The Art & Poetry of Mary Coleman

Today’s prompt was “fire”. I didn’t have a lot of time to draw this morning because I have a lot of things to do today. The title of this one is Rabbits in Purgatory based on an old painting I did years ago and have since lost. I did this one on iPad using Procreate. This drawing isn’t black and white, but I thought color represented fire better than grayscale would.

I got a new phone. It was time to upgrade on my plan and so I ordered an iPhone 16. The only thing I really wanted was a better camera for taking higher quality photos of my artwork and capturing time lapse videos of myself working on paintings. I could already take pretty good photos and videos with my old phone, but a camera upgrade is always a good thing for an artist.

It was a bit of drama getting my iPhone 16 to work because somehow I ordered it on a new line so it was attached to a different phone number than my old phone. I had to chat with support for about an hour to change the sim to my old number and get the new line cancelled. Now I can’t trade in my iPhone 14 because I would have to order a whole new phone and send the current 16 back as buyer’s remorse, only to receive a second one in the mail as an upgrade. As a result I am just going to pay the 100 dollars I have left on the old phone and give it to my uncle who is still using a much older iPhone.

I took a Ritalin yesterday. Very occasionally I utilize it when I have a lot to do in one day and most of it is things I don’t like to do. My psychiatrist prescribes it to me for ADHD but a 30 pill prescription lasts me about 6 months given how rarely I actually use it. It really helps me focus on disagreeable tasks but usually I prefer to use my ADHD coping mechanism toolbox as opposed to medication.

I cleaned the house yesterday. Well, the downstairs and my studio (I just tidied the studio not much cleaning was done there). We had guests for several days last week and the house was a mess. Four people is a lot to keep up with. Today I’ll tackle the upstairs as that is very messy and neglected because no one goes up there except to sleep and take a shower in the morning.

Regarding physical books, I haven’t found time this week to read The Land of Lost Things. Hopefully today after I finish scrubbing the upstairs I can find time to pick it up. It’s a good book. I don’t quite like it as much as the first book, The Book of Lost Things, but I still enjoy it.

I ran 10 miles today, the first 6 were done with a friend and the last 4 on my own. My new Hoka shoes feel really springy and nice. They are a bit more expensive than the Asics I used to buy, but they last a lot longer. I paid 180 for these ones. It’s important to get new shoes regularly for joint health. Unfortunately running 21 miles a week means I need new shoes around every 10 weeks which is costly, but I’m not about to let my knees take the impact of the concrete without good cushioning.

As to my other goals I still haven’t eaten any sugar, I’ve avoided ultra-processed food during the daytime, and I did art every day. The week isn’t quite over but I’m feeling good about it so far. I lost 3.6 pounds in total which isn’t shabby. Next week I’m really going to work on cooking at home (it’s hard because I absolutely hate cooking). It’s not that I really crave eating at restaurants, I just don’t enjoy the act of making food from scratch and get really lazy when dinner time comes. Last night we ordered takeaways.

It’s getting hard to eat with this loose crown because I have to keep food on the left side of my mouth and be ultra-careful not to get any around the right side as chewing there might trigger my tooth to break off. The dentist said it would be painful once the crown comes off and the tooth breaks away so I’m trying to preserve the crown for as long as I can. I’m cutting food into tiny pieces and eating really slowly as a result. Usually I’m a very fast eater.

Day 6 no sugar

Day 6 limited ultra-processed food

Day 6 painting or drawing every day

Day 1 cooking at home

Weight 120.2 lb.

Drawing Prompt Goals for September

September 19: Angel, September 20th: Spiders, September 21st: Fire, September 23rd: Dagger, September 24th: Sparkle, September 25th: Frost, September 26th: Drip, September 27th: Toad, September 28th: Demon, September 29th: Chains, September 30th: Beast