What am I DOING!

I'm hearing fireworks -- even out here in the woods. It's supposed to get up to about 100 degrees today, so I didn't go to the parade. Anyway, I have WAY too much to do. I just sat down to do an inventory of my ongoing projects and discovered that I have

• a workshop to develop from the ground up (although I've begun the planning)
• two workshops to give within the next two months
• 23 full page illustrations to design and execute and 125 spot illustrations to rework (from bitmap to halftone) before the end of the year for The Southern Swamp Explorer.

Yikes! That's about one full-page illustration and 5 spot illustrations per week. I have started doing the spot illustrations on my laptop in the evenings while I "watch" TV. Actually there isn't much watching going on, just listening and an occasional glance up to the screen. It helps that most of the stuff is reruns so I can run pre-stored visuals of the storyline through in my head as I listen and illustrate.

Here's one of the big illustrations I finished a couple of weeks ago. I've done two since then, but I don't have them in jpg form so this will have to do. It's a mink in a bog, with pitcher plants and white-topped sedge and sphagnum moss (click to enlarge). I posted it to Flikr.com, where you can upload your stuff to share, then revised its front paw after a viewer suggested it needed improvement. She was right! See for yourself!

So my days are exceedingly busy, with filling orders and illustrating and keeping up with the business matters of running a business (Nature Works Press) (and sometimes blogging, like now), then quitting that at about 5 (when I'm pure stiff from sitting in front of the computer) and going down to Plant Oregon Nursery where I weed, prune, and do trouble-shooting "runabouts" on the golfcart until dark -- about 3-4 hours, then I come home and illustrate in front of the TV. I usually don't make it to bed until around 11. (I'm not whining, honest! I am just floored that I have so much to do!)

Now, tomorrow, I'm hoping to post my Journaling Workshop class plan, and see if anyone wants to poke holes in it or make suggestions. I'm hoping for some real feedback, so if you want to take part, feel free!

Remember last week I took a journaling class to get a feel for what should be in one? Well, Elaine Frenett just sent me a photo of the painting she was doing for that journaling class. She noted that the painting wasn't quite finished but that the text was, and that she hoped to finish it later after her show this Friday and send me the results. Here 'tis. Click on it for a closer view.

Elaine's show will be one of the highlights of Ashland's July "First Friday" tours -- on the first Friday of every month Ashland galleries and other participating entities throw open their doors to the public from 5 to 8pm. People walk from gallery to gallery, and it's a delightful sort of community experience. Elaine's show will be in the Headwaters building at 4th and C Streets.

At any rate, here's the painting, and you can see how the text enfolds it comfortably.

Gotta go.