After Accomplishment Comes Rest

The past few weeks have been a blur of activity, as I attempted to finish six paintings, line up artists and volunteers for our new ADC gallery installation at the CPO (149 S. Lake Ave, Albany) and achieve world peace.  Okay...I'm only kidding on that last one, but wouldn't that have been awesome??  I would have fit world peace on my list had I known how to accomplish it, but I'm still working on that!  Oh, and in that time St. Patrick's Day came, along with our most recent CMT support group meeting, which was extremely informative.  So, needless to say there has been A LOT going on!

I've felt neglectful of this blog as the weeks went by, and I did attempt to write a post here or there...but unfortunately I just didn't have the resources left within me.  One thing I've learned in having CMT, is that your energy only stretches so far before something snaps...so I had to set some priorities for myself, and put certain activities on hold.  But now that the paintings are done, the gallery is installed and my head didn't explode in the process, I figured it was time to fill you in on what has kept me so busy!

First of all, let me tell you more about the CPO gallery, which raises money for CMT research...a very worthy cause!  Yesterday we installed our new gallery called 'Pieces of Me', which meant weeks of contacting artists to be in the new show, a lot of paperwork to sign in new pieces of art, and disassembling last year's gallery 'Starry Night' in order to hang new artwork in its place.  As you can imagine, I'm exhausted.  I'm actually typing this post from bed as sitting up in a chair right now is not an option (thank goodness for laptops...isn't technology great?)  And as I have always liked a challenge, I decided to paint butterflies in both my paintings to represent all of the change I have been experiencing.  Wonderfully symbolic, I'm sure you'll agree,  yet something a little less detailed might have made the past few weeks easier!  Ah, well...like I said, I like a challenge.  And since my first painting Breaking Free from Life's Chrysalis came out so well (seen above in its finished state,) I decided to paint my second and much LARGER painting with seven butterflies.  Yes, I said seven.  And as I struggled to finish that one on time, I started wondering if I didn't need therapy...but I digress!  I did like the end result despite how long it took to finish, and I titled it The Gathering. 

Though nothing could have been accomplished in the end without the help of my wonderful friends and volunteers (you know who you are!) who stuck it out all day, and helped 'Pieces of Me' become a reality...it went better than I could have ever expected!  We have some new and wonderful artwork to enjoy, and even more wonderful is that we already sold our first piece of art.  That means we have started the ball rolling once again, and raised our first amount of money for the CMTA!  If that doesn't tell me that all of these changes I have gone through were meant to be, I don't know what does.  To all of you who helped yesterday and to all of the artists who joined our gallery, thank you again!

And after all my butterflies were painted, I wanted to complete four small paintings for the Broadway Art Center's new gallery, which was installed today (corner of Broadway and Maiden.)  That meant on top of all the last minute details to prepare for the CPO installation, I still had to concentrate on painting...but I'm glad I did!  The BAC is such a great space...many talented local artists show their work there, and I am very proud to be a part of all that.  And so I painted some more...and as this gallery is called 'Honoring our Heritage' I let my Irish roots lead the way.  The two paintings shown on the left are titled Love and Friendship Reign Forever, and Eternity.  The paintings at the end of this post are titled  Forever One, and A Reason to Dance.  I think it's fitting that I began my first Irish painting on St. Patrick's Day.

Which brings me back to the other important happening, which was the CMT support group meeting.  I have to say, it was one of the best ones we've had!  Group leader M outdid herself this time, and lined up some great guest speakers:  Laurie Lasky, District Manager from Allard USA (a bracing company,) and Orthotists David Misener from CPO and Ken Cornell from Cornell Prosthetics/Orthotics.  Ken gave a great presentation involving different types of CMT and their symptoms, and the bracing options that exist today to help people with CMT succeed.  Not only that, but group members were given opportunities to try on new types of braces, ask questions and share experiences.  Ken gave me things to look for in the future, when I take the next steps to finding out what type of CMT I actually have.  Now I feel a little more confident in moving forward!

But for now I am resting, because rest is what's needed.  Though as tired and sore as I am, I wouldn't have changed the past few weeks for anything...as they involved all important milestones along my new path, leading the way toward new and exciting goals.  It's always good to work toward our goals, even if we need to lay down from time to time...for that is what gives us the strength and the courage to accomplish each one!