Working makes me feel good and responsible, but not working makes me feel
amazing. This week, and probably next week, business is slow, so I'm enjoying lots of time off. The problem with time off is that it feels so entirely natural--the way I expect Heaven to feel--fantastically new and sweetly familiar. With time off, my creative side takes over. Usually, I spend a great deal of time whining about how I'm bad at choosing creativity, but at times like this I know that I only forsake creativity because I'm tired. I don't feel that my profession demands very much creative spirit, so why does it still suck me dry?
This week a few of my best loved activities have come back. Well, not writing. I'm not counting blog posts as creative expression in written form. But time off this summer has meant indulging in culinary arts and paper crafts. Want to see? Ahem.
First, Art Project 1 of 2
OK, so the picture quality isn't great, but it's a quotation from M. Robinson, my favorite. I've been trying to read through some of her non-fiction this week, but it's too hot for intellectual activity, apparently. This quotation is from
Housekeeping, which is my favorite book of hers, next to
Gilead. I painted the frame gold because it was originally supposed to gird my $3.50 print of "St. Joseph and the Infant Christ" (see previous post); it turns out that St. Joe and our Young Redeemer look really kitschy in a painted gold frame. Lucky for me, this is not true of anything penned by Marilynne Robinson (or stamped by me). Do you like my color scheme? I'm going to hang it somewhere.
Art Project: 2 of 2
I should have done this one a while ago. This is from the last 3 lines of
The Divine Comedy, translated into English of course. I added some black dots to the top left side because it seemed out of balance. I just don't know what to do with it now. I can't frame it, like the other one, and if hang it I'm afraid it won't stay flat. I had to pile books on top of it to keep the edges from curling through the entire process. Oh! I added punctuation marks, too (this is
so not the final draft). I really need to buy punctuation stamps.
Iced Lollies: 1 of 2
Green tea with lavender. Aromatic
, sweet, but not worth the thousand words.
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| Gratuitous Lavender Field |
Iced Lollies: 2 of 2
Watermelon Rosemary Popsicles
These popsicle sticks have wee blue hearts on them because I have another flavor of popsicles in the freezer (in the same mold).
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| Rosemary |
Imagine me using this to make simple syrup. This is the actual rosemary I used.
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| Lemons |
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| Watermelon |
And these, the actual lemons.
Note the swirly lines in the watermelon.
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| Everything all mixed up |
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| Avant garde iced lolly molds |
Here they are, the finished product. More pinkish now, than reddish.
My name is Ayodele, and I enjoy cutting, stirring, and pasting as an excuse for not writing. Next week, I'll write while looking at my art projects and eating popsicles. I won't have any excuses then--there won't be anything left for me to do.
