My Latest Project

Part I: His Woodness

The wound is healing nicely, and he doesn't seem to be in much pain. The stitches are scheduled to come out next Thursday if everything continues to progress as well as it has. I honestly think he's had more trouble adjusting to the cone around his head than the loss of his leg. He gets around really well, but his movements these last few days suggest to me that he may be experiencing some muscle soreness as his body adapts to hopping around on only three legs.

He looks good, whether he's feeling it or not.

I'm thankful his physical condition has not been much cause for concern these last few days. I am, however, a little upset by his demeanor. I made the mistake of reading about amputation and the recovery process online, and it was mentioned that dogs sometimes go through a bout of depression after surgery.  I don't know if that's what is going on here, or if I'm just over-analyzing his behavior. I didn't even know dogs could be depressed. He's just not his usual Woodness, but I suppose that's to be expected after a major operation like he's had. If nothing else, his appetite is as big as ever, and that gives me peace of mind. 

On a sidenote, tomorrow is Wood's ninth birthday. :)

Part II: The Project

What I've got in the works.

As some of you may have noticed, 2012 has been a big year for my family and me. With that in mind, I decided I wanted to commemorate some memorable moments by painting a quilt. I learned when I was younger how to sew, crochet, and embroider, but never how to quilt, so I'll just have to hit the canvas instead.

Fortunately, I happened to have six 8x10 canvases on hand, and I thought they'd serve well as patches. I painted each a different color, and the first event I chose to memorialize was my dad's heart transplant. I didn't think to take pictures of the design process, which was really pretty simple, but I will try to remember to do that on my next piece. 

Spoiler alert.

Patch #1: the finished piece.

Right now, I am in the beginning stages of patch #2, which will symbolize my time at the South Bend Museum of Art, as well as the things I learned in my painting classes with Katherine Schmidt and David Lester Learn (both fantastic artists). I'm kind of going for a gritty, comic-book style with this series of paintings, so hopefully that will translate on the canvas when all is said and done. I think I'll just try and have some fun with it in the meantime. :)

More later...