Tulip Forest Cat + a mini-melt down painter's block

Tulip Forest Cat  Oil on cradled wood  8" x 10" 

I had some kind of mini-melt down/painter's block last week.  My Nephews were scheduled to stay over night Thursday (first time stay over) and doncha know I was excited.  I tried to paint on Tuesday and it was awful.  It was a bad painting day and I had to wipe it.  Feeling vaguely intimidated but still excited about seeing my nephews, I applied myself to admin tasks.

These guys are the bee's knees.

They arrived and we had great fun.  By Friday I was completely wiped out.  After recovering, painting somehow missed my to-do list. It was suddenly crucially important to have an area in my home designated for framing.  This lead to a three day spectacle of cleaning and re-arranging.  Yes, apparently my meltdowns can include cleaning, bonus?  But my bad painting day on Tuesday was taking it's toll.  Honestly, I forgot how bad a bad painting day could be. (Not counting the days where one paints and doesn't realize "it's bad" until much later, LOL)  ......while re-arranging, I had the most dreadful sense of having lost all artistic ability, not fun!  Finally today, I painted "Tulip Forest Cat" thinking it would be good to return to familiar subjects (Coco kitty! Tulips!) and it was. I'm happy with it.  Next time my little nephews come over, I must make a concerted effort to not be such a spaz.