I arrived on Friday, just in time for the panel about different media options with R. Farran, K. Miller and R. Kelly. That was an interesting panel. I really didn’t expect to learn anything from it, since I am pretty hooked on whatever media I am currently obsessing over. But to be honest, I really want to give digital media more of a go now.

Next was “Where’s the Spaceship” with R. Farran, D. Gray, T. Harvia, and D. Anderson. That was a panel about some of the traditional sci-fi art and how much more common fantasy art has become in the art shows today. It was another panel that inspired me. It inspired me to do a cute little sketch of a space ship right there during the panel. It is always a good sign when a panel inspires me to create art.

Next was the working digitally with B. Foster, T. Harvia, K. Miller, M. White and R. Kelly. That was another panel that has gotten me curious about working digitally. Really I do need some software that I can do something with.

And the last panel I attended on Friday was about lying. And K. Hutson Price was funny and Rosemary Clement-Moore has an interesting mind. It was the best entertainment to end the first day of the con with.

Day 2 started the day off with a panel on self promotion. I am still trying to process everything, but I will say that the Musgraves (Pocket Dragons) are brilliant at this and are the main reason I am still needing to process. That is also a panel that had me doing some drawing, but not during the panel, because I was too busy taking notes.

Then there was the Art of David Lee Anderson and Early Influences of Sf and Fantasy Art. I was completely blown away by Anderson’s work. And to be honest I was wearing out by the time the Influences panel came along. There really is only so much the brain can absorb in just a few days. But I do remember going to the 2 hour long showing of Kurt Miller’s work. I so wish my eldest could have been there for that, but he was volunteering his time to the con at that point.

And I ended that day at the Art Auction, which is really the highlight of the cons for me. I am sad to say that I didn’t win the Cthulhu spoon jar, but I was happy to see so much art going for some nice prices.

After the art auction I hung out in the con suite and waited for my boy to finish gaming. I got to have a fun conversation about politics as well as meat pies. I need to find that recipe and email it out.

Sunday the only things I can remember going to was a panel on fanzines and a cake decorating workshop.
The fanzine panel was interesting and I learned a lot about the early days of the fanzine. But what I was really interested in was how to get my hands on some current fanzines so I can find out what they are about first hand. Warren Buff did give me a copy of The Southern Fandom Confederation Bulletin, which I am looking forward to finally having a moment to sit down and read. It has nifty art on the cover, so I am sure it is brilliant.

And speaking of reading material, it wouldn’t be a good con without the purchase of some nifty things to read. I picked up Issue #2 of Abandoned Towers. I think I met the lady who writes the recipes for the magazine at the Discworld convention a couple weeks ago. I also purchased Candy Haven’s Like A Charm, which she signed for me. And I made my traditional stop by the Yard Dog Press table and picked up a few stories. I got Jaguar Moon, House of Doors and another book with 2 stories that I can’t tell you what they were, because J confiscated it as soon as I got home with it on Saturday night. Something about Gods is one of the stories.

I am looking forward to a break so I can enjoy my new books, magazine and fanzine. I promise to tell you all about it as I finish reading them. I will say the cover for House of Doors looks cool.

Like everyone I have had to tighten my belt and work within a much smaller budget. But it isn’t just money that needs to be managed, it is time. I think time is much more scarce than money these days.

Trying to get away to have some me time seems so much harder than I had expected it to be right now. J is done with his MBA program, but instead of being home more, he is home less. Seems he has a lot of overtime to put in to make up for things while he got his MBA. And now C is in college and has this weird schedule so that he doesn’t get home until after 7pm each night. So that rules him out as a baby sitter for K.

I think at this point trying to find some me time is harder than it has ever been. Right after K was born, I still got to get away once a week for belly dance classes. Right now it just seems like I am doing more and more on my own. K needs more attention with getting homework done, as she is at that stage of just not wanting to do it and thinks she can bargain her way out of studying her spelling words. And the last 2 years I had really come to rely on C a great deal with helping with housework and K and her homework when I was at my wit’s end.

I really miss the days pre-MBA when J would come home and help me put the finishing touches on dinner so we could eat at a reasonable time and then would encourage me to go to the dollar theater once a week so that I could have that me time without thinking I should be doing something useful like dishes. Or when C got home in time that I could ask him to pick up K from school so that I could go to the museum and not worry about being home just 2 hours after it opened.

And then on top of loosing my help around my home over the last two years, demands on me outside the home have picked up. My mom has been sick and needed me around more since early April. And with the economy the way it is, I am having to consider a job outside the home and beyond my art. Or try and save more money somehow. But then all the money saving measures I know take up time from the day…. I am just not sure how to fit those into my life as it is.

I think I can handle everything that is asked of me as a mom, wife, homemaker and self employed artist, and possibly in the near future. But I really think that I could handle it so much better, and maintain my sanity if I just had 3 hours a week with no responsibilities. No homework to help with, no glasses to buy, no dinner to cook, no lunches to pack, no shopping to be done, no kids to pick up. Not a lifetime, not a year, not a week, or even a full day, just 3 hours. 3 hours that I could take a nap, walk the dog, go see a dollar movie, go have coffee at some over priced cafe, or take a dance class.

How do other people manage their time? Or maybe normal people don’t get 20 calls a day from their mothers, have children that think homework is optional, or have partners that are actually home in the evenings.

Maybe one day next week I could go feed the ducks at the local park instead of doing laundry. They can live with me not doing laundry for a day right?

First I need a charity organization, perferably a pet adoption group that promotes spaying and neutering. There is one that I have donated to in the past, but it doesn’t look like my regular contact is still working there, and if she is, she isn’t listed on the web site. The charity organization needs to be willing to auction off 100 original works of art. I might even be willing to see about getting some sort of poster made that includes all the images on one big image to sell as a fund raiser as well.

Then I need Sponsors to be willing to buy canvas. I am not going to be making any money off this project. Actually I am going to be spending money promoting it, and on supplies. I have some canvas already on hand that I can put towards it. I will of course be using my own paint and papers for the project as well. But I need about $350 to get the rest of the canvas for the project. The canvas can be bought in boxes of 6, and I need 15 boxes. Jenn’s idea was to find 15 sponsors and have them listed on the back of the canvases that they sponsored. Today’s sale price for suce a box is $21.99. To cover the cut that paypal would take if, I took the sponsorship money via paypal, I would probably have to say $23 for a box.

Then I need a venue. All the paintings will need to exhibited in the same room in a public place, maybe even the same wall if possible. I have an idea for the perfect venue, but they are not accepting submissions for shows until next January or Febuary. Granted that would give me plenty of time to put together a show and have it ready to go for whenever they would be willing to let me go.

Now the nitty gritty of why.

The show would be 99 Cats and a Bird. It is designed to be exhibited in a grid formation, either covering a wall or wrapping around a room, depending on how small the room is. All canvas will be square shaped and be hung with a 4″ border between them.

This arrangement would serve two purposes. The first and most obvious is to give it the feeling of a patchwork quilt. Traditional folk art/quilts/cats/cutsey/old woman and her cats /women being catty ect… All those traditional associations of women, cats and “women’s arts” sorts of things

The second is the overwhelming number of cats and the one lone bird a commentary on the importance of spaying and neutering your cats.

But I took some pictures the last time I was down there, I thought you all should see how wonderful the place looks.