How Della Lost Her Groove

If you have been following this blog any time at all you may have noticed that a new artwork goes up every week, usually on Monday or Tuesday at the latest. But I had nothing last week and this week there is nothing again. This morning I was playing with my camera and took a photo of my desktop,  These are photos that I took in the garden last week. That is about as creative as I am going to get for a while. But don't give up on me altogether. Stick around and you may see a painting of this iris, called Superstition and described as "black."  It is really a deep, deep purple, though it does look black when the sun is not shining directly on it.

As to why there is no artwork, it is due to a malady that hits most creatives at one time or another. Some people, those who are very optimistic and confident - or perhaps unrealistic and delusional - refer to it as a" block," - artist's block, writer's block. This, however assumes that the disease is light and temporary, when in fact it is terminal and devastating.  The closest thing I can come to describing the condition is what happened to my computer this morning.  My new wireless mouse, my pride and joy, suddenly stopped working. It probably didn't help that I had dropped it on the floor earlier, but to me that seems like something of an overreaction.  The little arrow sat lifelessly on the corner of my screen while I shoved the mouse this way and that, pushing buttons I hadn't known were there.  Then my dear husband, the house genius, picked up the mouse, removed the battery and put it right back again. That doesn't make sense, does it? But then the little arrow began dancing across my screen again as if its life had been miraculously restored.   So that is what it takes.  Maybe my battery doesn't need to be recharged, just jiggled around a little. On the other hand, maybe I need a complete overhaul.

Wish I could tell you that I have decided to take a long vacation in some exotic, undisclosed location, but I am not a fiction writer.  A change of scene would be good, but there are too many responsibilities keeping me here right now.  And that may be the problem -  my muse got tired of living responsibly and went off on vacation without me. Hope it isn't an extended one, I miss her...