Middle-a.... — One Red Chair Studio

Here we are in the middle of January. Elsewhere January is showing its stuff, even in the south, it appears. Dry in California, snow in the east, frigid in a whole lotta places. Here in the NW, it’s turning “cold” - if cold is 30s and a few 20s - and I suppose it is. But I have known Januarys a whole lot colder, so I’ll take this cold spell we’re supposed to get. Otherwise, walks in the 40s under grey skies ain’t too bad.

But oh, January is a hard month. Put the pretty stuff away, go on a diet, figure out what the year is going to do for you.

But there IS Valentines to look forward to. And a 3-day weekend or two. (Admittedly, 3-day weekends do not hold the same delight that they did while a working slave.)

As for me, this particularly Inauguration Day, there will be no TV or social media. It’s my boycott. I will read and/or make art. I find myself irritable about the annoyances of the day, but I think perhaps it is the pit in my stomach with huge worries about my country.

For awhile, I’m drawing something every day. I created rules for each day, one of which is to include some paper from my stash or other mixed media piece, and, to try to use my dozens of rubberstamp alphabets that sit in my drawer unused. Then, at the end of the year, I’m giving them away in my major 2025 effort to downsize and declutter.

Two tens, but no eight, you say? Well, the 8th was a dramatic 24-hour flu day. And trying to rid the duplicate is a bigger job than it should be. We’ll just live with it, yes?

Here are a some artful things that have caught my fancy.

This Facebook thing took an amazing amount of time and effort to pull off. I especially love the Klimt.

Amazing sculptures. On X, but still worth the look. Trust me!

I like this artist. Her sketchbooks are lovely. She walks us through one of her travel sketchbooks here.

As is my habit, I’m reading several books at a time right now. But this one has caught my attention enough that I’ve put the others down for awhile. Lots of wit and charm in this story.

That’s all for now. I will continue to draw and carve and hope for the best. We’re in a tricky situation here: wanting to remove ourselves from the upcoming chaos but really needing to pay attention before it all slips away.