![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I've been painting in the evenings. The work is inspired by my bathroom window sill: the paint has peeled away from the wood to reveal several layers of different colored paint that have been laid down over the years: aqua, tan, cream, white. I want to try to recreate that. I see it when I am out walking, too. Walls covered with handbills, graffiti and peeling paint, all in layers, all on top of each other. And it is most interesting where the weather has worn the layers down and revealed glimpses of what is beneath.
It's a tedious process. I put down a layer of paint in the morning. When I get home I put down another, and paste down strips of newspaper or magazine. Then another layers of paint. Repeat. And then when it's built up, I sand it down, or use paint stripper to reveal what is underneath.
But while the work is in progress all it looks like is a coat of paint on a bumpy surface.
----
My grandmother is in the hospital. My brother, nephew, and I might be riding up to Milwaukee this Saturday to go visit her. She hasn't been eating or drinking anything, and just says she isn't hungry. The doctors can't find anything wrong. I think maybe she's depressed; I can't eat or drink much of anything when I'm depressed either. She's 93 and all her friends have passed away, so I imagine she's lonely and bored a lot. At least now she's getting fluids and nutrition, so hopefully she'll improve. But I really want to see her and give her a hug and let her know that I love her and think about her.
My mother is with her now, talking with the doctors and helping to orchestrate things. My mother's birthday is on Monday, and my grandmother's birthday is next Saturday. I wish this wasn't such a stressful time for them. Part of me feels like I should go there to cheer them up, and part of me thinks I might just add to their stress by showing up. So we'll see.
It's a tedious process. I put down a layer of paint in the morning. When I get home I put down another, and paste down strips of newspaper or magazine. Then another layers of paint. Repeat. And then when it's built up, I sand it down, or use paint stripper to reveal what is underneath.
But while the work is in progress all it looks like is a coat of paint on a bumpy surface.
----
My grandmother is in the hospital. My brother, nephew, and I might be riding up to Milwaukee this Saturday to go visit her. She hasn't been eating or drinking anything, and just says she isn't hungry. The doctors can't find anything wrong. I think maybe she's depressed; I can't eat or drink much of anything when I'm depressed either. She's 93 and all her friends have passed away, so I imagine she's lonely and bored a lot. At least now she's getting fluids and nutrition, so hopefully she'll improve. But I really want to see her and give her a hug and let her know that I love her and think about her.
My mother is with her now, talking with the doctors and helping to orchestrate things. My mother's birthday is on Monday, and my grandmother's birthday is next Saturday. I wish this wasn't such a stressful time for them. Part of me feels like I should go there to cheer them up, and part of me thinks I might just add to their stress by showing up. So we'll see.
