Life can throw us some lemons. The old cliche is "that's when you make lemonade." We artists would think, "Just paint them!" Well, I've been in that boat now for the last five months. In early March I broke my arm. What an awakening that was. It was the first time I realized that bones hurt when they broke. Just as I was getting around that bend cancer invaded our household, and I became a caregiver, and not an unwilling one I might add. All of this takes a toll on the routine of heading to the studio for a gentle morning of painting or a late afternoon of plein air work. I would like to share with all of you how I handled that in hopes that others might be helped or inspired in their own lemonade shop.
     The first thing I did was bring home a mini-studio and set it up in my dining room.  Dining rooms are wonderful. That is where I do all my computer work, sew, file, store things, read cookbooks,  answer the land line, pack my ebay sales,  and on and on. Now it is where I do my art work, too. To be fair I must tell you this dining room is three quarters of our former two-car garage and is loaded with storage. And as an artist I must also tell you that it is really beautiful, not garage-y at all. And we love it for its real purpose:  large holiday dinners when the whole family gathers.
      I also re-discovered my gated and walled courtyard as subject matter. Since we were going to be home so much more this summer I planted more annuals that require watering and tending.  The bluejays love us for keeping their bath filled with clean water, something we never had time for before. This worked two ways for us. First I found new outdoor painting subjects to be explored without leaving home. Secondly, there is something about eating breakfast and reading the paper in the open air that gets those endorphins going (or as we like to joke, gets our dolphins swimming). 
      And here is a third way I have capitalized on a certain lack of focus on the painting process itself. I have let my left brain take over in order to tend to some areas that really needed attention. For example, I updated my records in my "Artist's Butler" (by Lynnsoft) program that I use. I listed more on ebay and surprise, surprise I sold more. I also began  to work on rewriting my artist's statement and have begun work on a new brochure. I have read art blogs, looked at the work of many of the FASO artists, and joined a free site called "Plein Air Artists".  In general I have explored the more cerebral side of an artist's life.
     Honestly, though, all of my compensatory activities have not been art related. I have reconnected with old friends and acquaintances via Facebook, read many novels, worked on genealogy records, and discovered I like to crochet in a most unorthodox and creative way.      The beauty of all of this is that I have been home with my husband when he needs me. I would have it no other way. Sweet lemonade.