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July 26, 2007
Beautiful Fun Toy
$5 at Target brought home this kinetic sculpture game designed by Michael Graves for Target. The kids love playing with it (as long as I make sure they don't whack each other with it) they shriek with laughter everytime it loses its balance and splats all over the table. Good find, cuz it's pretty too.
family | By | 1:59 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
July 25, 2007
Deconstruction
Well, little playground, it's kinda sad to see you go. You served us well everytime we came to visit our house under construction. There were days I just couldn't believe I would live across the street from a playground. The duck and the chipmunk will be missed the most, you almost can't find those anymore. The new playground will have recycled tire pieces as the ground and will be shiney and new. There will be new swings, slides and no more wood chips!! Do what you will with the rest of the park, I will be so happy to have a playground again. I'll miss the unique weathering of that old playground, but as a mama, I'd love a new one. Maybe when we return from HHI there will be a new playground? Is that too much to hope for?
house | By | 9:10 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 22, 2007
ON SALE
Hit the New Eyes Shop, there's a sale happenin' RIGHT NOW-ow -ow -ow-www.
fine art | By | 10:14 AM | TrackBack
July 21, 2007
can't be all bad
First of all, thanks to all of you that sat down and read my huge to-do list! It's coming together and although I was freaking out last night and had no self-medicating substances to help me (oh no more ice cream) a good walk to Nightfall and jumping around with my daughter took a lot of stress off. Sitting painting mini-metros makes me feel productive and helps me project into the future months. Ideas of fellowship, growing, stretching, laughter, art sales, art making, and all around thankfulness to God who gives me so much to do! He has given me the joys of my heart! My heart does not truly long for more clothes, a new TV, a Mac, fancy furniture, new shoes, nice hair do's, a perfect car. I say I want them, but that's not what I long for. What I long for is with me. Two healthy bo bealthy kids!! I took them to the doc and they were shiny gold stars of health! My boy is 90% weight and off the charts height. My girl is 10% height and weight and did great with getting her finger pricked. Dr. Kaufmann was wonderful. I learned so much! Just when I thought I knew it all. I have a new appreciation for my physician family!
I have a wonderful husband who is so challenging and accomidating and he's pretty cute too. He's so kind even when he doesn't want to be. He showers me with the right kind of advice for my paintings. I know I've done something right when Joel says,"oooo, that's good".
I have some great job opportunities. Teaching terrifies me and I keep dreading that the kids will be so bored and tell their parents and then I won't have a job anymore. I am scared, but that puts me in prep mode. I love dreaming up lesson plans. I talk to myself while I drive (yes I admitted that) working through what I'll say to my new students. I doubt myself because I know there are people better at this than me. But I'm the one they chose. Me. So I better step up and become what I think I'm not.
Even working at AVA is a blessing. I have all this time to be surrounded by art, different people without the added stress of making sure my kids are where I can see them. I have a computer and a lot of quiet moments to reflect, concentrate on what has been clogging up my brain all week. Honestly, I get my lesson plans worked on! And I love playing with the Mac Photobooth, that's just fun (hehehe).
And playing around on facebook is fun. I've found a whole new sector of friends there. It's so much more refreshing than myspace. Ugh. The gaudiness of myspace makes me crazy!! I love poking my brother back and forth. I mean I'd be poking him if he weren't miles away.
So back to planning. I am of course, a teacher.
| By | 3:45 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 18, 2007
I am mostly crazy
I think that when a week or more of vacation is breathing down your neck that sweet sweet smell of sand and ocean things become very heavy to think about. My to-do list is getting very long since I will be gone for 8 days.
First of all before vacation I am finally getting my kids vaccinations caught up. I have to find Eden's immunization record. Ugh. I find that vacation as a deadline is good in this department. I don't look forward to it.
Our bikes are broken. Joel's needs a part and mine is a mystery as of yet. So I need generous friends to have spare time, or I need to go to Suck Creen Cycle, like yesterday. I also have to find the thingy that holds the bike trailor on the bike, and the cover to protect the kids from flinging dirt.
I need to get clothes together for Mary's clothing swap tommorrow night. This is not necessary, but it will be fun!
I need to order some stickers for the Clothesline cards with the actual participating artists on it, I hope it will be just a little bit cool. I also have to follow up on about 4 or 5 publications for the Clothesline press release.
I need to take 11, yes that's right, 11 pieces of art for slides this week. I have that offer from Hollis which is not quite as daunting as I thought. I realized that the Metro paintings were not at the Hollis Show, YEAH! That means I have two pieces of merit to send right away! Whew. They need several images by Aug 1, and a few pieces for Sept 8. They need at least 6 pieces for the December show. I, I, I think I can do that.
I have to continue to prepare for teaching in the fall. There is the Cirriculum Fair at Camp Jordan on Friday and Saturday. I am going to go and make an appearance. I have 15 elementary students in my afternoon class, the Hilgers will open up another section to accomidate more, and possible move some in the second section so I'll have smaller classes. I have 5 high schoolers in the morning class. I went and took inventory of the art supplies at HHL and now I have a better idea what to use the supply fee for. It did help me to do this, I an scratch a few things off the shopping list. The supplies need to be approved and ordered. I also need to integrate exciting/fun/seasonal projects in with the regular lessons. I want the younger students to have some freedom. And then, of course, I need to plan each lesson. I love this challenge but it makes me feel very nervous.
I want, I need to paint. My mom has offered a day a week to watch the kids so I can paint. I am thrilled with the opportunities I have, and in order to keep myself relivant I must continue to create. Thanks for your encouragement blog-world.
Here's my next portrait, Luke, Jennifer's boy. I just started it so this is just s snippet.
fine art | By | 5:04 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
July 17, 2007
mini marathon
After a hearty get together with many heady ideas we wrapped up more steps for the Clothesline. It was great to have Amber and Amy there, our representatives for fine craft. I think the borders are fading between fine art and fine craft, and I'd like that to be evident with the Clothesline Show. Yesterday I was compulsively checking my yahoo email (because that's my art contact address) and I got an email from the art director for Hollis Gallery. If y'all don't remember I showed with them about 2 years ago. They're featuring new, fresh art throught the fall and I will show there in December! Yeah! But here's the problem. They need a buncha images by August 1st and for Sept 8th they need work for the gallery hop! GULP. All my new work will be at the Clothesline Show! It's the same weekend! That means I'm either giving up a great opportunity or I'm working my ass off. Hmmmm, which one will I choose. And I'll be teaching. Some of these dilemas are good, I have really enjoyed doing childrens portraits, but this will force me to make art for everyone. So here's my first affordable little Mini Metro: Phonecall. It's 6x6 and I hope to do a few of them. And I have my eye on a fawn, more bunnies, and maybe another beetle.
fine art | By | 9:29 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 16, 2007
Songwriting
Last night we were putting the kids to bed and Josiah wanted to sing. He wanted to sing Zachias. "Zachias was a wee little man and a wee little man was he, he climbed up in a sycamore tree for the Lord he wanted to see. He had a sword...."
Wait, Jos, that not how it goes!
"and Jesus said Zachias, come down, I wanna fight you!"
Needless to say Joel and I couldn't hold in the laughter, and with that we encouraged Josiah's ad-libbing on children's favorites. The next verse was a rambling of how the fight took place, description of the weapons, and just random showing off because Joel and I were squeaking out "go to beds" in between giggles.
Another one of my consistant favorites is when Josiah adds a different fruit to my favorite phrase. "You're driving me Oranges!!" he says with great pride. Doesn't have the same omph as bananas.
mommy time | By | 9:11 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 14, 2007
week in color::pink
Pink seems to be visiting me often these days. I think primarily it's because if my pink paint pen. I love that thing.
community | By | 11:44 PM | TrackBack
week in color::red
Red is wonderful, lets celebrate it!
community | By | 4:18 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 13, 2007
Week in Color:: Oranges
community | By | 9:05 AM | TrackBack
July 12, 2007
color catch up
MONDAY::YELLOW
TUESDAY::BLUE
WEDNESDAY::GREEN
THURSDAY::BLACK/WHITE/BROWN
I just had to play along, and play catch up. I mean, my kids are still napping and I got to clean my floors. A little time wasting on the blog is deserved.
community | By | 4:59 PM | TrackBack
Eliana is finished
Thanks again for all your encouraging words! I am finally finished, I was doing a marathon stretch on this one. The house went unswept, the dinners were late, the children were sometimes not so well supervised, and of course I stayed up til 1am. I pulled out every trick in the book to make this composition work and I can finally look at it without feeling ill. The movement is better, the colors are more unified and the main subject is where your eye wants to be. I enjoy looking at this one, it was a battle but I won and I'm very satisfied. I think it's time to get some slides made.
fine art | By | 8:59 AM | Comments (8) | TrackBack
July 10, 2007
Just Because...
I love my famiy, they make my life very giggly!
mommy time | By | 5:00 PM | TrackBack
Vulnerability
Well, I am pretty sensitive about this one, but I am willing to share it's progress. Ever so often there is a piece I'm working on that I struggle with so much technically that I have to pray to Jesus to help me get it right. I mean he gave me the skill to begin with, I need His help to work through every bit. I admit I"ve gotten lazy with this one. I started off with gusto and had a purpose and then got so distracted and this piece was the false start piece to a whole theme I had in my brain then. Now, I have a new theme in mind, but this piece is very important to me. I love the text of the song my dad wrote about adoption, and as much as I dread it, I'm going to have to cut out more stencils to finish this piece. I need to do less doodling in the negative space and put more text in. Because folks, adoption needs to be depicted poetically in verse and in imagery. So if you must critique I can't stop you because I'm posting this photo on the blasted www, but know that whatever you think about it, I"ve probably thought about 20x already. So soak in what you like and look past the unfinished-ness, I'm still chomping my nails on this one. It's like hard to concentrate sometimes thinking about how I will problem solve this one. I had a hard time in church last night, I was flustered about this piece of art, go figure.
The things I do like:
1. Eliana, I love how that worked out, it's nice
2. The hammock that arches from left to right, yeah its a hammock
3. The stenciled letters
4. some of the florals
The things that need work:
1. The blue Sara needs to have her lower body represented, somehow
2. Some color somewhere needs to be toned down
3. I need to put more text possibly across the blue Sara
4. I need to single out the snapshot portrait without being overly crisp.
fine art | By | 8:31 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
July 6, 2007
Returned to Sell
Two little pieces returned from the Pink! Show unsold. Boo Hoo, but good for you! They're back in my Etsy shop and they need a home. Of course, you could just wait until the Clothesline, but that's just too far away isn't it?
fine art | By | 5:08 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 5, 2007
Rascal!
Our downstairs has been feeling pretty stuffy the past 3 or 4 days and we finally diagnosed yesterday that the downstairs AC was not working. The upstairs was cool and lovely, but downstairs-UGH! I was so irritated, this is a top of the line Carrier system, what the heck! So I just determined to call the builder today and get someone to look at it. When my parents came over last night for dinner I apologized for how stuffy it was, realizing how fragile even brand new things are. We ate outside and watched the local guys play soccer. Then when cruised around the outside of the house, and I asked Mom what she thought I should do if I wanted to plant my herbs along with how to beautify in front of my AC unit. Joel turned the corner around the side of the house and noticed the door of a breaker box open. Turns out our AC condensers breaker box is outside and Josiah admitted that he flipped the switch. My son in a moment of non-supervision, turned off our AC!! I'm glad I didn't have to call anyone, but maybe I"ll see about putting a lock on that door. Little rascal.....
mommy time | By | 9:04 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
July 3, 2007
Back to Work
I know these shots are a little bit of a tease, but I have been working. First of all, I'm kinda embarrassed that I have had the portrait of Eliana and Sara sitting around waiting for me to finish less profound projects, like.....rabbits. But I am going to finish this portrait very soon!
I have been adding some fun floral patterns to the negative space and it will freshen up this piece to help me work. I'm still struggling with basic portrait problems. I will conquer them though!!
And then, there's Luke, the next portrait. I'm finally getting to it Jennifer! I thought end of May would be less busy. tee hee. I love the close up view, I will enjoy his blond wispy hair that close up!
And for Paige and other folks who love to see dancing kids, check out the videos below!
Continue reading "Back to Work"
fine art | By | 9:40 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 2, 2007
Thick Summer Home
With these days and nights of activity I have to plan time for the monotonus and practical. But I think that my exhaustion, although never fun, makes me joyful for the days and years ahead. There are things that need time to grow. There are things that must be tended and cultivated. There are things that need to be pruned. Pruning hurts, and takes self control. But all this analogy to say that I am happy, and to be a person of maturity I have been examining all this activity and working it out through my spirit. What does God want from me? How can I apply all that I know in my head and my heart to these days where I am meeting so many new people. How can I be important in their discovery of Jesus.
We took the jaunt down to Nightfall on Friday where we ran into Mark, Paige and Olivia. Dancing was prominent and delightful. On Saturday morning we went to Niedlovs and ran into a buncha friends. Joel took the kids to a movie and I worked on my art class signs and handouts.
Saturday night we spent with our old friends the Englishs, Rhudys, Dreckmyers and Andrew Lohr. Great food and good times. I hope that we can always get together and witness the goods and the bads in each others life. Most of all enjoy the fellowship that God intends for all of us. It's with these friends that I learn about what is truly important. They help me realize that the best position to be in is on my knees.
And we rounded out our weekend with a Jefferson Heights cookout on Sunday night. We played hookie from church so we could meet and greet more neighbors and stand out on the rain drinking Coronas. Josiah got some mighty swollen feet as he found an ant pile to stand in. All the boys found that romping and throwing rocks around the swale was more fun than the muddy playground (thank God we'll get a new one soon). Amber and I giggled about how we felt nerdy wanting to meet some of the artist super-stars that just happen to live in our neighborhood. It's funny, but it's cool. It was so worth it. What a broad mixture of people, it's really fascinating to sit back and watch.
community | By | 4:03 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack