Not Back Yet...

I am so completely buried at work I'm breathing through a straw I stuck up through the top of the pile. I have so much to learn and figure out in the next few weeks - I feel like I'm back in college, and taking two semesters worth of classes at once. It's creative, interesting, and real work in a vital field, and I'm delighted to be part of it, in the middle of it, but it is using almost all of my creative energy right now, and most of my waking time, too.

So I haven't been here - in part because of the work, and in part because I moved some hardware around at home and had no connection on this PC until I bought some more gear. And I haven't painted much, either. We had a great vacation - and I'll post some photos of that in a while - but I didn't paint a stroke during that week.

Last weekend I tried and it seemed pretty far away. Then Dearest said maybe I should relax and not work on a painting in progress (they looked to me like something someone else was doing, anyway), but instead to just paint or draw anything at all. So I painted this, in an hour and half, all in one sitting. This is where watercolors thrill me - when you can swoosh things around fast and loose and get something close to the heart. I have always loved these spunky, pouting, bug-eyed little characters. I'm not one to own a dog, really (we're cat people) but if I did, a Boston terrier would be one possibility.

Watercolor - about 10 x 12 inches. Click for larger view.

Off to read a few your blogs (haven't done that in weeks, either) and then bed. Lots more work and a party (and poker) tomorrow. Enough rest is one key to this whole crazy period.