Happy (belated) New Year!

 It seems that I haven't posted since October so perhaps it's time to post again. Yes, I'm still standing! I say that often if for no other reason than to convince myself that I did survive the  treatments for cancer. Two days before Thanksgiving to my dismay within 48 hours  my hair literally fell out except for a few straggly stubborn strands on the top and a fringe at the back. I had mourned the loss while hair slowly fell out for months but once it was a done deal I was relieved. I chose to get a wig and am having fun wearing a style so unlike my hair that when I receive compliments about the color and style I can't help but wonder what everyone will think about my natural hair; I rarely received compliments anymore. The photo was taken four weeks after I was resigned to being bald for awhile. Obviously, my hair grows fast. I now have new glasses and my hair has enough growth for a wave to be evident. I still go out of the house wearing the wig or hats, but I imagine soon that will stop. Without planning for it I have a new look that has given me a new lease on life. Maybe it's good to have a clean slate after all.

The holidays were a blur as I was in the midst of treatments that drained any and all energy out of me. Now that the burn from radiation has healed happily there has been enough good days for me to believe that very soon I'll creating art again. In the meantime I needed something to jump-start what has been a long break from even thinking about creating something and the perfect thing came along. An online photo workshop where all I have to do is sit at the computer and play! No searching for supplies or trying to remember how to dye fabric or how to paint a canvas of which at this point I'm sure I have forgotten everything I ever knew.
     Susan Tuttle's class using Pixir has already awakened something I feared I had lost; an excitement to play. Life had become too serious and shouldn't life be full of fun?

This photo of a Calliandra Vine was shot for the workshop but the effect isn't part of the projects. I couldn't stop playing once I got going. Pixir is free and is similar to PSE and even though my brain cells are still MIA at times I do remember a few things about it.
   The Calliandra has a short blooming time; I love the pink powder puffs and have photographed them numerous times but never against the sky.

I plan to post the projects on my photo blog, but I no longer make promises or plans. Life has a way of unfolding in unexpected ways.



Quote: Play energizes us and enlivens us. It eases our burdens. It renews our natural sense of optimism and opens us up to new possibilities.
Stuart Brown, MD
Contemporary American psychiatrist