Hello Friends, I am finally writing a post nearly a month after surgery on my left thumb. A bone was removed from the thumb joint, tendons were taken from my wrist, and they were used to reconstruct the joint. They change the cast every 2 weeks, using a saw to cut it away. Underneath, my hand doesn’t look quite like a normal human hand right now. The meaty part of the thumb is flat and strange looking. Little by little, the pain is lessening, and I am now able to type, though I have to raise my left elbow and my shoulder cramps after a bit because of the position of my hand due to the shape of the cast.
Over the past month, I’ve been posting on the Patreon account fairly regularly. I can use voice-to-text for that, which makes it much easier. While I haven’t been able to record new mini-workshops as planned, I’ve been adding a lot of information, including life updates, PDFs of workshop notes and templates, and links to videos.
Just this week, I was shortlisted for two public art projects, which means I’ll be developing two proposals to be considered by separate committees. I will be documenting the process in detail for upper tiers on Patreon, sharing the process from how to apply for public art to developing a proposal to whatever the outcome is, whether I am selected for one of these opportunities or not. If I am, the proposal process will continue as the design is refined and approved. Actual fabrication will begin in the spring when I am more recovered. And if I am not selected, I will relax and seek more teaching opportunities through 2025.
For now, I’m trying to focus on healing, as well as dealing with some intense family matters. I hope to start moving into the garden studio in December, though that is coming up fast. I had hoped to get my act together to have a studio sale this winter, but I think that will have to wait for spring or summer. I have so many excess craft supplies and experimental artwork that needs to be redistributed, but it’s shoved all over the place.
In any case, I’m still taking it easy. The house is a mess, I’ve been in elastic-waist pants for a month, I can’t put my hair up or open anything (buttons, zippers, cans, ziplocks, doors…) and I drop and spill things repeatedly every day. Between the surgery and the state of the world, I can get quite grumpy. As of an ortho appointment on the 26th, I hope to be out of the cast, into something removeable. It’s all temporary, and I try to keep that in mind.
If, like me, you are feeling very scared and uncertain about what the future holds, please do join the Patreon. It’s a nice, cozy forum for sharing and I plan to do my best to fill the feed with ideas and inspiration because creating is my catharsis, and art is healing. We can get through this together. https://www.patreon.com/c/jkmosaic
