Let me make it up to you...

Hello readers, I hope you are still out there!

No, I'm not the greatest blogger.

First a short update - then a 'gift' of sorts.

Summer brought many fresh challenges and opportunities. During July, I did more teaching than usual -- 3 days a week in summer school for kids from 1st - 8th grade, 2 free art classes in town for ages 6-12, and several weekends of art activities for kids at our Saturday Farmers' Market.

At the same time, materials for the program were being moved around from people's basements, garages, and cars, sorted, and brought to a new storage area. I love teaching the kids, but there is an incredible amount of work and constant reorganization associated with having all the right materials in the right place at the right time.

Just before the summer classes started, I wound up with a quite nasty digestive situation which involved numerous tests and horrible drinks. Once we were in the thick of the teaching schedule, I wound up with a tangle of muscle spasms in my lower back, so things got a bit tricky for a while. I'm ok, it's just that with fibromyalgia, even the simplest things get far more complicated than one would hope. I've had serial flare-ups and sleep problems and often a complete and utter lack of energy. So I have fallen behind on almost everything, and have had to find a whole new level of patience I didn't even know I had. Will helps me as much as he can but he has not been feeling well either, so other than having the enjoyable work of teaching, I'd say it's been a pretty lame summer.

Anyways, as always, I'm pushing my art, because I actually believe it is uplifting and fun and sometimes challenging and thought provoking and deserves to be seen somewhere other than my hallway or cluttery office/studio. Here is a coupon code for free domestic shipping: SHIPMENOW. Just enter that upon purchasing whatever it is you would like from my etsy store at www.ranzangel.etsy.com and I'll be sure to get it out to you ASAP!

Oh and by the way I will write more soon about the upcoming fall studio tour, which I will be participating in for the first time this year.

(pictured: book mark activity, rain barrel project which I will share pictures of the actual rainbarrel when I get a chance... and flower pot painting at the Chestertown Farmers Market.)