Ink, Yarn & Beer

2024 Resolution: Schedule or Agenda?

Schedules are usually events fit into a time slot, like a dental appointment. An agenda is still something to do, but perhaps a bit more open ended. After working for years in a world regulated by bells and students and patients with exams, I really dislike – or don’t want – scheduling as a daily event. Agendas give a sense of potential – something to do, perhaps a vague something, perhaps a timed something, perhaps a definite something – but there is much less a sense of obligation.

I like agendas better than schedules!

As with most people, I make resolutions for the New Year, and this is one I struggle with quite often. I don’t think I need to schedule time to paint or sew or whatever. I just need time to do it. Thus, this year I have determined that 2024 is The Year of the Agenda.

And what does this mean?

Simply every other day I will change my choice of something to do on alternate days. Visual Art one day and Fiber Art the next day.

Problem solved.

And so, below, some of today’s Visual Art . . . . taken with the Nikon Z 50mm f2.8 Macro lens.

A Painting on My Desk

I took this picture of a painting I recently did to check on my contrast values. There is always a struggle here, but with practice, I do “get it” better each time.

As with other photos of the past few days, monochrome and the Nikon 50mm f2.8 macro.

A Bottle of Paint

After I opened up my Christmas lens, the Nikon Z 50mm f2.8 macro, I putzed around with it. You have to do that! This is a snap of a small bottle of paint in the tub that holds all my liquid acrylic paints.

I used the macro component – the bottle is about an inch across, so you can see that the macro is rather nice.The original was in color – the bottled paint is a mid-toned blue, but I turned it into monochrome in LR and On1 Photo Raw. I upped the contrast as that is what I prefer in BW photos.

Now, time for breakfast.

A Place to Hang My Hat

Today – well, let’s see. I have to head out to the Valley for an appointment, and then home. All tasks are caught up with, including the pile of shredding from the other day. This means there is no excuse to not “do” something. It seems fitting to do something a bit easy to do, namely, take a picture around the house. This ladder back chair sits in the foyer, and we use it to hang up bags and hats, as well as to sit upon to take off shoes and put on slippers. It is a really nice chair, and I feel rather bad about putting it to such utilitarian purposes, but it is also one of the most useful pieces of furniture we own!

I got a Nikon Z 50mm f2.8 macro lens from the esposo for Christmas, and it really takes great photos. I want to use it, of course, for macros, but the beauty of a macro lens is it also works very well as just an ordinary lens. This month it will be the (hahahaha) focal point of any images I make with the Z6ii, and black and white as well, for at least the month of January. Ideas are rolling around in my fuzzy head, so I probably should write them down . . .

What Lies Ahead for 2024?

This past year I have focused a lot on painting and various media for art work. Watercolors, acrylics, portraiture in pencil, oil pastels, gouache, and probably a few others. I started my “Not Taken Vacation” series, which still needs to be completed, with pen and ink. Rewarding as this has been, and the gains I know I have made, I have also missed adventures in other areas. In 2024, I want to continue working on art work, as it is my first love, but other areas for creativity and exploration, have fallen to the wayside, and I miss them.

If I were to just list some of the things I missed doing and want to continue to do, I think I would begin to feel overwhelmed . . . but let’s see what a list will produce.

Sewing?

Knitting?

Gardening?

Photography?

Hiking?

Travel?

Reading?

Cooking and baking?

Exploring?

If I look at what I have been playing with to date, I am knitting, taking a few photos, and sewing. Most of my “reading” is really using an audiobook and listening to it while I knit. I have a number of sewing projects on hold because I have been lacking in time to focus, but that is really silly as I have everything in place and ready to go at the sewing table. I have a tabletop ironing board I can put on a countertop, so why not?

Being a Libra, indecisiveness is the norm. This? That? (Yes, laugh if you like at astrology, but sometimes it is too true!) Experience shows me that just starting something is usually all I need to get out of my slump, whatever form it may be taking and just