I have an itch for a creative outlet that is in desperate need of scratching.  I’ve been hovering over some of my favorite art and photography sites lately, longing to create, but there just doesn’t seem to be enough extra time in the day, week, month, year, lifetime to do it.  I doodle from time to time, sure, but nothing substantial lately.  (You can see some of my past doodlings here and here)  I’ve been longing to create some grand masterpiece of a photo, but I haven’t touched my camera.  Well, I did snap a couple of the full moon a couple nights back, but I still can’t get the settings quite right to capture what my mind’s eye sees.  The brief euphoria of actually getting paid to shoot has finally passed and I’m looking around desperately for my next fix.  Serious withdrawals here!

With school drawing to a close, I am tempted to take a photography class over the summer.  The kidlets will be gone for most of the summer save a week here and there, so I will (should) have lots of free time on my hands.  Mr. W and I plan to do a little traveling, sans children, but our planning never seems to turn out just right, so I won’t hold my breath.  I should take a class.  I want to take a class.  If I don’t sign up soon, though, I know me…I won’t do it at all.  On top of that, if I don’t like the class for whatever reason, I won’t go, and that’s just a waste of money. 

My little spark of my dream came and went so fast it left me spinning and now I’m not sure what to do.  I set up my website, but haven’t touched it in months.  I’ve been meaning to draw a new tattoo for me, and possibly take a couple other samples up to my local (fabulous) tattoo artist in hopes he might display some of my stuff, but I just haven’t gotten a real spark of inspiration.  I’m in a rut and I’m stuck and I don’t really know how to get out of it.  Or maybe it’s just that I haven’t had a reason to get out of it, or I just don’t want to get out of it…hmmm…has my perpetual whininess found a new home?  When allmost else is on plus side, is my subconscious sabotaging me to maintain a place to throw tantrums?  Maybe I should schedule another reiki appointment!

One of my friends, Y, asked me to draw her a tattoo recently and I just finished it.  I’m actually pretty proud of this one, as a tattoo or just as a drawing:

I changed a couple things since scanning this, like the lump (which is in fact her left leg under her skirt) in her lap.  I added some folds in the dress to make it actually look like her leg, rather than a strange, almost inappropriate lump. 

She is still unsure about her colors, and I left it up to the tattoo artist to work out the shading and stuff on the wings to give them more dimention and life, but all in all, I’m pretty proud of this one. 

It has actually spurred another request by another friend and co-worker to help her out with her tattoo that she isn’t very happy with.  Could this be a new calling for me?  At the very least, it’s a hobby that I enjoy.  A friend, and fellow tattoo lover mentioned a while back that I should take some of my drawings up to the tattoo shop and see if they’d be willing to put them up as flash for any incoming clients.  The artist, R, that we go to actually started out that way…sketching in the shop (which was then a garage shop) until one of the main guys noticed his abilities with a pencil and suggested he try it on skin.  He never turned back.  R is one lucky guy.  He loves his work, truly, and he is very talented. 

I’m working on something for myself and I will post it when I get something solid.  Until then, at least I can put my marks on my friends!