Scribble Art

 For the past couple of years, I have taken part in Self Portrait Sunday. It is a group on Facebook where the only rules are to only draw yourself from a mirror or another reflective surface (no photos allowed) and you can only post on Sunday. Beyond that, any method or medium is fair game.

Recently I followed a 30-minute demonstration by Dena Marshall on Etcher about how to draw a dog using a scribbling method. My results turned out better than I expected so I tried another of one of a friend's dogs. I admit I did revert to hatching partway through both drawings because neither of those dogs had curly hair and I didn't want them to look like they did. I decided to try again with my self-portrait this week. I may need a bit more practice with this technique but I find it fun and rather freeing. I like to work with a pen, and if you are scribbling you don't need to worry so much about putting a line in the wrong place because you can just scribble over it anyway. There is a 90-minute workshop on Etchr later this week that I might just have to look into.

 

This is the dog I learned how to draw in 30 minutes.

And these are the drawings I have done on my own since.

Off to a Good Start

Most of the time when I pick a project or challenge to follow, something else I would maybe have preferred comes along and I let it go because I am already involved in something. At this time of year, there is certainly no shortage of such offerings as they know people want something that will give them the needed push in the direction they want to go.  I didn't choose one this year. I signed up for several as they came along. In fact, I picked up another one this week.

So, how am I doing?  Ha.  Obviously, I'm not committed to any one project but I have managed to do something each day toward two different kinds of challenges.

My first project for 2022 was to create 12 bookmarks to exchange with 12 other artists (yes, I am going to start calling myself that now) across North America.   I have done greeting card exchanges in the past and traded ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) this past year so I couldn't resist getting in on this.  I used four stamps I carved myself to create my bookmarks and sent the results off to one address where they will be redistributed along with other submissions to the various participants. There is only one other Canadian taking part. I can hardly wait to get my package, not that I need more bookmarks, but because I love to get art in the mail. It's a great way to make new friends.

There was a 5-day challenge to draw flowers.  I did a quick sketch in my junk journal on day one but the photos of the flowers presented during this particular week didn't inspire me at all.  I may look back on that some other day this month when I am even less interested in what is being offered elsewhere.   We'll see.  The idea, for me, is just to do something artistic each day.  The bookmarks kept me busy.

Besides the quick flower sketch I did on day one, I was also prompted to draw some of my pens for a month-long challenge. Each day since then it has come up with other simple things like cups, nuts or feathers. I didn't get inspired to do much with those and I was much too busy doing the other type of project I'll tell you about in a moment.

I did get inspired by something I saw on Facebook though. I follow this interesting creativity coach who lives near Paris, France. He is about to put on a 5 Day Creative Challenge and he has been doing the occasional video lately to stir up our creativity and get people interested in the challenge. (Yes, that's the one I picked up this week). In a recent video, he was telling about learning to draw using the blind contour method and mentioned his results looked like monsters. While he was talking about it, he rather looked like a monster himself, since he was shining a light up toward his face. I instantly wanted to see if I could draw him like that.  The lighting was so dramatic that I thought it would be fun to try. I dug out my acrylic inks and it turned out better than I expected. Normally I only draw self-portraits. I may have to try a few more people!

Two other challenges I'm working on have more to do with decluttering. I usually do one every year to kick start my spring cleaning.  It aims me at places I've forgotten to clean or only do once a year. This year there is a shorter new one as well, that is interesting in that it gets you to declutter just your own stuff, and not worry about the messes others in the house might be making. Between the two of them, so far this week I have cleaned out a drawer, decluttered all my cups or other drinking vessels (how many do you really need?), cleaned up and decluttered my night table and other bedroom surfaces where my own stuff might be, and did the same in the bathroom. Getting rid of old makeup, or good things I don't use is not as easy as it might sound! I also went through all the food cupboards and storage and got rid of anything that had gone past its expiry date. 

I have had a productive week even if I didn't do something for each and every challenge every day. I even got this blog posted so I think this year is off to a good start.

Getting On With Blogging

I've had just about two years of not writing much in here. I intend to change that. The pandemic is still raging and I will try to not mention that any more often than I have to. I may have been cooped up and kept away from friends and family during those two years, and even immobilized by a health problem since about mid-June, but I have still found things to do and I'm feeling better so I'm going back to telling you about what I'm up to in the new year.

At the beginning of each year, I am usually signed up for several projects. These are not necessarily tied to any New Year's Resolutions but may be kick-starters, just the same. I have a couple of decluttering challenges to follow and a few art-related projects, workshops, and/or courses lined up. It's all likely more than I can handle all at the beginning of the year, but it gives me things to choose from each day so that I do more than sit around eating leftover baked goods that I would normally be sharing with friends well into the year.

The first thing I will tackle is making 12 hopefully artistic bookmarks that will be mailed off no later than mid-January.  I will then happily await the arrival of 12 new ones from other artists scattered across the continent. I've done card exchanges before, and swapped Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) but I have never done bookmarks before.  I have no idea if I will make them all similar or extremely different from each other. I do have some new art supplies from ArtSnacks so maybe I'll start with them and see where it takes me.

I hope you will stick around to see what I'm up to in the new year. 

Caught in the Crossfire

 I posted several notices on Facebook asking you to sign in support of the optometrist's job action. 

 After three decades of being underpaid by the government, the optometrists felt it was time to take a stand. Over the past thirty years, the increase in the payment they receive has only gone up by a total of $5 while the number of seniors needing their services has increased by 70 percent. The average cost for an optometrist to see a patient is $80 and they are getting less than $50 of that from the government for seniors and children. To see all those patients who are covered by OHIP every year at such a loss is just not sustainable. They want that gap filled, and who can blame them. Right now that money is coming out of their own pockets

When I posted those requests to sign in support of the optometrists, I thought that if I did need to go see one I would just have to pay like all the other adults who have not become seniors yet. Well, it turns out that the government has made it illegal for those who are eligible for OHIP services to pay out of pocket for an eye exam.  That means that if we need to see our eye doctor, we simply cannot. As of the beginning of September, the optometrists taking part in this job action are not allowed to see us.  That means that all those patients that use over four million services on an annual basis no longer have access to optometry services. 

I recently had cataract surgery and needed new glasses to read with afterward. I got them but I find that they don't work well for me. I took them back to where I got them and the prescription was checked and was correct. I was told to go back to my eye doctor.  I did that yesterday. Or tried to.  A technician there also checked my glasses against the prescription and once again no problem was found.  I explained that when I try to read I keep finding myself closing one eye. She tried to get the optometrist to see me, and was told the doctor was not allowed because I was covered by OHIP.  While I totally support her position, I find myself caught in the crossfire. I have read a few stories in the news of others with even worse problems so the sooner this job action is settled, the better.  

I have been put on a list......a very long list, I'm told.....to be called when an appointment can legally be made.  But just think of how many people who would normally have regular appointments, let alone ones for problems, will be on this ever-growing list. It's bad enough things have slowed down due to the pandemic, but this is going to create a real bottleneck once the offices are open once again to seniors. 

Please contact your MPP and help get this problem solved.  Even if you are not personally affected, I'm sure there is someone in your life who will be. Here's the link you need.  Home - Save Eye Care

Thank you.

The Day I Became "The Karen"

My name is Karen, but really, it's not pronounced the way you are reading it. This is a good thing lately because people are making rather derogatory remarks about Karens.

I recently had my cataracts done, both on the same day. Two days before the surgery I was to start taking two of the three kinds of drops I needed to keep my eyes healthy and heal well after this procedure. The antibiotics drops were fine but another one meant to reduce inflamation made my face itch, my nose bleed, and gave me diarrhea. Worse than that, it made me dizzy. That didn't go away even when I tried to lie down.

I was actually afraid to take any more of the drop that was causing the problem so first thing in the morning I called the ophthalmologist's office. As expected, I just got an answering machine. This was very worrisome since I had left a question several days before and had still not gotten an answer and my surgery was to be the very next day. My hubby decided to go talk to the pharmacist. They are very helpful at our local drug store and offered to try faxing the ophthalmologist's office as that might get through sooner. The pharmacist also said that of the three drops I would be taking, the one that was causing the problem was the least important.  

Meanwhile, the hospital phoned with the time for me to show up for my surgery and I explained the problem to them too. The lady said she would also try to reach the doctor but that she would be calling the same line as me so suggested I just keep trying.  

I don't know which message the office eventually got but someone finally phoned and told me it was okay to discontinue that particular drop and repeated what the pharmacist said. It was the least important of them all. That was a relief!

The day after the surgery I had to go for a follow-up appointment at the ophthalmologist's office.  I presented my health card, and the receptionist looked at it and said, "Oh, The Karen!"  I told her I was sorry if I was coming at her from all directions but timing was of the essence and not knowing what to do was the most nerve-wracking thing about this surgery. 

I have never been so glad that my dad named me after a Norwegian lady he knew.  I will definitely be correcting people's pronunciation of my name until all this blows over.

I'm Rusting Away!

In the past few weeks, I've basically been told I'm getting old three times by three different doctors. 

First I saw a dermatologist about a spot on my face and while I was there I showed her some other spots that have arrived in recent years. She reassured me that they were just something that came with age.  I'm not sure that made me feel any better but at least I knew the blemishes were nothing to worry about.

Then I called my eye doctor for my annual check-up and when I was told they were currently booking appointments in July I mentioned a problem that had just come up a couple of weeks ago and asked if it might be related to my cataracts. I have an appointment with the eye specialist about those before July. The receptionist kindly said she would pull my file and consult the doctor who phoned me back a little while later to ask more questions. She said it may be related to cataracts or it might just be a thing that happens to older people. If she gets an opening sooner than July she will have me come in so she can evaluate the situation.

Then today I had a little phone consultation with my general practitioner. I have been having trouble with a shoulder for a while now and it was long past time for it to heal on its own. He listened to me explain the problem, asked a few more questions, and then told me he thought it was one of two things, but the underlying theme seemed to be degeneration due to age.  At least he didn't come right out and tell me I was just getting old and to get used to it.  He prescribed pills to try to help me sleep through the night and if that doesn't work, I can go for physiotherapy. In the meantime, now that I've heard what the conditions may be I can look them up online and find the exercises there.  At least I'm not too old to do that!

A New Ketchup Label for Heinz

 The Heinz company anonymously asked people worldwide to draw ketchup. What most people drew was a bottle of Heinz ketchup. Then Kraft Heinz Canada decided to make a contest out of it with everyone openly knowing that Heinz was the sponsor. They promised to supply a bottle of ketchup to the winners with a personalized label made from their own drawing. This sounded like fun to me.

The instructions were not detailed in any way. They just said to draw ketchup and told us how to post the results.  Well, I had a ketchup bottle in the fridge and had drawn a hamburger for Inktober, so I decided to add a little ketchup to the burger and redraw it beside my bottle. Unfortunately, I started with the burger and ran out of room at the top of the page so my bottle got a little squished. I sent it in anyway.

My little painting was quite popular on my social media channels. Apparently, Heinz liked it too as I became one of the 250 lucky people to be honoured with a bottle of ketchup bearing my own personally drawn label. 

 At first, I thought they had sent me the wrong bottle as they had removed the burger from my painting. They just needed the label I drew to put on my bottle. Then I recognized my screwy lettering and knew it was mine after all.  Removing the burger also meant that the measurement of the bottle contents disappeared because only part of it was visible. Or maybe they would have removed it anyway as the bottle I drew contained much more than the bottle they sent me.

My bottle arrived this week in its own special Draw Ketchup box with my name and town printed right under the bottle in the box. This is a keepsake for sure. The question remains, do I use the ketchup and just save the bottle, or do I keep the whole thing intact?  What would you do?