12/13/2004: "Working on Commission"

So, there is this one commission in particular that I've been working on, literally, for months. I couldn't seem to finish it. I kept painting it and re-painting it over and over again. The irony is that the collector was happy with the image of it that I sent him after the first rough draft. Actually, he's been the most accommodating and patient person ever, particularly since he's paid in full a long time ago.

I'm the one being such a perfectionist now. I didn't want to send it until it was just right. I can't help it. The woman in the painting has her head tilted in a strange perspective and it just didn't look quite right. I'd been staring at the damn thing for so long I couldn't see it clearly anymore. So, I asked my friend Julie if she could stop by before her hockey game to look at it with a fresh pair of eyes.

She was able to point out some rather minor things to change. It's amazing how much better it looks now than it did a couple of hours ago. I'm so relieved that I didn't just send it off when I could have, even though it didn't seem right to me. I feel so happy I could cry. I just hope it dries by Sat. so I can get it in the mail before I leave for Nebraska.

Also, I was able to knit a very soft and narrow little scarf for one of my girlfriends from college, as well as make some tiny beaded earrings (I like to make my gifts whenever possible) and baked some cookies for a neighbor over the weekend. Last night, from out of nowhere, a couple of fire trucks from the Douglas Station, the ladders all strung up with lights, came driving down the streets of Douglas with Santa and Ms. Clause riding on top. There was Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer blaring from loud speakers and Fire Fighters (all decked out in gear) dancing down the middle of the street behind the trucks. It was quite bizarre but I must say, it got me into the holiday spirit!