Stuck... Still STUCK.... or Stuck Again!

I know we all go through down times, periods of time when our art muse has abandoned us and we sit in the studio wasting time, not supplies. I've attempted a few things, got several little projects going, but for the most part, I've been turning my back on the studio art supplies and spending all my time on the computer.

Now the computer is a GOOD thing, for sure. Talk about the luxury of being able to research anything at any time of day or night! I absolutely love researching - I spend a great deal of my time doing our family genealogy....

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well, I started this post on July 6th and today it is now August 21st. So much for posting monthly, at the very least!

One of the reasons I do genealogy is the simple truth that I love researching! I'm not a scientist type, but a visual artist. As long as I can visualize the past by bringing it to life with my research, I am quite happy with myself and what I am doing. Indeed, my grandfather started me on this path way back in the early 1950's when he told me that we had Mayflower ancestors. Not that I really grasped the full import of that - of course, some people find NO importance in that - but I knew he believed it was an important piece of our family history.

Pop was also the family photographer and probably a historian in his own way. He was an amazing gardener, bird watcher, teacher, photographer and so much more. He began painting from his own black and white photographs when my grandmother became ill. He was in his 80's by that time. Pop was her caretaker and since they were home bound, he decided to learn how to paint. My mother said he probably painted over 50 paintings, giving them to his children, grandchildren and friends. I have two of his paintings and am honored to have them. This one is my favorite - a typical Minnesota wintery scene.

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Now it is August 22nd! I got side-tracked helping a 4th cousin twice removed do his family ancestry chart! Research on his family is difficult because the RC church records for his family home town (Valla/Wallern, now in Burgenland, Austria) have not yet been digitized. He's lucky that he still lives in Burgenland so he can go to the church and the government for church & civil records!

Anyway, this is how it often goes. I start exploring one member of the family, get side-tracked by a new bit of information about someone else, and go off exploring in detail some tiny bit of information that I think might be helpful. It's a full-time job, genealogy! Never a dull moment when you have a huge family to examine! Branches "go every which way from Sunday," as my mom used to say!

More another day!