A Rousing Shower of Applause

I've been pretty quiet blogwise recently because all the projects that I'm working on are "secret"...I've agreed to nondisclosure until publication so it just appears that I've suddenly become mute and am goofing off. Al contrario.....in reality, I'm painting, painting, painting...burning the proverbial Midnight Oil. Night Owls know this special quiet, this luxurious span of uninterrupted hours....punctuated only by nightbirds, snoring dogs and the breezy tinkle of windchimes. Oftentimes my best work is created in that span of time between midnight and 4 am .....and often, I'll finish a piece....or even a whole book. This finishing, this putting down the brush for the last time and knowing that I'm finished, finally really finished is a moment of personal deliciousness. At that moment, if I were a musician or an actor, the lights would dim and there would be ( one hopes ) rousing applause........however, for solitary illustrators with vampiric schedules...this magic moment is met with deafening silence. One expects the clouds to part and heavenly choirs to warble a small tune at least, something...but no, just that deep, velvety quiet. Everyone that might cheer and give me an upturned thumb or a pat on the back is sleeping....so this moment can be a tad anticlimactic. In response to my complaints about this, my musician husband created a loop of the enthusiastic sounds of a rapturous audience who sound like they've gotten their money's worth.
To give yourself the cheering adulation you deserve, play:

I've played this several times in the pale pre-dawn and it's always made me giggle and sigh with gratitude, able to waft off to bed with a smile of appreciation on my lips. There are other times we need a hand, during the populated hours of daylight when all sorts of things may occur...not all of them what we might wish for, or even if we finish that masterpiece during the day and no one's home.....so for all the times we need a bit adulation and/or recognition I've decided to share this instant moment of gratuitous adoration with everyone.

Have fun, play often, you deserve it!