Finishing one of these projects tends to put me in a weird head space – on one hand, I am ecstatic at the finished product and feel like it is a real accomplishment. The moment of putting a piece in the frame with the mat after months of dragging it around with me in a pillowcase is really a special moment for me. However, there is also a sense of being off-balanced – what the heck do I do with my time now? For five months, I would spend my Saturday mornings in Starbucks or my lunch hours being that weirdo in the corner gluing string to a board. I have spent so many of my spare moments and thoughts concentrating on a few square inches of space, and nothing else. And I loved it! It is meditative and calming, especially in the time when the end of the project is in sight and I use every free second I can to push through to the finish line. But now, I am thrown back into reality. Don’t get me wrong, it is good that I finally got around to finishing painting the giant bookcase that has been sitting in the middle of my one bedroom apartment for a couple of weeks, and it was about time that I actually ran a load of dishes in the dishwasher.But it is unsettling to be without a project that has been constantly on my mind for five months.

There is also the anxiety of starting the next thing. I am so happy with this shell, but that puts a lot of pressure on my next piece! I will be working on the next two projects simultaneously – one to work on at home because it doesn’t travel well and a second to take around to the coffee shops and work on on my lunch break. I’m excited to get started, but it is hard to make the leap into really digging into them. I have a pattern of starting the layout of a project, getting overwhelmed, and then ignoring it for weeks. But no more! I am determined to be more disciplined and start going on the next projects soon. These take too long to drag my heals in between!. So if you see me on a Saturday and I’m sitting at Caribou NOT being the weirdo in the corner with some crazy assortment of art supplies in front of me, please poke me and tell me to get moving.

PS – Thank you for all the kind words and compliments on this. It is really fun for me to show it off, and I appreciate the support!