work in progress

Well. Since my last posting, my husband received word that he GOT the job! That was Thursday. And I've lost my cell phone (same day) so I don't have numbers for a bunch of the people I'd like to call with the good news.
I haven't set aside this piece despite the past six weeks of abyssmal tension -- six weeks of trying to help, getting angry, feeling selfish, and unfortunately some weepy short-tempered gracelessness that gradually gave way to a sense of resignation, if not genuine peace. Most of my good energy had to be channeled into my husband and son, as much as I'm able to do that, and I learned a couple things - one, that I needed this experience in order to find out how well I maintain balance under pressure over time (not a five-star rating this time, I'm afraid); two, that there is a level of support I can provide for my husband without it tripping his pride mechanism, though it's a subtle operation.

So I'm painting the text piece, to increase its continuity with the background and relieve some of the horizontal tension it presents. I've done a fair amount of machine quilting, and have started hand-quilting and applique at various spots, as well as some tentative beading in one section. I ripped out a bunch of text on the reveal, and re-wrote that. And just today I stumbled across some erotic symbolism that will work GREAT with this piece because it doesn't involve any nudity or obvious cliches. I'm giving thought to a central figure, a "diver" in kind of a bas-relief doll form (I have a woman's torso shape made of bone that I bought at a bead shop in south Minneapolis, as well as a pair of bronze hands; I found a flattish mask pin at the nearby thrift store that I can rework into a face. I don't know if the figure is a good idea yet, but I'll sketch something out and see how it fits.)

Things are better. Pretty soon I'll get a bicycle, apply for grad school, buy some seeds for the garden and start teeball on Monday nights with my son. My husband is relaxing gradually -- he actually slept through the night last night -- and has allowed as how it might be nice if we went to dinner in a week or two. And so it goes.