More than a pretty picture

"Beyond Black & White V" ACEO
Copyright Rita Woodburne

So my back is getting better by the day and I’m not going to say anymore lest I jinx my recovery (because I really am that superstitious) and thanks again to everyone for their well wishes!

Well, injuries aside, the past little while has been very productive for me in terms of art and some good news to come my way is that “Mystic” sold at the Expressions show and I was mentioned in several articles both in print and online publications regarding the show. (Insert me tooting my own horn here.) I have to admit that while I was happy it sold I was also a little disappointed.

Let me explain.


"Mystic" was a piece that I had completed fairly recently and, quite frankly, I was rather pleased with how it had turned out. I've always relished in the knowledge that I'll be able to spend some time with my work since art, being what it is, doesn't exactly have a rapid rate of turn-over. I get to appreciate it, study it, think about what I may have done differently and, ultimately, get better from spending time with any given piece of art I've done (while also working on other pieces, of course). In this case it was quite different as I had barely framed the darn thing before it was out the door, hung in the gallery and someone had bought it.

I guess that's what I get for wanting to be an artist that shows and sells their work, right?

"Beyond Black & White III" ACEO
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Now I hate to get all sentimental about it but let's face it, I think whether you're in the business of selling your art or not, that it's very possible to become emotionally attached to a piece. I'm happy that "Mystic" meant enough to someone else that they were happy to buy it and hang it on their wall for the world to see but at the same time I can't help but feel that I needed to spend some more time with that piece. What would I have learned from it? I'm not really sure... I'm just glad I got as many pictures of it as I could!

So is it just me or does anyone else feel the same?

Thwarted... by my spine.

"Beyond Black & White II" ACEO
(sorry about the crummy pic)
Copyright Rita Woodburne

What was the title of my last post? “I’m Back!”?

Yeah... it should’ve read “Oh, my back!!” I’ve been KO’d by a back problem that hit me the day before the Lilac Tea, which I was unable to attend because I decided spending the afternoon in the ER at the hospital would be soooo much more fun... not.

I’m still not functioning properly but I’ve gotten a lot better since it hit me. The physiotherapist says I’m a “fast-healer” which is good (at least that’s what I’m assuming) and figures it’ll be another 2 weeks before I can walk and sit with little difficulty. So please, until then refrain from inviting me to go swing-dancing... ‘cause it ain’t happening.

On the plus side it hasn’t hindered me from working on art and I’ve gotten a few projects out of the way and some more ACEO’s done so it turns out there is a silver lining, albeit a small one, to being gimped up for the past 3 ½ weeks.

"Vantage Point" ACEO
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Also, much to my amusement I’m pretty sure the cats think I’m one of them now. I came to this conclusion as I had adopted the lifestyle of spending most of the day lying around only to get up to get something to eat, go to the bathroom and bathe. I also came to this conclusion because of their incessant meowing at me in an attempt to communicate their displeasure at me taking up their sleeping space. That’s changed now, of course, since I’m much more mobile than I was even just a few days ago.

Although it’ll be awhile longer before I resume regular posting you can rest assured, dear reader, that regular posting will indeed return eventually.... think of all the art and gardening I have to catch up on. So if you’ve e-mailed me recently and I still haven’t gotten back to you this post is also to let you know that you’ll be hearing (or is it reading??) from me later this week since I can now sit long enough to work on the computer a bit.


Last but certainly not least, I wanted to give my sincere thanks to those who’ve called, e-mailed and stopped by to wish me well and for a fast recovery because it seems like all the good thoughts are working! Keep ‘em coming... if you wouldn’t mind! ;)