Here I am, Zan!

(Alternate title: Huh? Whadaya mean it's been ten days? Didn't I just post a day or so ago?)

Okay, y'all - you can kick me from here to Memphis (take your pick between Tennessee and Egypt) for not posting. This has been one of those weeks where nothing seemed to go right so perhaps a kick is exactly what I need.

My mom and I did take in the Hermitage. It was pretty neat, considering they've added a few new things, but I didn't get one sketch and only about twelve odd photos. Part of the reason was the wind - all a person had to do was hold out their arms and they could have flown straight home. The crowd wasn't so bad at first but it got worse as the day went on (Gee, I wonder why?) My particular favorite things were the Belted Galloways, the donkey and the tiny, tiny cotton patch. Oh yes, a person might have gotten a whole pair of pants out of that field.

The rest of the week felt like a total bust. I kept playing tag with the mailman because I had a notice that he tried to deliver a book. Every day, I felt like I couldn't start anything major because I'd have to drop everything to chase the mailman - only to miss him and realize there was only a little bit of light left to get any work done...and yes, after a while, I did feel like running around in circles, chasing my tail and barking.

I ended up calling the post office, only to be told they didn't have any record of the notice or the book. When I finally did catch the mailman, I got the feeling he did know what happened to my book but didn't want to tell me. So...after about four days, the mundane work was done with not much to show for it. It was time for the big guns. Hey! I never said I was especially brilliant on timing...

I took a cue from the cave artists of Ice Age France, only instead drawing an auroch on the end of my arrow, I had my book. A neat thing happened as I finished drawing it: I "saw" a silver arrow laying on top of the one in the drawing and a silver longbow in my hand. I notched the arrow, drew it back and said, "Find my book!" as I sent it into the air. Two hours later, my mailman was calling me to tell me that the book had been delivered to the wrong house and I should have it later that afternoon - and I did. It's a great book too: "Problem Solving for Oil Painters." So far, this one book has told me as much - if not more - than three semesters of oil painting classes. Now I hope I don't have to repeat the process for the other two books I ordered. ("Technicians of Ecstasy: Shamanism and the Modern Artist" and "Dreamtime and Inner Space" if anyone wants to know. Used books from Amazon are a wonderful thing.)

The prelim sketches of Khnum are finally starting to work. I had to do some serious research on Him and make some adjustments. I found a neat page about the wheels used in Egypt to throw pots and it had pictures! (Yay!) I also had to research the type of clothes to use - Pharonic? Royalty? Laborer? A mixture of both? The jury's still out on that one.

The breed of sheep the Ancient Egyptians used as a basis for Him went extinct just after the Middle Kingdom era (circa 1640 BCE.) I found another breed - the Damara - still in existence that had its beginnings in Egypt around that same time. Their horns aren't as straight as the others but I got the idea that Khnum was happy with my decision as I sketched it out. Now I just have to figure out how to fit it onto a human body and have it look like it belongs there.

Oh good grief - it's 2:30 in the morning and I've been rambling on and on. No wonder I'm yawning. See you in a bit. I'm off to visit the dreamtime.