Saturday, I took a long drive to buy art supplies. Admittedly, I liked it better when Bower and Bower was up the street. It was an art supply store that carried commercial, fine art and drafting supplies. Apparently there was a large clientele in the area at the time. I'm guessing, with the people retiring, moving away and such, the wonderful local company gave up the business. And it doesn't help that people were interested in computer aided drafting and rendering. Now the art store where I make my purchases doesn't have a convenient location, but they have excellent selections! So it's in the car I go!
Given the pace of the week, a Saturday or Sunday, in between running errands, cleaning and laundry, I like to take time to render. But I've noticed my brushes were getting "gunked up" no matter how I cleaned them. I took inventory Saturday morning, and figured I would take some time to clean brushes rather than paint. I started the process and after about an hour of cleaning a couple of them, I had to get to the other tasks. Time ticks by faster than you think, so I came back to it later that day and then again on Sunday. Wet brushes; that means until they dry, no painting...humph! Not the best use of my time, but what choice do I have? I have other works in pastel I could work on, but a trip back to the art store because I bought the wrong length stretcher bar interrupted that time as well.
In terms of spending the weekend being creative, the time was a bust! But in terms of learning to be careful with my more expensive tools and most needed, the lesson was invaluable. I spent a lot of time driving to this place, but I learned a lesson in the way the art supply business works. I also found a better brush cleaner and tried it out this morning. Though I wanted to squeeze in a few minutes painting today, I did a better job of cleaning my brushes. Sometimes, we have to surrender our joy for a short time to make better use of it later. And that's the way it is in life: you endure some difficulties and take what seems to be needless time, to prepare for the next time.
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