Real Talk...Hello! Goodbye!

I've lived my life online since 1995. Sometimes every waking minute. Sometimes with giant stretches of downtime. Perhaps you've noticed I haven't been around much...here...Instagram...Facebook. And always it seems, my newsletter.

I've been living through two catastrophic events recently...my 24/7 by-my-side pup of 14 years getting a debilitating disease that continues to this day. And my husband getting seriously ill. Hopefully, we are on the other side of Tom's sickness. We are still contending with Stella and what that means for our...her...future.

The point of all this is trying to keep up with an online presence became overwhelming in an already stressful existence. As we move from Crisis Mode to Ongoing Uncertainty Mode, I've realized...and this is a big one folks...I'm no longer invested in putting my life out here. And to be perfectly frank, I'm not even  interested in sharing my art life either...though that may change. 

So what does this mean for you?

1. Over the next month or as I'm able, this website will become a static repository for artwork. Or something. Regardless, there won't be any more Friday Musings or attempts to resurrect my failed newsletter attempts.
2. My Facebook Artist page will go away. And maybe even my personal page because Facebook sucks giant monkey balls.
3. I'll continue with Instagram but it will be on a  much reduced time frame. More "when I feel like it" than every day.

I've made some amazing friends out here and rest assured I will continue to reach out and enjoy your virtual company.

Thank you for taking the time in your busy lives to read and chat over the years. I've loved it all immensely!

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Exhausted and overwhelmed

It's been two weeks since our return from England. And maybe the hardest two weeks of my life. Certainly up there. In some ways it feels really dumb...ignorant...to be talking about this but y'know reality doesn't always give us global perspective. More often it buries us under the mundane and ineffectual. Lest this comes across as vaguebooking on an epic level, if you aren't an instagram follower, I'm talking about Stella. Stella is my dog, a Jack Russell Terrier who has spent every moment of her life right beside me. Almost. And perhaps the most intense relationship I've ever had. Am I making excuses? Maybe. Probably. Doesn't really matter. It is what it is. 

Anyway. We literally hadn't been apart for 4 years. Oh. Okay an hour or two here and there but never overnight. Never two days in a row. So to say she was stressed from our 10 day UK trip is not overstating it. I came back to her in full allergy flare and exhibiting all those anxious traits...ear thwapping, paw licking, butt scratching. Couple that with two horrendous thunderstorms (a stressor in their own right) nearly back to back, well she ended up with Canine Vestibular Disease. Again. If you haven't heard of it, I hope you never have to experience it. It sucks. Big time. Think vertigo for dogs...no balance, lurching from place to place whilst not comprehending what's going on. Bad for them. Worse for their people I think. 

Talk about feeling helpless.  And exhausted. And overwhelmed.

We've gotten some meds which I hope will help. But it's a long game. A month or more for them to fully kick in. Meanwhile the thunderstorms continue (we got meds for that too) and we live one day at a time. One hour at a time. She's slept through my typing this. YAY! She hasn't tried to annihilate her paws. WooHoo! 

Small victories. I'll take them.

Also. Our trip to the UK to watch our daughter get married? Still worth it. 

Click to see more photos!

PS I hope to get back in the studio in the days to come.

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