Manic Month

Wheel of Fortune progress

Justice progress

The Chariot progress

This past week has been manic! In fact, this entire year feels like it's been absolutely packed. I'm stunned that it's still January.

CS5 arrived last week. I uploaded it to my computer, fully ready to start the layout for an ad and the newsletter I've been assigned at my day job. I was absolutely giddy as I loaded it onto Sheffield (My laptop). Once that was finished I opened Finder so I could drop the icons onto my docking bar. I found Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash, but no InDesign. Picking up the box I scanned it for InDesign and realised the wrong CS5 have been ordered. Rather than Design Premium, I had Web Design Premium. I cursed and my manager asked what was up. I explained that the wrong version had come and it didn't have the program I needed in order to do layouts, create ads and develop informative material for the charity. Cool as anything, he said we'd just have to order it as a download from Adobe so I'd have it right away.

It wasn't a 'right away' thing but the faffing involved was minimal so by Thursday I had it successfully on my system and was able to begin the first few steps into being a graphic designer in a professional setting.

In addition to this development, my writing course began on Monday. It isn't what I'd expected from the course description but it's still beneficial in that it's getting me to spend three hours on my writing once a week. In fact, I'm finding myself thinking about writing more and more often. I am finding the return of a familiar feeling, one I've not experienced in such high doses for quite awhile. Its the feeling of tapping into another world, into the storytelling flow of my imagination. I've picked the first book I'm going to revisit and plan to use this course to fill it out and finish the required editing.

On top of that, I'm nearing the completion of the eighth book I've read in 2011. It's an absolutely brilliant book and I think every artist should read it. I use the term artist to mean anyone who creates. Whether you write, paint, draw, act, dance, or make music: The War of Art is essential reading. I cannot begin to explain how sensible, helpful and significant this book is. In everything I've done this week, from dinner at a friends to going to the Science Museum Lates, the book has not been far from my thoughts if not in my bag. This morning my partner and I went to Borough Market. On the train and over a second breakfast I kept talking with her about the concepts it was presenting to me. I only have a page left to read but I'm leaving it, as something to be enjoyed slowly. I don't doubt I'll just start reading from the start once I finish. I tend to turn certain books into 'bibles' for a time. They become an ultimate reference when their words are what I'm ready to hear. I feel very receptive to them and very positive about the energy they provide. The energy fueled my painting today. I have pushed on with all three of my final tarot cards and I'm really chuffed with what I've managed to accomplish today. My plot is to finish at least one of them in the next week. If all three could be done by the end of February that'd be smashing. Then it's just about planning a gallery showing and concentrating my energy on my writing.

...and so 2011 began, and it was good.