Our Home: How we shall miss you (Also this is an old picture… We still have a crap ton of snow here) *grumble*

So, yesterday we were supposed to find out if the sale of our home was actually going through or not… We have been up in the air so much in the last few weeks, thinking that it wasn’t going to go through, then thinking that it was, then no, then maybe, then… Well you get the idea.  The potential buyers have been jumping through hoops all over the place trying to make this happen, and yet here we sit, a day after we were supposed to find out if it was a for sure yes or a for sure no, and it is still sitting at a maybe…. AHhhHhHhHHHh.  Melissa (me) is going crazy with anticipation. We should hear today, our realtor promised… Please please please make it so.  I need to get on with things!  IF everything goes through and we get the yes, we have 1 month, ONE, to get the new place completely renovated and get ourselves packed up and out of here. Stress bubble growing wildly in all directions!  However, it will be pretty wonderful to finally get on with life after having this baby up for sale for nearly 12 months.  Relief.

Portolan Chart

Who here has heard of Portolan charts before? I certainly hadn’t until yesterday.  I have been doing some research for my Camino project, getting ideas for how to portray oceans in my painting of the first day (my travels from Calgary to Paris).  Also, because of the medieval roots of the Camino, I thought that I would really like to utilize the ideas of olden day map makers.  In my internet travels I have come across some very wonderful ideas, one of which is a type of map called a Portolan chart.  I was looking through Google images and I saw this wicked cool chart with lines criss-crossing the page in all sorts of different directions and I LOVED the look of it so much that I decided that I would consider using it in my painting.  It sat with me for a few days, and my mind started getting more and more curious as to what those lines might possibly be.  Finally last night I did some research, may as well know what I am painting… Right?  So, the Portolan chart is a nautical chart first used in Italy and later in Spain (sweet, since that is where this journey of paintings is heading toward) and Portugal (among other places).  It has 32 lines radiating from various “centers”, criss-crossing each other all over the map, and was used for ocean navigation.  Maybe you think it’s cool, maybe not, but now you know just in case it ever comes up in conversation (which I am definitely sure it will SOME day 😛 )

Day One (In Progress)

For those of you who would like an update on the progress of my Camino project, here is a sneak peek.  This painting corresponds to the first chapter in part 2 of my book, so there is a story, and I will tell you what it is when I am finished!  I am liking it so far, what do you think?