Self-Portrait Party?

I've been very busy the last few days, as I've decided I will finish the rewrite of my novel for my birthday. The blessed day is coming up in just another week or two, which means I'm spending my days hunched over my computer, trying the best I can to circumvent tangents so that I might finally pull together the last few chapters.

Exciting times!

Unfortunately, slaving over the book means that I've needed to let a few things slide...

Sorry roommates, for the dirty dishes you may have noticed in the sink. And sorry friends and family, for not responding right away to your phone calls and emails.

I also extend my sincerest apologies to a small handful of half-worked canvases, piles of t-shirts and sweatshirts that are begging to be embroidered, and my sketchbook, which hasn't been touched by a pen in over two days. It's not that I'm wanting to neglect all of you, it's just that although I have unbounded levels of creativity, there are only so many hours in a day...

Sigh.

Oh, I should say sorry, as well, to the one or two of you who have managed to get through the sludge of my postings the last few days. I am aware that they have been a bit... sloppy?

(Wait... this is assuming that there are actually one or two of you who actually read my postings?!)

Anyway, although I might be winning the fight against tangents in my novel, I clearly need to learn how to get to the point in my blog posts.

Sooo...

My parents are visiting in a couple of weeks, and I'm trying to figure out our activities. The Brooklyn Botanical gardens, if the weather permits, are a given, as is Sunday brunch. The choir that one of my roommates is a part of is having a concert one of the nights my folks are here... I'm also envisioning a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. But what to do with the rest of our time? Something we've never done before?

This morning my friend posted a link on his Facebook page about a woman who had a self-portrait party with her family. (thanks again, Bruno!)

After paintings a few hardwood blocks with a base color, they got to work on the portraits. Here's what they did, straight from the horse's mouth:

"We then gathered acrylic paints, paint brushes, paper plates (to use as individual palettes), and set up tables to give each person in the family a workspace. We also had a couple of big mirrors for people to use for reference.

We let people choose their blocks one by one, then everyone got down to work. Some people used the computer to take a picture of themselves to refer to. Everyone was pretty into it as soon as they found out what we were doing. The guys ended up taking the longest on their portraits.

I love seeing how people interpret their own appearance - the features they choose to emphasize, the details they have to include to make an authentic portrait."

Ha! I love that the guys spent the longest on their portraits! But I won't write any more about this, as that would be yet another tangent... (um, about narcissism?)

Anyway, I love the idea of my family sitting around drawing self-portraits. Portraits of each other could be interesting, too.

Hmmm...

Why stop with my family?! I've lived with many roommates over the years, from many countries. I wish I would have had the idea earlier to ask each of them for a self-portrait.

Well, I can start now!

(I swoon writing this, but I can imagine that my roommates might be rolling their eyes? 'Cause maybe, in addition to leaving my dirty dishes in the sink- I swear there are only a couple of coffee cups, two bowls and a couple of spoons-, I'll become that roommate who asks for portraits...)

Yep. That's my post for the day. Just the one. Pray that I finish my book soon, for if I don't, who knows what my next post will look like! (Stream-of-consciousness, here I come... James Joyce, eat your heart out!)

OK, I need to get back to working on my book. I'll have to save family/roommate portrait sessions for later.

Oh, man... That reminds me of the week in high school that I worked as a telemarketer selling portrait packages at Olin Mills Portrait Studios. Yikes.

But that's a story (ahem, tangent) for another post...

Click here to read more about a self-portrait party! (The post is from way back in January, but it's still fun!)