Sue Clancy’s paper desk today

Here is a photo of what my desk looks like today. I’ve got lots of art projects going on – big hairy deadlines – but it’s too hot to draw or cut paper and glue it. I’ve been drinking iced tea by the gallon and so far I’ve not spilled tea on the paper. (whew!) The papers I glued earlier are drying slowly because we’re having a rare hot humid day in Washington. So here I am twiddling my virtual thumbs on this blog. And drinking my tea.

Typically I work a everyday on my projects no matter how I feel or what’s going on around me. I don’t think an artist has to “feel” a particular way in order to be creative, and I find that even if I’m “not in the mood” if I just start on a project pretty soon my brain is full of fun artistic stuff, the world falls away and time passes in a blur –  but today…. today my brain is packed with “it’s hot!” – so instead of my art projects I’m thinking cool thoughts and trying to get my brain off the “it’s hot!” mono-wagon.

What would a good bartender would put in my iced tea?  Who invented ice cube trays? I remember the metal trays my grandmother had when I was a kid…the trays had a lever that cracked the ice and enabled you to get a cube out. I stuck my tongue on the metal tray. Once.

If I’m not working on my art projects today at the very least I could draw my iced tea glass.

Naw…. it’s too hot.

See?! That’s very un-like me to brain (f)art like that. Usually I’ll happily draw anything.

What’s the weirdest thing I ever drew? Cow intestines. I was a biological illustrator once-upon-a-time and my cow-innards artwork illustrated a scientific article about bovine digestive systems. Believe it or not it was a fun project and, really, cow intestines aren’t weird…if you’re a cow.

Back to today; maybe I’ll leave my studio desk as it is and go read “Make Good Art” by Neil Gaiman. Usually that book is a jolt of “atta-girl you can do it! The world needs you!” which spurs me on in my art studio work.

In the meantime … will somebody please pass the ice cubes?