Maranda Russell's Blog, page 18

Wordless Wednesday – Covid Dining

[image error]

My Husband Goes Back to School This Week

[image error]

My husband is a special education teacher and he starts back to work this week. Even though covid rates have been rising in the area and many schools near here who opened earlier have already had to close down due to spreading coronavirus cases, my husband’s school is still opening at full capacity, full-time. I’ll admit it worries me.

I don’t want my husband to get sick. I don’t want him to bring it home and get me sick. I don’t want the other teachers and employees to get sick. And I certainly don’t want the kids or their families to get sick.

To me, this all seems like it might be a really bad idea. I expect that they will only be open a short while before they have to close down again anyway. Especially with fall coming, when there is likely to be a true 2nd wave (not just the 2nd rise in cases we’ve already seen due to poor handling of the whole thing from the beginning).

I want to be positive, and part of me has felt this whole thing seems really off from the beginning, so maybe it isn’t as bad as they make it out to be, but I still worry.

Spray Paint Canvas Art

Lately I’ve gotten into spray paint art. I guess it was a visual artform I had never tried before, so the challenge of learning it appealed to me. It is actually much harder than I imagined lol. Learning how to control the spray just right so that you don’t pool the paint, put on too much paint, or get it all over yourself (as spray paint is a pain in the ass to get off your skin).

For my first few paintings I went entirely abstract, just so I could play around and get a feel for the art medium. Here are my first few paintings, which are on canvas panels:

[image error]

[image error]

[image error]

If you like any of them, they are up for sale on my ebay store!

Poetry – Americana

[image error]

I take photos

as we drive

down the highway.

A panorama

featuring a red

Coca Cola truck,

a Tim Horton’s

billboard (cheap coffee!),

at least 50

gray Amazon Prime vans,

another family business

with shutters drawn

and darkened marquee –

all a testament

to the empty promises

of a cold,

commercialized

system.

And the Mood Disorder Strikes Again…

[image error]

I’ve had a really bad couple days. The day before yesterday I had a total meltdown because I couldn’t get a painting right. It was kind of the last straw, as I have been struggling terribly with irritability, anxiety, ocd, and anger lately. At first I thought it was just a phase or one of the mood swings that mood disorders bring, but it has lasted a long time now and I am starting to wonder if it has to do with the new med I have been put on (Lamictal). The irritability and worsening ocd definitely seem to have started as I began taking higher doses of the drug.

Yesterday all the anger, irritation, and anxiety turned into depression and I cried a lot, felt helpless and hopeless, and entertained some pretty dark thoughts. I was in one of those moods where I felt utterly worthless and felt that no one liked me or cared about me, I even felt like my husband was sick of me. That was probably projection as I’M sick of being around me in this state.

Today I’m a bit better (no crying yet), but still feeling low and exhausted. I haven’t been sleeping well lately at all, which isn’t helping. Just not in a good place right now.

3 Pop Art Pets Marker Paintings

I came across a Crayola marker set at CVS that I used to create the below artworks. I really like the way these markers give a painting-like feel to the pictures and how the markers show a variety of shades when used. The kit only came with 5 markers (brown, orange, white, green, and pink), but I was able to make the pictures look almost life-like with them.

[image error]

[image error]

[image error]

Check out my art for sale on Ebay!

New Poetry & Short Prose Chapbook on Kindle!

[image error]

Hey guys

Poetry – Self-Annihilation

[image error]

Fifty years from now,

self-annihilation

may become

a highly prized,

expressive art,

or even qualify as

the newest

springtime sport.

I always was

ahead of my

time.

Another Photo Award and Ranking!

Are you sick of hearing about my new photography obsession? I hope not lol, but when I get into something, I REALLY get into it. Blame autism

First Photography Award on Photocrowd

Recently I told you guys I had really gotten into photography and was entering contests on a site called Photocrowd. Yesterday I found out that I had won my first award on the site! It isn’t a major award, but I won a crowd favorite award for being in the top half of the crowd choice for a contest about “The Abstract Universe”. Here is the photo that won the award:

[image error]

The photography talent on Photocrowd is amazing (many are professionals), so I am honored to even compete with them and come close to the top of any contest!