February 2022 – Page 3 – Stephanie Richey Art

I have mentioned several times this new printer that I have to work with. I love this thing! When I purchased it, I wanted something that would print fairly big. This one prints up to 17×22 inches. But I also wanted one that would print on a variety of materials. Up until now I have printed on a variety of papers, high gloss photo paper being my favorite, simply because the images are super crisp and clear. Art paper, cardstock, and basically any type of photo paper that is a matte finish doesn’t lend to the same crispness that high gloss paper does in the printed image. The semigloss photo paper is the only one that comes close to the gloss finish. I have also tried a variety of weights of paper, from plain copy paper, to cardstock, to papers that are even thicker than cardstock, the printer never having a problem pulling the paper through or printing on it.

Recently I was able to find and order canvas sheets. I was super excited when I ordered the printer to try the canvas sheets, not realizing how hard they would be to find in a big enough size to make it worthwhile. However, through the magic of the internet and a lot of research, I found a couple of companies that carry the canvas in sheets larger than 8×10 inches. The other day I got my canvas sheets in the mail and decided to experiment. Amazing!

I printed a family photo and my purple Iris painting. As with printing on the semi-gloss and high gloss papers, the quality and detail from this printer is amazing (not that the quality isn’t amazing on regular paper as well compared to a regular printer). The picture turned out beautifully. In the second photo, you can see how flexible this is. It is a canvas fabric and feels like fabric rather than paper in how it bends. I’m sure it would crease if I really tried to bend it, but you get the idea. Printing on canvas however requires a different kind of mounting than picture framing. I will have to make a custom size wood frame to stretch and staple the canvas to.

I am amazed at how much technology has changed over the years. I tell my kids I was born before google. When they were little, they didn’t believe me. Printing anything bigger than an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of normal weight copy paper at home was almost unheard of just 8 or 10 years ago. Now, an artist like me, running a very small business out of my home, can buy a printer capable of printing on all kinds of backing, with archival ink, at a much more affordable price, not cheap mind you, but more affordable in the long run. I am super excited to get some of my art on canvas this summer. I have people request this option on a regular basis because it’s a lot easier to ship than a frame with glass in it. Canvas is also a lot easier to hang as it is a lot lighter than a framed piece of art and doesn’t require the same hardware on the back of the picture to hang for the most part. Do you have a piece of equipment that wasn’t available 10 years ago, that makes running your business a lot easier and more affordable?

It is amazing to me how much I take sleep for granted, that is until I can’t seem to get any. Growing up I always had a hard time going to sleep. As soon as I would lay down my mind would start working overtime. Usually not about anything important either, just random stuff that kept me awake. Most nights it would take me an hour or so to fall asleep, sometimes two hours if I was really lucky. However, I could fall asleep in a car no problem. My husband and I drove the Alcan 15 times in 5 years, going back and forth between Alaska and Utah. He always joked that it took me at least 10 times to actually see it all because I had such a hard time staying awake while we were traveling.

Then I had kids. I don’t know if it was a hormone change or just busy all day with kids, but I was tired all the time. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out. If my kids woke me up in the night, as soon as the issue was dealt with, whether feeding or changing diapers, or scary dreams, I would lay back down and be out almost instantly. That is how I have been for the last 20 years. It was super nice! My oldest daughter turned 20 this January, and funny enough, the insomnia, or whatever makes my mind race when I try to sleep, is back, almost 20 years to the day. Really weird timing.

When I was growing up, and all the way up till the past two years it has never been a problem. All those years I have been able to sleep in until at least 7:00. On rare occasion having to wake up earlier than that and actually stay awake. The past year and a half I have had to wake up at 5:30 during the school year to teach an early morning Seminary class. I believe that for most people the solution is to go to bed earlier. That was my solution as well, and it worked great up until this January. My new routine is: go to bed at 9:30, lay in bed, as still as possible until 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning (assuming that at least my body will rest), then fall asleep for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours, get up and go teach. At least the was the first week of being back at school. Remember how I sleep in cars and imagine my issue getting home from Seminary! I haven’t crashed yet, but boy am I tired by the time I get home.

I do not like taking medication for extended periods of time, so I have been resistant in taking something like Tylenol PM even though it says its non-habit forming, I still worry. After praying about a solution and being not only tired, but somewhat discouraged, I had a thought, some inspiration, to drink some Camomile tea. I don’t drink green or black tea because of my religion, but herbal tea is ok to drink. I have just never found any that didn’t taste like grass and dirt so have never really like tea. But I decided to try it. Camomile tea still tastes like grass and dirt to me, but with a little bit of honey and lemon juice it’s not too bad. But more importantly, it has helped immensely. I still don’t fall asleep right away, but now I do fall asleep by around 11:00. It is amazing how much of a difference 2 or 3 hours of sleep a night makes in my ability to function the next day.

I am grateful for change, and the opportunity it is for me to learn about my body. I am also super grateful for sleep! I wrote recently about Injury, and how easy it is to take abilities for granted until we lose that ability. This past month, sleep has been the thing I have been able to really appreciate again for the first time in 20 years. I am also grateful for the inspiration of a solution that I feel comfortable with, and so grateful that I have a Heavenly Father who is in the details of my life, to care about me enough to inspire me on something that could seem so trivial in the whole grand scheme of things. Do you have trouble sleeping? What are some of the solutions you have come up with?