Gypsy

Gypsy, a photo by megan_n_smith_99 on Flickr.

I've been under the weather for the last week. I had a ruptured ovarian cyst. I hope this is not too much information but if you've had one before you know what I mean. This is my 4th and not nearly as bad as the 1st - just a small cyst --so I've just been taking it easy. I feel better now, just a bit tired. I know it's sweltering hot most places in the U.S. so I am glad Seattle remains cool but none of us would mind a bit more sunshine.

I've been reading more than painting. I read A.S. Byatt's The Children's Book - which I loved. It's almost 900 pages but I still did not want it to end. Parts of it were inspired by the Life of E. Nesbit, though she made a lot of changes too. Well, I loved E. Nesbit's books growing up (and still do.) So then I read a Nesbit bio: A Woman of Passion: The Life of E. Nesbit, 1858--1924 by Julia Briggs. I enjoyed that too, though I am not sure all readers would find it as approachable as the fictionalized version. I've always liked biographies so I found it approachable. Now I am re-reading Carol Goodman's The Lake of Dead Languages, about the dark misadventures of girls attending a boarding school with an emphasis on the classics. At the same time I am listening to another Goodman book, The Drowning Tree. I guess this might confuse me but I have read them both before. I like to listen to audio books while I knit and paint and things.

There seems to be a whole subset of literature about students of the classics going off the deep end. Maybe I will address that in my next post!

The painting:
Gypsy
5 x 7 inches
Watercolor and ink on paper
Available on Etsy.