I don’t even know where to start. It’s been so long since I’ve written anything that my blogging voice is kinda lost, ya know?

So much has happened the past few days. I’m completely bone tired at this point. My current plan is to just sleep for days.

We made to Prince Edward Island all in one piece, and I’m sitting writing this on my couch. It’s pretty surreal, to be honest. It only sank in last night that I’m actually here to stay. I had a bout of homesickness, had to sit and cry with my gigantic blue bear for a while, get some hugs off Jesse. But this morning I’m feeling better, a little happier, a little bit more settled.

The Nude Show

I worked myself to the bone finishing this show. I pulled an all-nighter on Thursday night trying to get it finished. Two a.m. ain’t so bad, but after my hour nap at 5:30am? That was rough. That was really rough.

Unfortunately, I didn’t finish the 7th painting. I’m pretty bummed about it. It felt like I’d worked so hard, destroyed my health, put myself through ridiculous pain, and abandoned so much of my marketing – the blog, Twitter, the rest of my life…I didn’t make a dime in July. I just didn’t have time to do the promotions necessary to make money.

So there I was, no money, exhausted, and about to move, and I still couldn’t finish the show. I was pissed, mostly at myself. Not finishing made everything feel so…I don’t know…futile, I guess. I mean, I was originally going to do 10 paintings, so 6 just didn’t feel good. I’m making peace with it, but it still stings.

I get to fly back for the opening of the show though, thanks to the plane ticket my parents bought for me as a going away present. On the Friday night I’ll be on internet TV on a local show called MOCTalk, which you’ll all be able to watch thanks to the wonders of the internet.

We’ve got Wayne Gretzky Estates Wineries sponsoring us with free wine and we’ll be donating 5% of the sales to Hannah House, a local charity that helps out young mothers. Apparently about 200 people are coming, and lucky me, I get to make a speech! Oh hurrah! A speech! Have I ever mentioned my stage fright? Yeah. This could be interesting. I have no idea what I’m going to say. It could be totally garbled junk.

I have no idea how the sales are going to go. It’s not really in my hands, ya know? I know I should have a positive attitude, but I feel like I gave my soul to put the show together and now I’m so tired, I almost don’t care. If people like it, great, but if they don’t like it enough to pay for it, well then, that’s fine. I love the pieces and I think they’re great, but you can’t predict what’s going to sell right? I mean, the people who come might hate them. Or think they’re boring. Or not like nudes. Or just dislike me in general.

Confidence crisis much?

The Move

Well, I’ve got to say that the drive from St. Catharines, Ontario to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island is one long, bloody haul. We ended up driving for 22 hours straight – from 3 am on the Friday night until the Saturday at 1 am. We had every intention of stopping in Fredericton, which should have been the simplest thing in the entire world, except guess what? It was the Highland Games. The Highland frigging Games. Every hotel and motel for 20 miles around was completely full. On principle, I am never attending a Highland Games. Stupid caber toss.

So we ended up driving to Moncton, which is only 2 hours away from Charlottetown. We arrived at 11:30 am and we’re all moved in by 3 pm. We’re still in the process of unpacking and my studio is in shambles, but we’ll sort everything out eventually, in between naps. The place is gorgeous and as soon as there are pictures, they’ll be posted on the blog. And hey, we’ve already grocery shopped in a downpour and had a fire scare, so really, it’s been quite the adventure.  Who knows what tomorrow may bring?! Hopefully more sleep. And adventures. And joy. And more blogging and twitter!

God it’s good to be back.