The Scenic Route Through The Affordable Care Act Online Registration

I'm sure you've heard the old saying, "A giraffe is a horse which was designed by a committee."

I'm all for universal health care. As a newly single, self-employed artist, this is like a dream come true. And, of course, I know that all new technological programs come with their share of glitches and bugs to be worked out. I was prepared to be frustrated the first time through the process, but I couldn't help share some of my experience. Fortunately for you, I'm not showing this in real time. This began 8:30 pm on Thursday and I was advised to give it up on 10:30 am Friday. Of course, there was some sleep time involved during that time period. 

The site is actually very easy to navigate. Super easy! It's just overloaded at the moment.

I was finally able to create my user name and password (both are complicated with upper and lower case letters, numbers and special symbols) and answer all the questions asked of me. My information was processed and it was announced that they could give me my eligibility results! Drumroll, please!

Or, maybe not!
Then I received an email message which I thought might give me the answers.

I  hope all of you experiencing this same thing are just being patient. I'll try again next week and will let you know what happens. Meanwhile... back to making art!

Another Glimpse Of The Big Picture

Obviously I'm standing in my own shadow as I photograph this. 

Further Details Of The Big Picture

From Green To Orange

"Orange Lizard" - digital collage

Remember that cute little lizard from yesterday? Well, I couldn't keep myself from playing with his photo. I love creating digital collages and producing unusual effects. This is the finished product, but below are all the layers and elements I used to create it.

Top Layer

Middle Layer - "Tangy Zoodle #35"

Bottom Layer - "Bomomo #018"

More Fun In The Studio

Yesterday was a bit cooler and working in my garage studio was pleasant. Since I hadn't been out there in awhile, some items had collected on my work surface; things to file away or store away later. One was a small shopping bag from the Telfair Art Museum gift shop that had beautiful, bright green tissue paper in it. Of course, I save all these things.

I extracted the tissue paper from the bag, one sheet at a time, and neatly folded each piece for better storage. When I pulled out the last piece, I was surprised to find a gift inside!

I think after my bad luck with traffic violations and a fender bender that perhaps he just happened by to offer me a better rate on car insurance. ;-)

Going Once, Going Twice, Sold?

Sometimes we starving artists have to take desperate measures to make ends meet. In my case, I'm offering up four of my original mixed media collages on the auction block. I figure getting some money for them is better than none at all and they may as well grace someone elses walls and give them pleasure. So, here are the four pieces I'm pushing with the links to their eBay auction sites. Thanks for taking a peek!

"Autumn Harvest"

"Autumn"

"Change of Seasons"

"Gingko Leaves"

Procrastination

The good thing about an artist is that they see the world in such an interesting way. The bad thing about an artist is that they see the world in such an interesting way. This ability to see "more" often leads to time lost. The shoe rack which I so proudly installed in my closet 10 months ago has come undone under the weight of my footgear. In disgust, I tossed the resulting mess into the middle of the floor and then couldn't help but photograph it. 

Then, I just had to turn the photograph into interesting artistic images. And, of course, I had to tell the rest of the world about it.

As a result, time has passed, but the shoes are still in a big pile in the middle of the floor of my bedroom. But don't you just love the way the reflective materials in some of my walking shoes captured and returned the flash? I guess this is just another way to stop and smell the roses. (No, I didn't actually "smell" the shoes.)

Maybe tomorrow I'll have the problem fixed.