March 31,  2002

       So i've got a full arsenal of art supplies now.  Yesterday we went out shopping for the proverbial Easter ham and etc., and a gift for Himself's daughter.  We got her a truly beautiful pair of earrings.  And i got paint brushes.  But it's dangerous to let me loose in either of those stores.

     First things i found upon entering Loomis and Toles were the art instruction books.  i need the instructions!  While i'm trying to recapture my youthful exuberance for drawing, i know little to nothing about working with any type of colouring medium.  And right now oil paint and pastels have piqued my interest.  However, this starts to get expensive.  In reply to Himself's query; "shouldn't you pick one or the other?" i blithely exclaimed that i had both at home!  How's a girl to decide?

     It was downhill (uphill for me though!) from there.  Price wise i mean.  i needed a set of pastel pencils - i'm still more comfortable with a pencil in my hand than a brush or a piece of chalk.  i needed the proper paper.  Then i wanted to explore what was available for oil painting.  Heh.  i found a dynamite easel, complete with carry handle and on sale!  i found hog bristle brushes.  i found small canvas boards to work on.  Himself found me instructional books that i can actually make sense of, in both mediums.  

     We almost made it out of the store but not quite, before i found the 36 piece set of pastels.  

     The words; "... i guess the pressure's on now eh?" slipped past my lips.  The guy at the counter eyeballed us like we were a couple of crazy old people.  We probably are.

     Back in the car, on the way home, i suffered a moment of self- doubt.  i joked, saying we were about to have a house filled with really bad art.  Then i asked Himself; "what if i'm really bad at it?"  He said it didn't matter, so long as i continued to work at it.  

     ".... but if i'm bad..."

     "... then you continue to work at being bad at it..."

     Perfect.

     Now if i could just find some naked people to draw .....

      But back to the earrings for Himself's daughter.  He decided we needed to go looking in some of the stores found in a section of town called "little India".  i absolutely love going there - it's the one place where my main impression is that these people embrace a gluttony of beautiful cloth, rather than the clothing itself.  Every shop has tons of bolts of some of the most  fantastic fabric i've ever seen.  i just want to walk up and down the aisles stroking it all with my fingers.

     This trip was for jewelry though.  And going into some of those stores was a new experience.  For starters, you couldn't simply open the door and walk in.  Each door was locked and someone had to hit the release button to let you in.  Once the door closed, it was automatically locked again.  Most of the doors were glass and iron bars, adding to the feeling of being caged (which feeds right into some of my biggest fantasies yet to be realized).  

     But the jewelry!  Absolutely stunning pieces done up in necklace and earring sets.  Most would have looked silly on me - the size alone would have been overwhelming - and i'm pretty sure none of them would have worked with the state of my wallet.  This stuff was not cheap!  And none had price tags on them - each piece we asked about was weighed first before we were given a price.

     We did find a very delicate pair of earrings though, that while being youthful looking are styled to carry through as His daughter gets older.  And in a price range we were comfortable with.  

     But it was still an experience that makes you go 'hmmmmm...'  Especially as i heard the click of the lock being released on the iron barred doors...

     Maybe a cage in the basement?

                

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