Happy New Year!!!

Whoo hoo!!  It's a new year and I am hitting the ground running!  Well, ok, maybe not running; actually I'm sitting on an ice pack because in my new year's nesting frenzy last week I managed to wrench my back.  This sitting still crap I do not like.  But that's ok, because it's giving me lots of time to plan my course of action for this upcoming year.

It is going to be such a great year!  I am giddy with excitement over the projects I'll be working on.  I was accepted as a participating artist for the Ballet West Shoe-In again this year.  Above is the sketch I submitted.  I was really worried about submitting this quickly thrown together sketch, but I guess my description of the project won them over.  This is what I told them:

I will interpret my swan pair using both fiber and paper.  The bodies will be painted, and then collaged with vintage papers.  The necks and heads will be formed from locally sourced wool roving, needle-felted over a wire armature.  The wings will also be formed of needle-felted wool, with very lacy, crochet feathers.  Finally, the swans will float on a pool of resin, giving the appearance of water, through which can be seen plant life, rocks, and maybe a fish or two.

Now I just need to pick up my pointe shoes and I can get started.  They are due before February 1, so it's going to be a busy month!  I'll track my progress here like I did last year.

As I look forward to the months ahead, more than just January will be busy.  Most of my year will be filled with the Lake Bonneville Coral Reef Project.   I will be doing lots of crocheting this year!  As I plan a structure for the year, I'm looking at my big projects, the shop, this blog, and home and family life.  I've decided to take the blogging down to three days a week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday.  I want to have a dependable schedule here, for you and me both.  I want you to know what days I'll show up, and having a schedule helps me to be more efficient and better at what I do.

My relationship with time and to-do lists is something that I will really be examining this year.  Even with my calendar filling up already, I want to approach this year at a slower pace.  I've been thinking a lot about how as a culture we view time as such a commodity.  We spend time, pass time, save time.  I'm trying to get my mind around a different view of time, but even the English language shapes that view.  I can't think of any words to use to describe time in a way that doesn't quantify it.  In my experience of time, I know that it is fluid and changing; it is subjective and not fixed.  We've all experienced time either flying by or conversely, crawling.  I want to learn how to create languid days, even when I'm on a time-crunch.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on time and to-do lists!  How do you set a slower pace for yourself?  What are your plans for the upcoming year?  Have you made any resolutions?  And if so, do you have any tips for keeping to them?