|
This is Day 3 of decreased swelling and less pain in my hand from the broken wrist. I am daring to feel encouraged. I am even typing with two hands, which I've been unable to do for over two months. Here is a tile I began last evening and finished this morning. Both tangles are new to me:  Tangles are: Tri-Snail and Zen Jellies, both by Jenna Black. And an old favorite, Beadlines. i heard the sound of crickets last evening for the first time since last year. to be more specific, i heard one lone cricket, and then about a block or so later, a second lone cricket. there is something about their sound that makes me so happy. today i experimented with drawing a cricket (thus, the "hope" part of the title, as it was only the second day since i broke my wrist (mid-june) that i began to feel i was getting better. more about that later... here is the very silly result--the first sketch is a cartoon cricket (from the jiminy cricket species), and the second one only a tad more realistic. both were done from youtube videos that i found when i typed in "how to draw a cricket."   OF COURSE, NO REAL CRICKET IS COLORED LIKE THIS. I WAS USING MY RAINBOW LEAD PENCIL TO DRAW IT, AND THEN WENT OVER IT WITH A BLACK MICRON 01. below is my contribution to IAST 209 (the "it's a string thing" challenge). i was so happy to feel well enough to try this tonight. this makes two days of less swelling and pain, i'm almost afraid to feel hopeful, but i'm going with it tonight!  Tangle: Spoken. Gold Gelly Roll Metallic pen on black tile, with white prismacolor highlights. my last post was about in-somnia, but last night before bed i did a pre-somnia tangle and, for the first time, didn't wake up in the middle of the night. i'd been wanting to try the tangle "kandysnake," which was new to me. once i put that one on the tile, it cried out to be joined by "footlites," (one of my favorite tangles) and then i connected them with "beadlines."  THE HAND UPDATE:  a page from my journal. i still have to wear the splint at least 80% time, but last week it was 100%. it's still incredibly painful but it's less painful than last week when i was beside-myself-uncomfortable.
i think things are heading in the right direction, even though it could still be weeks before i am fully functional again. two months ago today was the break.  after an evening and night of bad wrist pain, i woke at 3.45 a.m. today and did this for the next hour. -->
on reflection, i'm amused at how perfectly it captures what was going on with me and why i couldn't sleep. sometimes tangling is almost too revealing! and yes, that was it for total sleep last night. i'm suddenly seeing slow progress in the wrist/arm/hand, with less pain. i was able to tangle a bit longer today. hurrah! at first, i did a monotangle:  i did this in a pre-strung zentangle journal so i was following their string, which ran off the upper left-hand corner of the journal page. after finishing--i thought--i headed out to a yoga class. when i got home i looked again and wanted to fill in the rest of the string lines, which can be seen faintly on the page above. so i did, with this result:  tangles: bysomnus and ambler (ambler around the edge). broken wrist series. done on a journal page, micron 01 and 03. I like this better. it's not great, but it IS great to be able to tangle again. in fact, I am thrilled. I just hope not to "overdo," and set myself back. in a word: NO. the last ten days, since the cast came off, have been outrageously painful as i work hard to get my hand/wrist/arm back in shape. i've been too discouraged and too tired to draw. but today i managed a few minutes and produced this "half-assed" result. it's from a journal with some pre-strung tiles in it. this was literally all i could manage today.  certainly not my best work but at least i did something. micron 01 and 05, graphite, in a zentangle journal. i am keeping this short because, let's face it, i'm whining. and no one wants to read a post by a whiner.
the end.  micron01, prismacolor pencils this is my 3rd cast, technically a splint with velcro straps that i can remove to shower, etc. i was very excited to get it. feels like--and is--progress, but for some reason, my hand and wrist look far worse than they did in cast #2. both are very swollen. see the picture in my last post to compare. i'm told this is typical at this stage but i feel like i'm traveling around with a Frankenstein Hand. i'm doing hand exercises several times a day and now, for the first time since the break, am in real pain. hence, no Zentangle® or blogging. but i did manage to draw this. and yes, it actually looks that way. it doesn't resemble my other hand at all. "nevertheless, she persisted."
i am persisting. i'm determined to get my hand back. |
ABOUT ME I'm a textile artist (traditional rug hooking, punch needle rug hooking, and other textile arts), a long-time meditator, a certified meditation teacher and coach, and focused on learning about the interplay of art, creativity, and mindfulness every day. 
Certified, 2021
Certified Unified Mindfulness Coach Level I, 2024
Certified Zentangle® Teacher, 2013
Certified by AmyOxford.com at The Oxford Rug Hooking School, 2016
Categories
All
Archives
March 2025
SITES TO WATCH:
Insight Meditation Society Oxford Rug Hooking School Zentangle: The Official Site Green Mountain Rug Hooking Massachusetts Tarot Society 
|
RSS Feed