The Result... The Party and Aftermath.

So I am back after a week in my least favorite place in the world....Southern California. Paradise, my ass. It's just hot. And dry. And full of strip malls, concrete, and questionable ideals. Ironic that it should also be home to some of my dearest friends. The last vestige of humanity in a sea of frustrations.
I digress... ok, so the party....
I was not looking forward to the party. Almost a dozen loud kids packed into a house in California heat. Tons of attention with tons of pressure to not say or do the "wrong" thing. And a one year old to take care of.  Basically a chaotic blitzkrieg. It almost overshadowed my worry as to whether he would like the book.
But it went surprisingly well. It was kind of hellish on my nervous system, and I wasn't entirely thrilled with the attention, but it went on without a hitch and he liked the book. Loved the book. And so did everyone else. There really is no way to describe the feeling of unanimous praise after a month long effort. It is akin to the feeling I used to have standing on stage and taking a bow on the opening night of a show. It's the single greatest feeling an artist can experience.... the connection to others through one's work. And it made up for the screaming a bit.
I also "wow"ed them with my cake painting. To be fair, my mother made the cake... and it was yummy despite her  "it's too dry" campaign against it. But in the tradition started by my father, I painted the cake. Since my father's time at the brush, I have revised the technique... now instead of spreading icing around to simulate paint, I essentially "watercolor" it with food coloring. It's surprisingly effective and simple... I water down the gel colors, and then brush them over the icing gently, letting the color spread just like watercolor paint. It makes for a very vibrant result with realistic painting effects. Best of all, I can get an insane amount of detail. In this case, I recreated my giraffe from his invitation. Actually it came out looking like a younger version of the giraffe...a baby if you will, which suited the occasion perfectly.
Now truth be told, Skyler wouldn't even try the cake...his nervous system was as tapped as his mother's....but that was ok. This birthday really wasn't for him as I've said before in my posts. The one year old birthday party is for the adults. It's a celebration of him surviving the first year. It's a celebration of us surviving his first year. Hell, it's a celebration of us surviving the celebration. And most importantly, it's about friends and family.... I say this with an slightly sarcastic yet loving tone... that I still can't truly appreciate since my ears are still ringing.