Even though I’m not supposed to work right now, I’ve still been managing to chop away at my To-do list for my show. I mean, it’s little by little because I haven’t been working past 1:00 PM most of these days, if at all. And, I’ve been waking up later than usual, at 5:00 AM. I also take a nap around 1:30 PM or 2:00 PM.

I was finally able to piece together the last watercolor. I think it looks right, and I’m wondering if I should use it as the promotional image, but I’m still not 100% sure.

I thought I should use one that had the most family members in it, and that’s the only one. That’s just because of the title of the show: Relative Strangers. The other possibility would be Disorderly Conduct because it has my mom and nana in it. Also, all the faces are fucked up in that one, whereas the watercolor (Young Exemplaries) has my whole immediate family in it (including me) before I got to know them. I didn’t mess up anyone’s face really. I just made everyone look a little funny in a cartoonish way.

The truth is, I originally intended to mess up the look of everyone’s face in this watercolor, but I guess I forgot because I inked the paper before I painted it. I’m doing the same with the one I’m about to work on now. I blame not thinking straight on BRAIN SURGERY! It’s been a great excuse I’ve been using lately.

I already inked this one, too. I may paint on it today, but it’s already 10:00 AM and I’m a little sleepy.

The other day, I bought a couple of frames for the smaller watercolors that are supposed to arrive soon. The bigger pieces have to be done custom by my framer in Glendale (Jeff Kies). That’s always a pain in the ass because of dropping off the art and then picking up the finished pieces. I have to time it right before the show, and it takes him about a month because he’s so busy. And I think he also puts it off until the last minute because I’ll tell him, “No hurry.” But that’s on me.  I never know when I’m going to drive into LA, so it’s always hard to say.

I’m going there (LA) soon to pick up a few pieces from Craig Krull Gallery to show at Melissa Morgan Fine Art in Palm Desert. I wish I could spend time dropping off the paper pieces for Jeff to frame, but I haven’t even started on either of them yet. They’re bigger, so they will take a while. Then I have to plan two more trips to LA. …and I absolutely hate driving.

I’m hoping to get clearance to drive soon. I’m seeing the neurosurgeon tomorrow to get my sutures out. It might be too soon to drive, but I’ll see what he says. They are actually staples, so I think it’s going to hurt a bit. But I’ve been through worse.

After this new watercolor, I have five more pieces to go. Two of them are watercolors and three are oil paintings. One of the oil paintings hasn’t even been started yet. It’s drawn on the surface (a gessoboard), but no paint has been applied yet. It might be the one I like least. It’s my brother and I as kids with our first dog. We’re also sitting in our custom-made chairs, which my great-grandfather made for us. He was an upholsterer.

Once I finish all the art for the show, I have a few other plans, like making a short promotional video, putting it up on Instagram, and throwing together a webpage for the show. Then, I’m going to have to start thinking about what I want to do for my VIP packages. I don’t know if I can outdo what I’ve done in the past. The last one was maybe over the top. So now what? I’m kind of stuck, especially because I am not thinking clearly or strategically.