not my best month
not my best week
not my best day
not my best shirt
not my best design
not my best drawing
not my best print
not my best photo shoot
not my best model
not my best photo
not my best work
not my best shipment
not my best decision
not my best email
not my best outfit
not my best presentation
not my best use of time
not my best handling of money
not my best FB update
not my best hour
not my best effort
not my best interaction
not my best job
not my best editing

screwing up a little bit - and feeling bad about it...

broken prints
mis-printed shirts
transposed shipments
postage fuck-ups
blah.

dear dave,

little of this - little of that.  Highlight today was coffee with Cheryl.  Highlight of any day!

Got some new kiddo tees out to Trohv.  They came out good, but I really need variety.  Took the easy was and made them all on heather.  That needs to change!

After rushing around to get those done, I was down on doing much else.  But I have, and it's fine, and yadda yadda yadda.

Beautiful evening.  Maybe I should enjoy.

dear dave,

tuesday morning.  Feeling better then yesterday, but it's becoming clearer that I'm fighting some sort of sickness.  I was in and out of the studio yesterday.

Had a great weekend with Hex.  Saturday was spent preparing for Sundays party in Rockville.  2 peach pies, 3 marinated london broils, and cheese potatoes.  It was a great success. Dad is now 81!

Everything came out great and was delicious.  Hex and I stayed a little late so we could get some games of chinese checkers in (Hex 1 / Dave 1 / Jimmy 0 / Marlin 0 ).

Still in that weird August bubble, but it will be ending soon.  There are things to do.

So I'll leave it there.  Pushing forward with my day (and health).

81st bday table

david, wednesday

stuck in a weird bubble of non-productivity and anxiety.  Not liking my current circumstance.  I can't seem to break free from this blah-ness.  I spend way to much time not doing much, then feeling bad about it all.  I've been writing about this feeling for way too long now!

Things get put off for monday.  I have a knot in my stomach.  My shoulders are tight.  Im anxious to turn the page.  I have things to accomplish, edit, prepare for.  I'm just not in the mood, place, mind to do them now.

august artist dave angst.

briefmagazine.com

august blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahs continue.

Weather is great.  My mood is just stale.  Maybe I should be someplace else?

shelves!

dear dave,

It's been a good couple of days.  I doubled down on the speakeasy illustrations (12), and they came out great.  It was a lot of fun to work on them - but now I need to SHIFT gears.  I let some things slag.

Really happy to have new space in the studio.  Hexy and I installed shelves on Saturday.  Still not organized, but I'm really really happy with the outcome.  Open work space on the big table, and a place to put all my card supplies that is easily accessible.

Summer is getting weird, as it always does.  Fast forward to fall, but also a lag in summer.  It's like the two things are happening at once.  Like the last day of a vacation.  You don't want it to end (!!) but you're kind of anxious to get back home already.  A tension in feelings.

The studio garden is waning.  Sunflowers are bowing and drying out.  Later bloomers are thriving.  It's been a great thing to enjoy.

Ok - big plans today to be productive.  LEt's see how that turns out!

studio sunflower

awesome couple of days working on latest speakeasy illustrations.  So much fun - I'm working on all cylinders, and it feels fan fucking tastic!

but the day is over, and I need to go home.  Super sunny.  hopefully a nice relaxing fun night with my beloved hex.

typical summer days.

late in the day yesterday I got a massage, which made everything great (for about an hour).

Reworked Buzz Ballston prints with Hexy before Whitlows.

Busy today adding new prints and cards to the website.  Happy to have that accomplished.

Tomorrow> more drawing!

weekend shots

Shed-dule print

peach pie supreme

acorn on top

full bloom!

Summer '12 printing season over! Went out strong--4 prints back to the studio at 6.  Long day-but happy with my progress. In good shape for mutt & joe.  And, to top it off-made first peach pie with hexy tonight. Came out perfectly! Tomorrow > restful Sunday!!

I don't know...

Ryan Fever

dear dave,

messy couple of days brain-wise.  I go into the weekend focused on dog days and printing.

MUST-GET-PRINT-PROJECTS-COMPLETE-BEFORE-STUDIO-CLOSES-FOR-SUMMER!

So everything was planned and choreographed and went well.  Finished up print project saturday morning, then back to the studio for the sidewalk sale by noon.

Then Sunday afternoon at 4 we were D-O-N-E.  And at that point I just wanted to stop.  Ha - my motivation just hits these cliffs.

All of a sudden it's monday and I'm doing sunday things (Great Falls with Remi + visit to Rockville to visit Jimmy).  I came to the studio for a bit, but put everything off until returning tuesday.

So monday was Sunday, and yesterday was Monday (anxious, false starts, wasting time, angst) and today is Wednesday.  I'm starting to feel back in synch.

The lull I was dreading (expecting in July) has come full swing.  Very few emails.  Not a lot of movement or activity.  Things just slow then stop.  I complain about it every year - because I really hate it.

I love the IDEA of getting a lot done during this time, but I fret about it instead.  I bide my time until I can no longer bide anymore, then I work.

It all sounds much more dramatic then it really is.  Yesterday was really productive.  It's just that it's draggy productivity.  One part getting things accomplished to three parts of dragging my feet.

Anyway - ENOUGH about that.  Moving on: to preparing for my print session at the corcoran this afternoon.  My last Wednesday open studio for the summer??  I hope not, but expect so.

Great, hot, sweaty, fun, exciting, beneficial weekend selling cards and prints and shirts on the sidewalk. Dog days '12 was a smashing success. Lots more people in the area, and strong sales.  Really fun. Ok-typing on phone is a pain. More later.

LULL

dear dave,

dog days of summer for sure.

Stuck inside, avoiding the heat.  Had a nice little break with Hexy, dropping off a print to BUZZ.  But for the most part I feel stuck.  Not really into working, but not really into anything else either.

Summer blahs!  I wish I could yank myself out of the funk I've been stuck in, but it wouldn't be a funk if I could!  It's all about keeping busy and getting through.  I mean, I've gotten tons done, but I always feel like I'm slacking (because I always focus on what I'm NOT doing but should be).  I keep setting up photo shoots, hoping they will give me some creative juice.  But then they get cancelled or stalled (going on 3 weeks now).

Ahhh - the perils and pleasures of working for yourself. Thank God I don't have anybody breathing down my neck (but I could use somebody breathing down my neck).

Last year I went full steam ahead into cards.  I'm hoping to find that motivation again, because it was a huge help/push for the holidays.  I have lots of awesome speakeasydc illustrating to do, and new prints to dream up.

STAY positive.

Chin up.

Soon it will be September.

dear dave,

draggy day doing necessary things.  Preparing for the weekend, and finishing up projects.  Nothing much exciting to report!  Ha, so I'll leave it there.