Madness Reigns

I really think the face masks add a little something to the routine, don't you?

Let's take stock of the month of October, shall we? Wednesday the 1st found me in Portland, attended the long awaited Art and Soul, or as I like to refer to it "A Gathering of The Tribe." The first couple of days are a bit of a blur, as I was sick, sick, SICK. I loaded up on heavy duty tylenol (thank you Faythe), drank grape juice fairly constantly, coughed down into my shirt, washed my hands obsessively, and did my level best to avoid contact with other people - not an easy task at an airport hotel filled with over a thousand artists from all over the globe. Yeah, well, I really did try not to infect anyone. Still, by Thursday night, I saw myself as radioactive. I seriously considered a trip to the ER that night, and ended up taking two baths in an attempt to get warm, but by Friday morning the terrible temp had broken and I felt almost human again. Almost. Enough that I actually remembered most of what was taught in my oh-so important automata class that day. I was still pretty funky by Sunday, when I boarded the train for home, and even now I am still working at getting over what I found out from my doctor after getting home was the dread Swine Flu...H1N1! The good news? I've had it, so worrying about whether or not to get the shot is off my plate.

Now here's my secret confession: I've always wanted to be Patient Zero in a plague scenario, and where better to do that than in the aforementioned crowded airport hotel! Score one and gimme that merit badge!That brings us to October 5. A week into the month. Full to bursting with renewed knowledge of my true path in life AND a map of how to get back on it, I signed up for JournalFest, another wonderful Gathering of the Tribe, but this time in my own back yard! Almost literally, as it's held at Fort Worden, and Fort Worden is two blocks from my house! How cool is THAT!? So now, before I've really fully unpacked, I'm ramping up for another set of classes with Mah Peeps.

Last night I attended a talk and demo of encaustic painting at Akamai Art Supply here in town. Very interesting, and quite possibly the process I've been looking for to use with my art dolls instead of the miserable wax dipping I've done in the past. Can hardly wait to try it out, but it will HAVE to, as I still have the following list to complete by month's end:

The Deck Project, a year-long weekly committment I haven't begun yet! Ack!
Handmade Miniature Books with Inchies This one I have well in mind, and partially begun, too. Three books are currently awaiting my find hand for stitching, etc. Lord how I love book binding!
The Mad Alchemist - an art doll that is well along in her construction, I just need to sit down with the soldering iron for a day and get her bones put together into a skeleton so I can begin constructing musculature, etc.
Photos of all of the above and more
Clean my studio from the mad press to get ready for Art and Soul, so that I can take people from JournalFest into my lair without fearing for their health.
Begin prototyping a new art doll design that incorporates automata
Finish binding an art journal that is currently sitting in multiple signature form
Create covers and design bindings for four other books that have guts but no real structure yet
Play with some of the new products and techniques learned at A&S
Get my etsy store restocked (ACK! MUST DO THIS NOW!)
Get some canvases done for the gallery's Winter Show

And I know there's more...

I need a clone, please.