Tuesday Inspiration

Quick Update

So much going on lately there is not enough time to write about averything! Gallery openings at my day job, signing a book contract (yes a book contract!!!), getting some wonderful magazine opportunities, turning 32, teaching, traveling to Oregon twice in a week- so many roller coaster moments: one day happy the next confused, the day after tired and then back to happy.

Canvas Collage

This weekend I taught a fun class called canvas collage and it was a blast and everyone really impressed me!!!

more work & new pics coming soon!

Gaining Perspective

So much going on- saying goodbye to old friends, celebrating the spring, working hard trying to figure out my art and my place in life, set backs and encouragements, exciting news and new obstacles. Then as it usually happens when life throws too many things at you- I am now sick. Just when I felt challenged beyond the usual challenges, sickness sets in and all I now care about is getting my body back to normal. Quite a lovely way of gaining perspective- if I was not able to stop my emotions, my stress, my non stop activity- my body would stop me. Now many of the things I was consumed with don't matter, I just want to feel better.

Illustration Friday- Red

“Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.”
~Samuel Ullman

So Hard at Work

So I have been working my little tail off on a new series of canvas/mixed media sculptures and that was about all I did this weekend- sew, paint construct, sketch, sew, paint, construct. I took a break on Sunday to go see Pan's Labyrinth with Andy and wow what a movie- sad, disturbing, magical, hopeful all rolled into one! Very violent though, I am finding more and more that I just don't like violence in movies, I used to not mind so much but now it tends to ruin a story for me. Anyway, lovely movie despite the violence. This week is going to be crazy busy- I am not excited about it!

Illustration Friday- Super Hero

this is just a little sketch of my mom- she is my hero!

New Work

yipeee...I finally got my camera battery in the mail just in time to take some pics of new work- Here is one! I have been working very hard on a series of fabric sculptures that will I will be doing some fun and exciting things with- stay tuned!

My Battery!

ARHHHHg! I am going crazy because I don't have the battery for my camera! I left it back at my parents house in Oregon at Christmas and am currently waiting for it to arrive in the mail. I never realized how much I use a camera!

New Year-New Goals

So it is two weeks into the new year and though I don't make resolutions I am a big planner and am obsessed with my goals and I am now feeling overwhelmed by all of the things that I want to do and there is never enough time! After spending 10 days during the holidays back at home (yes I still call Oregon home) my desire to leave Southern California is stronger than ever. It is strange, I have been here for 5 years and it still feels so temporary to me. We had a wonderful time with family and it was so wonderful to show Andy and his family all the lovely little pockets of the Oregon Coast. Someday soon I know that our path will take me back until then I will keep being loyal to my passions. I have been in this creative mania lately, I can't stop making things, I can't stop finding new ways to push my ideas, I dream about every project that I work on...I am haunted by my art... yikes! This week I have spent my evenings going to the gym for spinning class and then home to print all sorts of my drawings on fabric which I am going to then create all sorts of fun stuff with. My ideas are endless and the whole concept of using all of my art with fiber and textiles makes me giddy! I can only imagine what my husband thinks when he walks in the door and there is fabric all over the living room floor, bees wax boiling on the stove and the me running around our little apartment from room to room working on all my projects! But amidst all of this chaos and messiness-I somehow manage to find my sanity, I am strangely at peace. So...I will keep my head down and keep working hard on all of my projects and goals- including growing my hair out- this will be the biggest challenge for me!

Illustration Friday- Buzz

Heartache

So anyone that knows me knows that whenever I go back home to the Oregon Coast I come back to San Diego sad. This time is no exception. It is easy to think that it is the vacation mentality that I miss but nope...it is the place, the pace, the simplicity that I miss. I miss the rain, the green, the chill of the wind it is all magical to me. The best part about going back home is going with my husband and sharing all of the special places with him. Right now it is sunny in San Diego, the sky is clear but my heart aches for a little rain, some green mountains and a deserted winter beach.

PEACEFUL Christmas Card!

Illustration Friday-Help

Graffiti Christmas

Just a Little Preview of my Weekend Work

Illustration Friday- Mask

a hero is someone who has given his or her whole life to something bigger than oneself.
-joseph campbell

Whirling

Life feels strange right now, so many unknowns, so many possibilities, so many things to do. I have been on this creative whirl lately and it feels like I can't stop. It is all I think about, all I do in my free time- what a lovely feeling to have something so true and dear to me- my art. I still have a day job and thank goodness for the flexibility! Times like this keep reinforcing my desire to embrace a full time artist's life but I have to practice patience. Financial freedom in my life and my marriage is more important to me- I am working THIS hard for the next chapter in our lives and that chapter will involve working for myself as an artist- there I said it and now my dream is out there floating around in possibility-SCARY! Until that time I will keep myself focused and continue to work hard as possible even if it means staying up late painting, creating and trashing my poor messy art room!

Illustration Friday- Might

Deep is a wounded heart, and strong
A voice that cries against a mighty wrong;
And full of death as a hot wind's blight,
Doth the ire of a crushed affection light.
-Felicia Hermans