an artist's life in balance: July 2004 Archives
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July 29, 2004
he is learning to drive
I guess when we andersons do something it can’t be small. Today I watched our son drive for the first time. Backing out of our neighbor's driveway (cuz that is where the instructor parked) I spied from behind our screen door my heart pounding. I guess this is just as much a moment for a parent as it is for a kid. There was a big construction crew across the street working on our sewer tap. And to my delight and probably Daniel’s chagrin, the forman (after whistling at me) started yelling for his team to make way, shouting, “He is learning how to drive!� Bad enough that the car has the company logo of “Arrive Alive� plastered all over it. The kind construction crew orchestrated the traffic while Daniel navigated his first few feet behind the wheel. Inching his way out I said a prayer. I thought that the name of the driving school was stupid. Now I am not so sure. Being the habitual nail biter that I am, I don’t think I have enough nails for this event even if I resorted to my toes. We are too young for this.
Posted by blairanderson at 02:28 PM | Comments (2)
anderson water ride
Water, and more water. One more thing to love about Maryland. Night before last we got home from picking up Daniel from driver’s training(that deserves a whole blog of its own) and found water gushing into our house. Of course it had been pouring rain. Having no garage meant running from the car, in a deluge, through our muddy unlandscaped yard, into the house. The three of us were soaked. Laughing and in good spirits, it was no big deal. Clothes can dry. But then we saw the water coming in. Outside it was raining so hard that the excess water had no place to go but in our house.
My downstairs studio was the first to flood.
Because we are such a high tech family the risk of electrocution from various electronic devices was great. My husband sprung into action by unplugging everything. My new G5 computer made a narrow escape, but the new cherry stained solid poplar baseboards that I had installed just days before were under water...
Grabbing every towel in the house we tried to soak up the threat, but there was just too much. I grabbed my wastebasket, the only “bucket-like� thing in my studio, and dumped out its contents in a dry corner to use it as a catchall. Two blinks and Daniel and I began taking the soaked towels and together, him at one end of the towel and me at the other, twisted the water out of the towel and into the basket. Towel after towel we did this. Once one towel was wrung we would replace it. And so it went.
Meanwhile, Bryan was checking for water in the rest of the house. While Daniel and I tried to keep ahead of what was flooding the studio, Bryan was outside putting up a barricade to refocus the stream away from our front door. Once inside he discovered that the living room was flooding. More towels. Daniel went upstairs to assist him in moving furniture. We also had some drywall and lumber stacked in there for this weekend’s remodeling project. More solid poplar. So the boys got the wood propped up away from the water. The drywall had to stay put. We worked for what seemed forever but what was probably about fifteen minutes.
Today things seem dry. My baseboards survived. The casualties were curtains in the living room and the hardwood floor. It is still damp, having wicked the water. It was the first project in this house when we moved in two years ago. It’s restoration may be lost entirely, so I keep inspecting it hoping it will dry out.
Oh well, it’s just a floor.
I guess this means my attitude is improving when I don’t feel like the world is going to end with a little flooding. The worst of it may be a ruined floor. The best of it is a memory of Bryan, Daniel, and I in a frenzy, sometimes laughing, adrenaline pumping, working together to solve a problem. You can’t manufacture that kind of family memory and you’d pay money for that kind of experience in a theme park. Complete with water ride.
Today the sun is shining.
Posted by blairanderson at 09:26 AM | Comments (3)
July 22, 2004
today its babies
It has been a privilege to photograph the newborns of friends lately. Today I work on the "art" incorporating these photos taken of Alyssa E, and Soren H. in a new series. There is something so wonderful, peaceful, and full of possibility about the face of a baby. Words just don't do it.
Posted by blairanderson at 11:23 AM
July 20, 2004
time presses down
Number six in the journey series is about time. I have always been a slave to it and so it is only fitting that it found a place in a body of work that reflects transitioning. This image is in part thanks to a friend John David, and the most eclectic and unusual collection of "decor" that he seasonally rotates in his home. I managed to "steal" ever item with my camera while we were at his house for dinner. I frantically snapped pictures of some of his stuff while he finished making dinner for Bryan, Daniel and I. The "stuff" is landing in my digital collages. In this piece the clock and the stairs came from his home. Thanks John David!
Posted by blairanderson at 08:40 AM
July 19, 2004
whining again
It was a week with ups and downs. I had forsaken the blog and so I am skeptical that it may just be a phase for me to vent the current status of my life, and Bryan's and Daniels. I hate the fact that I seem to be in a season of whining. But, it is what it is and as much as I want to fast forward onto the next thing, there is not remote for that. We are still transitioning. The adjustment from fulltime ministry is still happening. Even though I want everything to just move on, and try to will it so, it doesn't help. A day will be going along just fine and then pow, I am hit with the irrational discouraging thoughts. What comes to mind is a spinning top that is in perfect spinning motion and is interupted by some rude person that flicks it out of balance. It wobbles and falls. I have been falling alot lately. And it has been tough to discern when it is the transitional stuff and just my normal mood stuff that happens after finishing art. That has always had a predictable ebb and flow. Like being tired after running a race, I have the letdown after every creative sprint.
But the transitioning of a new way of life is new territory. We are seeking things to give us positive family memories. Experiences and friendships that will help to anchor us to this place called Maryland. There have been moments where it seemed that the best thing was to move...
It has been tough to see how God intended us to come to Maryland for one purpose, only to have that purpose change in such a short period of time. He has his reasons, and we try to see what they are in each moment. Surrender has been hard. I guess because our expectation had somehow taken over our willingness to serve. Or maybe what we thought serving looked like has changed.
Ultimately I think it is all healthy. I just don't like the saddness when it blindsides me. And the world is so much bigger, and there are those with so much greater troubles than my little issues. Ah well, each day needs to be its own. I shouldn't force it. The new things will become familiar soon enough.
Posted by blairanderson at 09:57 AM
July 12, 2004
nothing so profound
It's monday. I am not very fond of mondays but here I sit ready to go, work awaits both creative and otherwise. One often consumed by the other. Friday I was all creative, absorbed in the flow of it. Good work comes from those moments and I was truly satisfied. Today there is business. Less time for creative and so it will be swallowed by the other. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.
Posted by blairanderson at 10:54 AM
July 11, 2004
many directions
this was one of the many images i created on friday. i was in the zone. what a buzz. some subconscience stuff regarding opportunities, direction, future. many things my mind won't acknowledge that ultimately comes out in my art. god still directs my path.
Posted by blairanderson at 12:00 PM | Comments (3)
July 07, 2004
Posted by blairanderson at 05:29 PM | Comments (4)