The Blank Blog

It seems that topics to write about occur to me all day long - good, thought provoking topics that make me want to sit down and expound on them right then. But, I have other work to do so the writing gets pushed off til later.

Well, it's later and here I sit - blank as a white wall - again. I could say I'm just tired. I mean, it was a long, busy day. I spent about 4 hours tweaking the final brochure layout for a Phoenix client and finally got it submitted to a new online printer I've found. Their prices are better than my old printer and the product is just as good. The proofing process was a little frustrating but I'm hoping it goes smoother next time. Then I went over a huge mailing list checking it for errors until I was nearly cross-eyed, answered emails and phone calls about Mike's stuff and spent about 30 minutes chatting with a sales rep from OnLetterhead.com about their services.

So maybe I'm not all that tired. Its just that my head is too full of the nitty gritty graphic-admin-secretary-shipping department stuff to write anything remotely interesting. Or maybe its that article I read tonight in MORE magazine by Molly O'Neill. I'm feeling intimidated because the article was awesome. Molly's a food writer and though I've never read anything by her before, this article was touching, funny and eloquent. I may read it again. I mean . . . really! I should have plenty of topics to choose from. We had our Open Studio/Housewarming party on Saturday and it went very well.

Several area artists rsvp'ed that they were attending but none of them actually showed up. Too bad. We were looking forward to meeting some kindred spirits. Our friends from Austin, one from Burnet and several other local friends and neighbors did show up and we had a grand time. What a diverse group they all are! I've not seen that much food in my kitchen in years

Now that the party is over, Mike and I are kicking into overdrive. We have one month exactly until we leave for the Cowboy Christmas Show in Vegas. We have a recipe calendar to finish, several new images to print, posters to frame and inventory to order. Plus we both have other obligations to other entities that must be done in the next couple of weeks.

So, why can't I write about that? The incredible pressure to get it all done - while looking as if it's perfectly natural to keep so many balls in the air. *yawn** I suppose everyone has down days - artists have days when they can't create, writers have days when they can't write. I wonder if plumbers have days when they can't face another toilet. **yawn** I better quit while I'm ahead.

Life as we know it...

It's been a hectic week around here. I can't remember when Mike has done so many paintings - one right after the other! A couple were paintings Leanin' Tree asked for but all the rest were just inspirations he had and they're all terrific!

While he was on a roll, I asked him to make me a tiny painting of our new house that I could use on the Open House invitations. It turned out better than I hoped for.

I've spent the better part of three days working on note card designs for Healing Reigns and finishing a story assignment for Living Cowboy Ethics, a new magazine being published by the Paragon Foundation. The story deadline was today so I've been getting by on very little sleep. Writing in the middle of the night is always better than trying to do it during the day. There are too many distractions - like the carpet layers who turned absolutely everything upside down yesterday! I worked at the laptop in Mike's studio but it just wasn't the same.

The weekend will be dedicated to finishing our taxes - argh! It's a chore I loathe so much it makes my stomach ache. Once they're done and mailed, I'll be a much happier person!

This has been one of those ordinary, back to the grindstone working weeks. It's been grueling but productive but I'm definitely ready for a Saturday break!

Ranching, writing and painting the town

I'll be traveling to New Mexico next week to take photos and interview the Steele family on their working cattle ranch just outside Fort Sumner. It's fall work time at the ranch and everyone pitches in to help with moving and shipping the cattle.

The ranch has been run by the same family for several generations and they're doing a great job of it. The interview is for a story I'm working on for the winter issue of Range Magazine, (http://www.rangemagazine.com/ -You can visit their site to see what they're all about.)

There aren't that many big, functioning family ranches left these days so getting to be a fly on the fence post during this fast paced annual event will be priceless for me.

Speaking of writing assignments, I got a call from the associate publisher of one of the major western magazines last week. He's recently taken on the editorship of a new publication for the Paragon Foundation, also out of New Mexico, and asked me to take on one of their regular features. How cool is that?

Mike finished a long overdue painting this week for our framer friend in Snyder. It's a painting of Danny's favorite cow, the Queen Bee. She's half Brahma and half something else - I can't remember what - and Danny has wanted a painting of her for years. It turned out really nice - for a painting of a cow standing next to a pond in a west Texas pasture.

The next painting Mike has going is one he's doing because he wants to. He has a couple to do for Leanin' Tree but he's still waiting for the go ahead on the sketches. In the meantime he's working on a darling painting of Bea Dunbar, an longtime family friend. Bea is in her 80's and has the most infectious laugh in the world. She lives in Clinton, Mississippi and is still as fiesty and funny as ever. She spent a week with us a couple of years ago and we took a slew of photos of her having a glass of wine on the porch. I think she's going to like the painting a lot.

Seems like suddenly we both have a ton on our plates! But then it's that time of year again. I'm working on a new calendar for Healing Reigns (http://www.healingreigns.com/) and will start on our calendar in the next day or so. We have an Open Studio and a house warming party planned for October 20th that we're really looking forward to but the invitations have to get out this week.

Mike is doing a special historical painting of downtown Bastrop to be printed into holiday cards to benefit the local Crisis Center and I've volunteered to help with their annual gala, the Festival of Trees. That event is in mid November, just about the time we have to wrap up all the doings for the Vegas show before it opens on December 6th. There's inventory to put together, posters to print, and all kinds of last minute details to cover regarding the booth.

Christi and Tina, our daughter and her partner in Austin, are ramping up their services as their business, the Lavaca Street Deli, in downtown. Since they're on a budget, Mike is helping with their remodeling project and I'm doing their holiday marketing collateral (probably at midnight!).

Kevin is thinking about moving back home for a spell while he switches from young-man-with-no-purpose to young-man-with-one. He's 25 and it's time. One thing is for sure. He can never look back and say he didn't have a chance to live wild and free after high school - because he did it and did it well. Now, it's time to get down to reality of life. It's either back to college or stepping up his profession from waiter/bartender to something with a more solid future.

As usual, fall is out of the gate at full speed and we're running to catch up. It can be overwhelming at times but we love it. Our butts may be dragging but we're draggin' them double time.