painted it. I was in my own little insane Van Gogh frenzy. It got me through when I thought that I just couldn't go on anymore.... it is how I spent my days while I waited for surgery.

Anyway....
I had a paint chip sample thingy for my bedroom, but never got around to that room. I'm glad that I didn't get to that room, actually..... it's like I still have a bit of a blank canvas waiting for me, a room to fill with new colors post-surgery.

I don't know what I was thinking when I picked up that color... it's not what I want, now. I was a bit worried that I might return home and think - "what the hell was I THINKING?" - when I returned from surgery and saw all of these things that I did, but I was actually quite pleased. The rest of my apartment is purple, green, blue, teal, lavender, turquoise, and even gold ~ I love it. I love being surrounded by all of these colors.

But I don't like this color. Not for that room, anyway. It doesn't feel right.

The paint chip reminded me of a flamingo body, so it became my flamingo of the day.
I returned it to Home Depot and left it there.... I love little "wtf" moments. If I walked up to look at paint colors and saw a picture taped there, I'd think "WTF?". Then I'd laugh ~ not surprising, since I laugh about everything unexpected. I hope that I gave someone else a "wtf" moment.
If not, oh well. I had fun doing it.

My daughter and her boyfriend helped me to navigate my way through Home Depot, since my vision is still too whacked to drive or find my way through a store on my own. My daughter and I have a blast sometimes acting goofy in stores. When he kicked something down the aisle like a soccer ball, I thought "yep. he'll fit right in".

I had terrible headaches today because of the weather, but it was still a good day.

When in pain, don't focus on it. Do something. Create something. Distraction.....

by the way..... we did lose each other, briefly. I blindly wandered off. 

I heard my daughter's voice... "Marco!"

I yelled "Polo!"

That's how we roll. Play. Have fun. Enjoy every moment.

6/365 - magazine strips

Day six - magazine strips

What did I do after using a prompt that said not to use scissors or glue? I used scissors and glue, of course......

Today's flamingo is made out of strips of paper cut from a magazine and glued to a piece of cardboard. No folding required.

The magazine that I used was an Art Magazine. The colorful strips that cover the cardboard flamingo are from pictures of some of the art in the magazine. The text in the background - articles about the piece, analytical tidbits from people other than the artist, interviews, etc.....


My favorite part : The Flamingo, of course.


If I were to make something like this again, I'd use Mod Podge instead of glue... and I'd leave out the text completely.

Live & Learn.......

5/365 - origami flamingo

Day five : Origami Flamingo

This is the prompt that I used:

"Make something out of paper, but don't use scissors or glue or draw on it. What now? (And no, you don't have to know origami to do this.)"

........ And no, you don't have to know origami to do this......

Figures this would be the part of that prompt that jumped jumped off of the page and bounced around in my head like a Ping pong ball. 

The hell I don't! I am going to make an origami flamingo If it takes all day..... dammit.

I am the type of person who loves a challenge.... and I sometimes perceive something as a challenge that was not intended to be one. This is not always a good thing, but it's just who I am.

The closest that I have come to doing origami was making a paper airplane and throwing it across a classroom (and, subsequently, flying another one in afternoon detention.....). I found a video that shows the steps to making an origami flamingo and followed along as best as I could. I had to start over a couple of times, but I didn't feel frustrated.... I felt determined, and curious, but not the least bit frustrated. 

Luckily for me, I am not also the type of person who views everything as a competition. There is not a competitive bone in my body. As such, I am completely satisfied with my little imperfect origami flamingo. 

#5 complete.

4/365 - chopped walnuts

Day Four -

Today's mantra - keep it simple

3/365 - google glasses & tin foil hat

Day Three : Google glasses & tin foil (jester) hat

The prompt was to make something with aluminum foil. I immediately thought of a facebook post.... I cropped out the status & a small bit of the comments & posted them below today's flamingo.

The VP shunt in my brain is my lifeline, but it's not without a few cons. It is programmed to a very specific setting, to keep my intercranial pressure at a specific level. If the pressure gets above the set level, it triggers the valve and excess fluid drains through a tube that goes from my brain to my stomach. I can actually hear it sometimes, which is a weird thing to get used to...
Changes in barometric pressure somehow effect this smart device. I don't know the how & why of it, and I honestly don't care about the details. Knowing how and why wouldn't change anything.... I'll still wake up on a stormy day with a terrible headache and nausea whether I know what this thing in my head is doing or not. It just is what it is..... Gotta take the good with the bad.

I just cope with it. I carry on..... What other choice do I have?

I make jokes about it. I try to find some ounce of humor in an otherwise unpleasant situation. In fact, I find humor in just about everything. I laugh about something every day. I find that laughter is the best medicine.

When things are gloomy, always remember that the sun will shine again. And just smile and dance in the rain........

1/365 & 2/365

Day one - November 10, 2013 (posted yesterday, at http://lchristyw.blog.com/why/ ...decided I didn't want to use that site )

Day One

I used a prompt from the book 365 : A Daily Creativity Journal.
“Work with crayons. You can mold them, melt them, grate them, color with them, or……..?”.

Crayons….. didn’t everyone’s first creative experience involve crayons? I know mine did. I still remember getting a big box of crayons ~ the one with a sharpener built in ~ as a kid. I thought that was the bomb diggity!
42 years old, and I’ll still pull out some crayons and color like a kid from time to time. Yep, I have a coloring book. I think that every ‘grown up’ should have one. And ultra stuffy, serious adults should have two….. maybe more…. and color outside of the lines

Day One – I made flamingo shaped crayons. Or, I attempted to make flamingo shaped crayons….. they broke when I tried to take them out of the mold.

Did I fail?

No.  Attempting to make crayons with double vision is quite a feat, in itself (I have severe double vision from the surgery).

Am I disappointed?

Absolutely, positively not. I am amazed that I got as far as I did, and that I fulfilled my promise to my downstairs neighbor that I would not forget to turn off the oven. This is a huge accomplishment, considering the fact that I flooded her apartment when I was sick because I forgot to turn off the faucet in the bathroom. I can remember to turn off the stove. That is HUGE.

Lesson learned ~ don’t worry about the destination, just embrace the journey. That is where the lessons are…..

I think I’ll do some doodling with the pieces…… day one complete. Mission accomplished, as imperfect as the outcome may be. I jumped into my 365 project even though the idea of a blog terrified me (I am clueless about making blogs, I’m a very private person, and writing is by far not my strong point), I worked with crayons, and I didn’t burn down our building. Damn good day.

Day two - Cardboard flamingo
I was pretty tired today, so I kept it simple.....
Today I used another prompt from 365: A Daily Creative Journal
"Make something seem like it is passing through a wall or other solid material that it normally wouldn't or couldn't"