Sept - three animals and Ernie (to Faye, Nanski, CarolynC) (SC flag rant)

I know some of you like Naomi Bulger - here is a chance to paint along with her:

I’m looking forward to a gentle afternoon of painting tomorrow, Wednesday 6 January at midday (I’m in the AEDT timezone, which I *think* is 5pm Tuesday if you’re on the west coast of the USA, or 8pm if you’re on the East Coast), and I’ll go live on Instagram if you’d like to colour along with me. Kind of like the Mail Art Social Club, except we’ll all be using the same template (unless of course you prefer to colour something else!) I’m @naomibulger on Instagram if you’d like to join in.

 I should have sent apologies inside of these two - because the stamps make no sense with the animals. In addition to using up all the orphan stamps, I am using up orphan envelopes. These are practice ones from a job that might have appeared previously. I do love the style of writing that I chose to go with the animals.

Below is an envelope that does not thrill me - except for the part where orphans are going out the door. The Sesame Street stamps have been so much fun. Several of them have saved the day when I forgot to consider a stamp before starting an envelope. 

I will be very curious to find out - if --when I am finally free of orphan stamps -- I actually remember to consider the stamp before I even begin. If I could tabulate the dumbest mistake that I make the most often, I think that might be it.

I deeply regret that I did not make the stripes horizontal.

*****

Redesigning flags rant.

I just read the article about how South Carolina never had one particular palmetto tree design for their flag and they decided to standardize their flag. We already know where this is going. The proposed drawing of a palmetto tree upset so many people that they are going back to the drawing board. Good luck with that. 

If you do a Google search for *palmetto tree clip art* you will see lots of them. I can't imagine that there is any way to come up with one that will please everyone. Trees, by their very nature are not cookie cutter shapes. The design that very few people like is based on sketches done by a flag designer in 1910. That seems arbitrary - to use her pencil sketches.

You probably wonder where I am going with this rant? To me, there is no way to design anything that will please everyone. Logical solution. Don't even try.

How does that work? Simple - leave things the way they were for umpteen years. People get to pick and choose which tree they want. What's wrong with that? There are other elements that help define it as South Carolina's flag. Why not let people have some ownership in the design? It's not like flags are anything more than doo-dads. 

Side-rant:

None of my really good ideas ever go anywhere. I belong on that planet of misfit toys. I guess it's just an island. Either way -- I'm sure I'd feel right at home.