picture list of things I like

I like this place.

I like this heirloom.

I like this treat.

I like my job.

I like my fella.

I like being alone.

I like to dance.

I recently joined Instagram. I like it. My username is elisetowlesnow.

Sparkle in a shitstorm

Things have been bad. So so bad that I stopped even writing about all the bad things because I didn't want to be a drag. "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all." as Thumper would say.

I'm back because I've found something to celebrate. A little sparkle in the shitstorm if you will.

I found a really good job! Meaningful, local, artistic, reliable employment! Last week was my first and it was just as good as I hoped it would be. I'm working in Peabody, MA at the new ArcWorks Community Art Center as manager of the gallery shop and occasional workshop instructor. ArcWorks CAC is a part of the Northeast Arc which provides lifelong support to individuals with disabilities and their families and the Art Center is it's newest offshoot that aims to bring the whole community together through art and craft. As you can expect, I'm ALL ABOUT THAT!

I'll be showing more of what I'm doing soon but this is just an enthusiastic introduction. The photos above are from a workshop I led last week on image weaving. I was so pleased with the way the art turned out and all the individuals who participated LOVED what they made and traded with the other participants. I'll post a tutorial soon if you want to give it a try.

Nothing gold can stay

This past weekend I had to say goodbye to my favorite place on the whole planet. My uncle's little lakeside cabin in Maine was abruptly put up for sale as well as the entire contents.

I've been lucky to visit "the camp" every summer of my life and I never thought I would have to stop. Everyone always planned to keep it in the family as long as we could- but Dad died and things changed and it seems I am getting a lot of immersion training in the art of letting go.

A real estate agent is assessing the contents of the cabin with an antiques dealer and moving everything out. There were a few sentimental items that I wish we had the chance to rescue; a set of marbles I used to play with, a painting my Aunt Dottie made of the lake and a strip of birch bark sewn into a tiny mouse canoe with my grandmother's name painted on it. I'm heartbroken that it is all gone. Things change too fast.

"Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay."

Robert Frost

February's Rabbit Rabbit!

Here is an early "Rabbit Rabbit" post for you. A sneak peek of the first digital print I'll be offering in my shop! I'm still not ready to officially open up this new element of the shop because I am working on making some special handmade packaging but "coming soon" is "coming sooner!"

In this picture: The books are Mark Twain's Puddinhead Wilson (which has been sitting on my shelf unread for six months) and Winnie The Pooh (which I started reading every morning because it makes me happy). The little stuffed creatures are Fern Animals made by my friend Ashley. The bouquet was a much appreciated gesture from Daphne. I find product styling a little challenging. It is hard to tell if this arrangement looks good because it is attractive or if I am just sentimental.

dreamy dream cave of my dreams

I don't think I've ever mentioned that there is a cave inside my head. The cave is my "happy place" in my imagination that I can retreat to when real life is unpleasant. I didn't have one until a few years ago when a friend described her mental paradise and I had the oddest stirring of envy that her mental real estate was grander than mine. I began developing my fantasy space that day.

It started as a dark cave and stayed that way for at least a year- just a little blue/black cave with nothing in it but me.

The next few years of cave visits made me elaborate on the concept. If I was going to go there often, I figured I could do more with the place. When I reflect on that period in my life where a dark cave seemed like the perfect place to be, I know I was experiencing some depression.

Light was the first thing I added. I pictured stalactites and stalagmites softly glowing in bright pastels. Much better. I added a thick moss carpet speckled with snowdrops too.

That was good enough for a long time but I got lonely. I invited a handful of shaggy albino bats with lavender eyes. The cave was getting crowded so I constructed a long dark tunnel with a massive chamber at the end. I still haven't been down there because I accidentally added a giant creature curled up and sleeping soundly. I don't want to disturb it.

The only reason I know that there is a giant creature sleeping at the end of the tunnel is because the chamber echoes it's heavy breathing. Oh neat! My imaginary space just went from a silent to a talkie!

Since I heard the breathing, I couldn't help but hear the drip dripping of water from the stalactites (it kind of sounds like droplets falling on a xylophone) and the rustle of bat wings.

If I can hear, I can smell. Caves have a reputation for cavestank but I assure you that mine is a sensory pleasure on all fronts. The moss carpet smells earthy and fresh and the long dark tunnel smells faintly of mint and is a few degrees cooler at the entrance.

I'm thinking about adding a hot spring to bathe in but I can't tell if that is too much. It is hard to be tasteful with an unlimited imaginary budget.

I know I'm not the only one with mental hideaways. I'd love to hear about yours. If you don't have one, you can use mine (but not while I'm there because I'm naked of course).

Cave treasury

bit by bit by bit

I recently attended a workshop at the public library on the topic of creating new habits, achieving goals and generally getting things done. It was not nearly as annoying as I feared. The presenter was very relatable as a fellow ADDer who understands the difficulty of managing daily tasks and balancing big projects with day-to-day chores.

I am cautiously optimistic that her guidance will help me dominate my days instead of letting them slink past while I wonder where the time went. The first piece of advice I'm enacting is to think small. I always felt comforted by the 3-5 to-do lists I'd make in a day. The truth is, the lists never got done. Only a team of superpeople could conquer my ambitious lists in a single day and a mere mortal like me just felt defeated by the optimism of the morning compared to the reality of the evening.

My to-do list is now never longer than two items.

item 1- personal goal

item 2- professional goal

Once I complete the goal, I get a new one. I hope to complete around five goals a day but it may take a week just for one. If I know I'm supposed to be chipping away at one goal, I am less likely to get derailed and start something new. Once I start... I must finish! Once I finish... I get to do something else! What a novel idea to finish what I start.

This plan flies in the face of the "shoot for the moon, if you fall short... you land on a star." philosophy. Aside from that quote being cosmically whack, always making unrealistic goals and falling below your expectations of yourself DOES NOT FEEL GOOD. Sometimes, if the goal is the moon, I can become utterly daunted by the task ahead and not even put on my space suit! Sometimes even, "Do your best!" is intimidating.

Instead of thinking big, I am going to think small. Instead of doing my best or shooting for the stars, I will "Do something" and then, high on achievement, I will do another something. Maybe I'll have a snack, pat myself on the back and DO ANOTHER SOMETHING! Woooeee what a day!

I look forward to flopping into bed at the end of the day, reflecting on the goals I completed instead of resigning to the end of a day where I disappointed myself.

- the above picture of my vanity is evidence that thinking small is helpful for me. I normally would have promised myself that I would clean the whole bedroom. That task involves laundry, bunny fur removal, litterbox changing, dusting and de-cluttering and is generally considered a complete drag. I broke that monster into little bits and started with my vanity. The vanity is usually covered with bunched up stockings, assorted belts and a massive knot of necklace chains. Look at it now! It finally deserves to be called a vanity instead of, say, a feminine crapstack. It so appealingly orderly that it makes me want to clean the litterbox so that the place can smell as good as it looks!

So close to shiny new things!

I generally consider myself an old fashioned person with old fashioned ways. I enjoy molasses, real cotton and wool clothing, George Burns, rocking chairs, and folk albums from the 1960s on vinyl.

I also have a hard time learning how to use new gadgets. My fancy phone is still a mystery to me. Despite my urge to stay simple forever, I have decided to challenge my tech incompetence and get with the times. I bought a massive, sexy, Epson wide format printer for making high quality reproductions of my art! I read the manual! I have never read a manual before. After some adjustments, I was able to make a test print that looks so clear and bright that I can hardly believe my eyes.

This is my roundabout way of announcing that the Argyle Whale shop is going to start carrying digital reproductions of the watercolor illustrations I've been working on for the past few months! I admit that I had reservations about digital prints but after seeing such crisp and vibrant colors on nice toothy art paper, I am won over and proud to have them in my shop.

I will still be using Gocco and printing with traditional methods but it will be nice to have another facet of my work. With Gocco, I liked to keep things minimal. I rarely used shading or more than two colors due to my aversion to complicating things. The new line will be more colorful and textured and BIGGER!

I can't wait to show you. I can't right now because I am having computer troubles and am unable to access my photos. The above alligator painting is not even particularly related to anything I mentioned. I figured a pictureless post is worse than a post with an unrelated picture.