Work in Progress

I love it when other artists post photos of their work in progress yet now, as I have decided to do it since I've not posted art in days, I realize how awkward it feels... very exposed.  But I'm going to be brave.  This, so far, is pen/ink and the pen work still isn't finished, obviously.  Once I finish all the pen work, I will complete the piece in watercolor.  I'm still experimenting as to whether I prefer to paint the piece first then detail it with ink or do the pen work first.  I am swinging both ways.  I think if I paint first, I can get by with less pen work but does that make a big difference in the end?  I dunno...  I guess I just have to go with what I have time for.  Pens travel well so I can take it places with me.  I worked on this a few minutes this morning when I went to get the CT scan of my sinuses.  My appt. with the ENT is next Thursday so I'm anxious to find out what the films show.

On another note, tomorrow, 2/22 is my 22nd wedding anniversary!  Wow, that's a long time!  Over half my life!  Chuck and I don't have big plans but we are planning to go out for breakfast (my favorite time to eat out) and maybe go to a movie or something.  I asked if we could spend the school hours together as oppose to having to get a babysitter and fight the Friday night crowds so that is what we are doing.  I'm at my best early in the day and nosedive after 3:00!  Of course, since it's Friday, the afternoon is Family Fun Day so my boys expect some family fun when I get them after school.  Maybe we can do something different tomorrow instead of our usual movie rentals or games.  Have to think about that and talk to Chuck...

Meeting new people

OK, I confess... I hate parties and small talk of meeting new people.  I even dread going to parties even when I know every person there!  I LOVE a very small, intimate group of maximum 6 people.  It's just me.  But, last night, even though I'd sat crying about how I didn't want to go to a party knowing... ok, my own perception so thinking (husband disagrees with me) that I often am invited to events because of who I'm married to.  Chuck is very extroverted and thrives... I mean THRIVES, in groups.  He just loves being out and about with people while this completely tires me out.  I'm very introverted.  Anyway, my insecurity often gets the best of me as it did yesterday and I'm reduced to tears thinking I'm going to a party that I'm only invited to because I'm 'the wife'.  I know these people love me and I them, but I still go down this road.  Anyway, I went.  And guess what?  I actually had a great time!  Genuinely a great time!  And it even included meeting new people but wow, the 'small talk' seemed to easy to get through with this couple!  Hmmmm, maybe God was trying to teach me something...

Anyway, we met this sweet family Toban and Joanna with their two gorgeous daughters who live in Colorado.  Come to find out, Joanna is getting to meet one of my sweetest, best friends in the world next week!  Stephanie moved out to the Denver area a few months ago and she 'just happens' to live around the corner from Joanna, happens to have 3 girls to Joanna's 2 all in close age range with each other, and happens to be attending the same church!  Hello!  Circumstances?!  I think NOT!  God has a plan.  I sit back and watch asking ,"What are you doing?"  Anyway, it was a really fun evening, much to my surprise and delight.

Joanna has a blog so now I can keep up with her so that's fun.  Oh, and ya'll have to go see the cutest zipper bags she makes out of funky retro type fabric.  They are so adorable!  Here's her blog addy: 

http://www.thesimplewife.typepad.com/  

Mozy on over and visit her!

Well, I guess I'd better go eat breakfast and start getting my family ready for church.  And maybe I'll get some art in this week and have something to show!  Believe me, I'm feeling the withdrawals.

A couple of new blog finds

After participating in the OWOH give-aways, I really have gotten into exploring blogs of participants as well as clicking on their favorite blogs!  It could become addicting and I'm really trying to control myself, really I am!

First, last night, through Sally Turlington, I discovered Paulette Insall ~ mixed media artist & mom.  She does beautiful face paintings and I very much enjoyed watching her Youtube videos taking one through the stages of her paintings!  Very cool.  You must visit.

Then, this morning, I was checking DJ Pettitt's blog as I do every morning and just "happened" to click on the blog of Rebecca:  http://cre8tiva.blogspot.com/

Now this blog made me do a happy dance inside.  Rebecca seems to be on very much a similar spiritual journey where her love of God and love of art collide.  To say I'm overjoyed to have discovered her blog is an understatement.  And I don't believe for a second that it was accidental and just "happened" that I clicked her name on DJ's blog!  I believe God led me there for a reason.  If, for no other reason than to know that I truly am not alone on this journey and someone else really does have similar experiences creating with God, then that is an amazing reason!  Rebecca is also a writer and obviously loves to write cuz she does a lot of it on her blog... she actually has two!  Oh JOY!  She writes beautifully but now I must find time to go back and read everything!

Speaking of art with God, I think I mentioned that I am working on a huge canvas for our upcoming 24/7 week of prayer happening next month.  Maybe I didn't.  anyway.... I'm working on the largest canvas I've ever attempted... 3x3 FEET people!  Truthfully, it's taken me weeks to work through the fear of something that big!  I have a March 14th deadline and I've barely started.  My piece actually has three components to the theme:

"Give us this day, our daily bread", "I thirst", and "Christ's sacrifice" all wrapped into one.  As I've meditated on this, I'm coming to understand more that our daily bread isn't just the physical daily needs being met but Jesus is the bread.  So I've been praying for more of Jesus in my day- to be more aware of his presence in the day to day stuff.  It's interesting, now that I look back over the past few weeks of this new year, it has been really, really hard.  The year started with losing my precious kitty, Minya who was so much more than a cat to me over the past 19 years (almost my entire adult life she was constantly with me) but then my boys and husband getting the flu and being sick for over a week, starting back to Bible study feeling like a "blob" walking in with my head in a fog and my heart deeply grieving and weary, to more sickness with Max and then myself as well as dealing with some pretty serious emotional stuff that life and marriage brings.  It's been really, really hard.  However, now I'm seeing that God is being God... and whenever He gives me a piece of artwork to do specifically with my hands just being the tools, I have to 'experience' the subject matter for the work to flow out of me.  In this case, I have very much been "thirsting" and in desperate need for my "daily bread".  I also see that all these "bad" things were blessings in a way.  Had all this 'stuff' not happened immediately following Minya's death, I think I would have just stayed in bed with my grief for a very long time.  Life stuff did not allow me to drown.  God didn't allow me to drown.  I still feel the overwhelming loss daily and still cry over missing her so much but God has not allowed me to go into a depression that I can't get out of... because I could go there by my own choosing if I did not have all these other things forcing me to function.  so now, I can see my hardships as sort of blessings.

 I must confess something... this shows my weirdness maybe, I don't know.  It's about my Minya.  Shortly before she died, Max (my 6 year old) had accidently gotten a small clump of yogurt on Minya's neck.  Well, I discovered it after it had already dried.  I tried getting it out and it just wasn't happening.  So, she had a small little clump on her neck for a bit.  I ended up cutting it out and, for whatever reason.. maybe foresight knowing she wasn't gonna' be around much longer, I saved the little fur clump.  I thought maybe I'd put it in a tiny class vial or something.  You can't tell at all that it was stuck together by anything except that it is, yet the tips of her fur still are soft and fan out in my fingers.  Anyway, I actually allowed myself to take this out of the tiny ziplock bag and find myself closing my eyes and petting this little tiny spot of fur and rubbing it underneath my chin where she use to put her head.  Even the tiniest bit of her brings back the same feelings of running my fingers through her beautiful red coat.  That same calming affect comes over me and it's intoxicating.  I can't even explain the affect she had on my body but I find myself missing her touch with the deepest ache in my soul.  For a minute, just a minute, I can imagine her here... and then reality hits with a blog and the grief threatens to overtake me as I have to force myself to breath.  So now, I cling to this little tiny bit of soft fur with a desperation knowing that I won't ever get to feel her again this side of heaven... and oh how I anticipate the day of heaven!  Now, I don't know that I can encapsulate her fur because then I wouldn't be able to touch it anymore.  Yesterday was difficult as I took Phoebe to the vet for her check up remembering the last time I was there was with Minya.  I cried all the way to the vet yesterday and had to really focus while I was there on the cat that I do still have.  Still, Phoebe, as much as I love her too, she isn't the same.  She doesn't interact with me like Minya did.  Minya 'loved me back'.  She literally was like a little person in a furry body.  and Phoebe's fur doesn't feel like Minya's either.  Phoebe has become like Queen Bee here in the house being fussed over but the emptiness left from Minya's death never leaves.  Gosh, I don't know why I'm ranting about this... maybe I just needed to write it out and cry for a minute before real life comes back and hits me in the face with breaking up fights between my boys.

Well, I guess that's enough rambling for the moment.  Take a few minutes and check out Paulette and Rebecca's blogs will ya'?

A quick catch up

Well, I went to the Dr. yesterday with my allergies and was put on a couple of new medications along with steroids for 5 days.  I also have an appt. for a CT scan and an appt. with an ENT so the ball is rolling.  I feel like a completely different person today than Wednesday!  I feel almost normal!

This week both boys had Parent/Teacher conferences.  Sam is always bragged about endlessly... he's the very structured and super smart one so it's rare to hear anything remotely negative with him.  Max has difficulty focusing and is falling behind a bit in learning to read.  I've been lazy working with him because he's so tough to get to cooperate to even sit for a book reading!  He's constantly moving.  However, the past couple of nights we have been working together while Sam reads with Chuck and I think this will be a huge help.

I just returned from reading books to Max's class.  Kindergartener's love this!  It is fun.  I've already made a postal run mailing off my OWOH give-away item to Germany as well as my registration for Art Unraveled.  I'm very excited that this year, some of my art buddies from out of state will be flying in for the event!  It will be a busy, exciting, and fun week... and then I'll drop from exhaustion!

Chuck just found out yesterday that a friend of his, who is a private pilot for Shamrock foods, is taking Chuck on a 4 day trip to ALASKA for Chuck's 50th birthday in July!  Can you imagine!  What a treat!  A photographer's heaven!

Well, gotta' run and take my furgirl to the vet for a check up.  My sweet Phoebe is old and I know I won't have her much longer.  I can't bear the thought of losing both of my feline girls in one year.  I don't know how I'll function with no cats in my house.  As a young girl, I always had a dream of running a cat shelter!  I'd have them all over the place if I could!  Just looking at a cat calms my whole body.  They have the weirdest affect on me.

OK, gotta' run for now!  Gonna' be looking through my studio for my next give-away soon!

AND THE WINNER IS.....

Susan of http://art-in-a-carton.blogspot.com/ !!!!  I used a number generator to choose the winner of my bee pendant and counted 3 times to make sure I didn't miscount so congratulations to Susan for winning my first give-away!

For the other 251 of you (one comment was sent directly to me so I had a total of 252!) please check back often as I plan to continue doing give aways often!

stuff

Well, I'm at home sick with my allergies giving me fits.  I have a Dr. appt. early tomorrow morning so I'm praying for some relief.  In the meantime, my mom just got out of the hospital after a 2 day stay and this morning, we received a call from my niece who will be 16 next month, to tell us she had to take her mom (my sister) to ER in Tampa where they live.  Come to find out, she had an ectopic pregnancy but had no clue of the pregnancy.  She is going to be fine but gosh, this is way too much emotional and health drama at once!  I'm very weary.

On another note, registration for Art Unraveled opens Friday so I got my envelope made today ready to go postal.  It can't be postmarked earlier than the 15th so I'm sitting on ready.  Lucky for me, mine is usually one of the first to arrive since I'm local.  This is my envy for this year.  

 by the way, if you have a decorated envy, your name goes in a drawing for prizes... and who doesn't like free stuff, huh?  For my envy, I added sheer fabrics with a photo of one of my watercolor paintings and encased it in vinyl, of course!  One of my favorite things!

Speaking of free stuff, I will be doing my drawing for my "just be" pendant and announcing a winner tomorrow!  I'm still shocked at the number of comments I had posted for it!  I think I'm at maybe 250?!  Wow!  I've found some great blogs through this give away also so that is exciting.  And of course, I hope to win something too!  :)

Book Reviews

OK, so I'm not officially one to review books but I do have an opinion.  I looked through two new books.  The first is Angela Cartwright's latest book titled "Mixed Emulsions".  This book is FULL of techniques to use when including photographs into your artwork.  I mean FULL!  I can't imagine there's anything she didn't think of!  This book is well worth the cost.

The second book was a disappointment, for me anyway.  It's by Lynne Perrella (love her other books) and it's titled "Art Making, Collections, and Obsessions: An Intimate Exploration of the Mixed-Media Work and Collections of 35 Artists

I was expecting and hoping for a book that let you into the studios of artists.  I want to see the space they work in, their messes, their stashes, how they organize them, etc... but that isn't what is in the book.  Sure, you get really gorgeous photos of particular things they like to collect but it's very "staged" photography.  It makes for a beautiful book but it's not what I was hoping for.  I have to say though, after reading through it, I felt more "normal"!  LOL!  It's great to be able to connect with other treasure hunters and feel the excitement of the find! It is a book of eye candy that makes any hunter's heart go pitter-patter and gasp out loud.  Anyway, I guess it would depend on what you are desiring in the book.  I was terribly disappointed that there were no pictures of Michael De Meng's studio.  His studio is one I'd love to see.  How the heck does he organize and categorize all the assemblage stuff?  How much space does he have?  Guess I won't know now.... :(

Anyway, I recommend actually seeing this book before you purchase it to make sure it's what YOU want in the book.  Books are such a personal thing, aren't they?