Ever fall out of love with a blog?
Maybe this one, even? Argh! Shhh!
Ah, well. It happens. For me it happens when a blog gets away from why I liked it in the first place. Like maybe it was home improvement, but now it's just filler descriptions of shopping trips. It happens. We all need filler. I'm not judging. I'm just saying, too much and I fall out of love. I'm fickle.
Or maybe it's because there are never new posts. Who would stop having new posts? ;)
So, when you are out of love with your own blog, it's time to have some serious reflection.
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| What do you think? Serious reflection? I couldn't tell you what he was really doing. :) |
Well, maybe not "out of love" because I do actually still like blogging, but going back to school seriously shifted my priorities. Projects are getting so stretched out that it's not nearly as exciting. And posting takes A LOT of time. Time I don't have.
Back when I was going strong, I actually added Art Adventures as filler. My kids love doing projects, and I needed more weekly posts (back when readers were expecting a post a day or at least every other day). I had great plans to do a whole bunch of projects this summer and schedule them throughout the year, but those darn kids have had other ideas.
Pretty much they just want to paint and do play dough and clay. You all have seen that. I got tired of saying, "Let's do an art project!" And the boys would say, "Yay! Can we paint?" And I'd say, "Well, I really wanted to show you this other project." And the boys would groan. Ah, it warms a mama's heart, that groan. So, I gave up and gave them paint.
Pretty much they just want to paint and do play dough and clay. You all have seen that. I got tired of saying, "Let's do an art project!" And the boys would say, "Yay! Can we paint?" And I'd say, "Well, I really wanted to show you this other project." And the boys would groan. Ah, it warms a mama's heart, that groan. So, I gave up and gave them paint.
It's also been the summer of boring projects. Building shelves for the basement and garage. Replacing the garden path.
General home maintenance. Lots of Mateo stuff that just has to get done and is not so exciting.
General home maintenance. Lots of Mateo stuff that just has to get done and is not so exciting.
Then, as if nothing else needed to get done, I've been prepping for a solo art exhibit. I have completed 15 large paintings (probably why the boys just want paints this summer, come to think of it) and Matt has had to make all 15 frames (only affordable way to frame 15 paintings). All that ate up a bunch of time.
My dreams of awesome projects and posts slipped away...
So, I know this will disappoint some people, but I will not be doing regular Art Adventures during the school year. Both boys are in school now, and so am I, and that is a lot less time.
I have a nice archive, and I plan to feature some other projects by some great bloggers to inspire you.
I have a nice archive, and I plan to feature some other projects by some great bloggers to inspire you.
I will post projects as they get done. The kitchen is halfway there.
The living room is so close! The boys' rooms will be changing this fall. So, stuff will happen and I'll be posting. Just please forgive the sporadic nature of the blog lately. Grad students/mothers/artists are underpaid and overworked! I'm trying! :)
The living room is so close! The boys' rooms will be changing this fall. So, stuff will happen and I'll be posting. Just please forgive the sporadic nature of the blog lately. Grad students/mothers/artists are underpaid and overworked! I'm trying! :)
For quick progress up dates with sneak peek photos, follow me on facebook. I also link up new posts, so you know when I actually wrote one. For those of you that have stuck with me and supported me, I just want to say thanks.
Will you do a post or two about you solo exhibit? That sounds really cool!
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DeleteTrying this reply again with correct spelling. :) Yes, I'll post something about the show. I've been so stressed about getting everything done that I haven't taken all the portfolio pictures yet. The show goes up on Tuesday, so some time soon I'll post some pictures and probably update how that all turns out.
DeleteNot to put more pressure on you or anything, but do you have a tutorial for how Mateo makes frames? We tried to make a frame for a project but couldn't get it right... would love to know how he does it!
ReplyDeleteI thought about doing a tutorial for the frames, but have not posted one yet. A brief explanation is this: He ripped down 1x2's on his table saw so he had 1x1's. Then we went to the molding section at Lowe's and found a plain, flat lattice piece. It's about two inches wide. The lattice was used as the front of the frame and the 1x1's were the structure.
DeleteI only wanted the frame to overlap the paintings by a quarter of an inch. So Matt measured out a template with scrap wood. That way he could glue and clamp the pieces without measuring each time. So, once he had the measurements down, he glued the pieces and held them with clamps. Once dry, He used a miter box to cut the 45 degree angles. He made sure the measurement of the 1x1's fit the artwork. After he had the pieces cut, he glued them together and clamped them in place with a corner clamp set. I think it was about $10 at Lowe's. It comes with metal corners and a vinyl strap. It helps keep everything square as the glue dries.
After that, we had to sand and paint them. I used black spray paint. Michael's and other craft stores sell the little braces that you can use to be sure the painting stays in the frame. They screw into the back and have a loop for a hanging wire.
We are going to make one extra, so I'll take some pictures of the process and post that for you all.
It's not you! I enjoy your blog--whenever you do post! I have found my blog falling to the back burner recently...we have started back to school and I'm just wiped at the end of the day.:) I hear ya! Hang in there and I'm happy to read whenever you post.
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