These are small...

3” by 5” gel plate prints.

I had this small gel plate so took it with me to do art at my art group (rather than the big one I normally use).

A new group of craft people were joining, and we had not been given any information where this new group was going to be. So there was uncertainty.

Our art group has been going 10 years now.

Turned out the craft people were in the room next to us, but had to go in and out through our room and between our tables to reach the facilities and get their frequent teas and stuff, and even came into our art space to use their mobile phones...

Then they stopped at our tables to ask what we were doing etc etc etc, stopped by me also. But by time I looked up and answered the gel print I was doing was now too dry to take a print from. That was me very grumpy, because I had so many wasted prints by now, and jumpy because strangers kept stopping and trying to talk to us.

Also it was far too noisy for me and my cochlear processor. And with that and my ‘hearing’/brain trying to compute what was being said by these strangers, totally tired me out and flared up my fibromyalgia.

Then, husbands of the craft people came in to collect them, but they were early and so crowded round our art tables attempting to talk with us.

Our art group space was totally invaded. The others were not at all happy either.

Because there was too many people for me and the constant traffic of talking strangers going in and out of our art space (normally there is absolutely no one else there in that room except for us, so it is quiet, and this suits me), but this Piccadilly Circus of traffic of people and noise of all these voices left me agitated because my brain is continuing to try and work out what was said by the strangers. I don’t mix with people a lot or get involved in noisy busy situations, because of this.

I couldn’t settle when I got home. I am kicking the bedsheets all night, my legs cannot settle. Popeye took off to the kitchen because he wasn’t getting any sleep.

This morning I didn’t do any art or gel prints because I just couldn’t settle to do it. So, the photo here is of the ones I did yesterday. I was attempting something different. I was using caran d’ache neoart crayons. They are water soluble. So I was spraying the gel plate with water, and then applying the crayon. It was just an experiment, but a very frustrating one yesterday because of all the interruptions our art group encountered.

Anyway here is a photo of the better ones. The rest are rubbish and I don’t bin stuff but I will be binning these.

You can see the gel plate, bottom left is still stained with the neoart crayons. It is not coming off, not even with sprays of water, nor washing up liquid. So I need to find out how to clean that.

I spent most of the day meditating to put myself back on an even keel. Popeye was very happy with that and has been blissfully asleep on me.

That wind outside is seriously scary...
the tiny crescent moon is being blown across the darkening evening sky and my hawthorn tree is trying to reach out and catch it... (see extra)

Thank you.
Take care x