Art Catalog Envy

I recently received a Dick Blick Art Supply catalog in the mail. And of course I want probably a quarter of the stuff in there. It just looks like fun. It is almost more tempting than candy. Some of it is so super expensive though. And then I think, "Will I ever use this stuff? Will I actually sit down and create something? Is it worth it?" I don't know.

I would love to do some more batiking. I loved batiking and fabric painting in college. I still have some silk paintings that I would like to finish someday. Batiking material is not super expensive. You can buy the fabric at your local store. Dye is somewhere between 1.50 to 3.00 per color, the wax is $7 a pound, the tools are $8 for a set of three tjanting needles. Soda ash and salt are cheap, and I could built my own frame like we used in college. One thing Evangel taught me was how to do things for less. They never had the best equipment. We pinched corners and invented new techniques in cramped quarters. At least until my last year there when we had the new Fine Arts Building.

I want to do something again. But then I have this inner fight, that other things are more important, that no one really cares that I do this, that I'm not any good, etc. Why do I let those thoughts get the best of me. If I enjoy it, and it makes me a whole person, why not do something like this? I don't know. Maybe I feel guilty about wanting to do something for myself. Who knows.