Mehitabel's Rocking Chair

I worked on my new painting again today. I was tempted to leave it sketchy but when I started to bring life to the cat the picture asked me to keep on going. I thought of the idea of using ultramarine violet for the chair and that really added some oomph to the painting. I am almost finished now. Here is what it looked like last week.

It was a kind of weird day today. First of all I had a heck of a time sleeping last night. I kept waking and finally got up and had a cup of tea before going back to bed. When the alarm went off at 7:45 it felt like somebody had poured ice water on me. 

I drove to open studio and nobody was there. I began to wonder if I had the day wrong. I texted Trish and she let me know we were on. They were messing with the roads and that made everybody but me late. And there were only three of us painting. Soon after we started a worker came in and told us that the building would be without water all day. We soldiered on and made trips to local restaurants for lunch food and rest rooms. It worked out okay.

While I was painting I got two calls from Silverado. Arvin had been really angry and nasty and they were going to change his meds. I asked them to ask Dr. McClenahan to be sure he was on some kind of meds for his depression. Then Dr. M called and we discussed what was going on. Arvin had even yelled at him and that has never happened in over 20 years of Dr. M being Arvin's doctor. I said to Dr. M that I knew Arvin didn't like being away from home but that I didn't think I could handle him being home. Dr. M. said, "Oh no. I don't think you should bring him home. I think he is in the best place right now." That made me feel less guilty about his being where he doesn't want to be. Dr. M. prescribed a new med for Arvin and Silverado started administering it this evening. 

I felt really upset about these calls but soon I got to painting and my mood lifted. I like the results of the day in spite of my upset and lack of sleep. 

I went over to see Arvin after open studio. We had a good time together and that was a relief. Dinner was yummy and a lovely lady named Pat joined us for dinner. Arvin never likes to see me leave but tonight I sat him next to a fellow who tells Arvin he is his best friend and how he remembers all the great things they did together at Lake Whatcom. Arvin goes right along with it even though we have never met this fellow before Arvin moved to Silverado. They were talking together when I slipped out the door and headed home.