happy wednesday!

Last Friday I went to an Art Walk in Fond du Lac, WI with some of my girlfriends...

me, Kelly, Jamie, Sara & Jill

Lucky for me, Jill is friends with the owner of Jennabee Art Gallery & Studio and introduced us. Last night I stopped by the gallery and dropped off 4 of my paintings! Fingers crossed that I sell something :) There's also an art contest that the gallery is having in February that I need to enter and we discussed the possibility of doing an art show in March or April! Which is beyond exciting to even think about!

Jamie owns her own salon and after I made her a wedding gift...

mixed media painting for Mr & Mrs King

she's asked if I could paint a canvas or two to go in the salon. Which would not only be fun to paint, but give me a lot more exposure, too. Things are looking up in the art department of my life :)

Oh, and last but not least...

grades just posted for this semester!

I've been quite busy during my blog break... I've finished fall semester at Oklahoma City Community College and I've been accepted to University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I will be getting my B.A. in Sustainability Studies. I'll be taking all online classes for Spring semester, which starts on January 22nd.

I finished moving most of my things from Oklahoma to Wisconsin, including my puppy, Frankie.

I've been diligently working on handmaking pretty much all of my christmas presents and I have a few commission paintings that have been keeping me busy. I've snapped a few pictures and once the gifts are in the possession of their recipients I will post a few pics of my craftiness (although I can't take full credit... Pinterest was a huge inspiration!)

Here's a few of my latest paintings...

I actually made a new blog for my Creative Writing class that features all of my poetry that I wrote for class this past semester. It's published for anyone who would like to see it... I got 250 out of 250 points and my professor asked if he could use it as an example for upcoming classes :) Look Again

Hopefully now that I'm not waking up to homework, I will have time to start blogging a few mornings a week and get caught up on all of my favorite blogs that I miss so much!

Happy Holiday Week!

fresh paint

well for a while it seems as though I had so many thoughts that I had nothing to say. I had too much time and not enough motivation.

Now my thoughts are still running rampant, but rather than dwelling on the past, they are looking into the future. Now I have too much to do, and not enough time. The less time I have, the more I want to do... figures.

So I have a part time job now... I'm a Marketing Assistant/Intern and work 20-25 hours a week. I'm still taking 4 on-line classes (and maintaining my 4.0) and am drowning in homework. I bought a car last week... yay! I also have been painting and hanging out with my friends...

on a pier on Lake Mendota in Madison, WI w/ Miranda

my latest... 12"x12"x1.5"

And now off to get ready for work! This is only my second week and I'm hoping to get a schedule down so I can start blogging regularly again!

I hope you have a beautiful day :)

fresh paint (day 70)

I know it's been a while, but I finally have a new painting to share with you! Hopefully after Thursday, I'll have time to get quite a few more done before fall semester starts.

I actually had an extremely productive Monday (I think it was all those inspirational quotes!) and I'm proud to say that I finished BOTH of my essays... before 5pm! Now I just have to wait to get them back from the communications lab with some feedback, make any necessary corrections, then turn them in and say adios to English Composition 2. Unfortunately, I still have 2 exams to take in History. One on the last 5 chapters and then a comprehensive final covering both of my textbooks. At least with English out of the way I have more time to study :)


As far as the painting goes, it's been in the final stages for a few weeks and today I put the finishing touches on it. 

It's being sent to Ohio tomorrow along with this painting...

Which were both purchased by one of my bf's co-workers as presents for his sisters... isn't that sweet?! Maybe I should send my sister a random present :) 


Hope you all have a fabulous day!



Day 70 - Something you borrowed from someone else

I borrowed this book from Amber last week and I just finished it on Saturday night... oh how I love love love the Sookie Stackhouse series :)

make living your art (day 43)

I finally squeezed in some painting time!

I have a few canvases laying around that I just wasn't happy with so I decided to repaint them. here's one that I am currently working on....

You can't see in the picture, but I added some detail to the words. I painted tiny pink dots that swirl and wave through the letters. I am going to add another color and then I'll take close ups so you can see :)



and I made a new discovery!!!

Ever heard of MacKenzie -Childs? I was in search of some bird inspiration and came across this...

 and just like that, I feel head over heels for MacKenzie -Childs. 


Their farm is located near Aurora, NY and it is now on my list of places to visit. Their ceramics and furniture are handmade and the front page of their catalog features tons of pictures that inspired them (mostly nature pics from around their farm).


I want absolutely everything in their Butterfly Collection!


Ok, my fun here is over... on to US History since the Civil War... I'm just passed WWI and I'm doing some major cramming for the test on Friday. 


Hope you're having a lovely day :)


Day 43 - A picture of something you can’t function without
 

Here are a few things I cannot function without.
1. My MacBook Pro... I'd be lost without it!
2. My Motorola Droid phone... I've had it since Dec of 2009 and it's survived a swim in the river!
3. My planner... it keeps me ahead of schedule on my homework
4. My lip balm... currently obsessed with Melinda's Inspiration Earth organic 
(in grapefruit splash & cooling peppermint)

short & sweet (day 25)

Oh Saturday.... I usually impatiently await you with ecstatic anticipation....
but I have too much to do and unfortunately I'm not excited about your arrival.


I still have homework to do and blogs to read so I'm going to keep this short & sweet.

Day 25 - A picture of something that means a lot to you 

 Yes, this painting means a lot to me. I painted it over a year ago when my dear friend, Jill, asked me to paint a canvas for her friend's wedding gift. Their song was I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. Not only is Jason Mraz one of my favorite artists, this song has a very special place in my heart and every time I hear it, I swear that if I close my eyes I am taken back in time to a handful of memories that play in my head like a film, spliced with all the perfect moments when I experienced this song for the first few times.

Perhaps what means more to me than this painting, is the freedom of self-expression that allows me to make art like this. The ability to take a feeling or a thought and twist, bend, mold it into a series of brushstrokes, in all the colors of the rainbow, that are a true reflection of my soul. Expressing myself in paint or in words to embrace, then free the feelings that would otherwise cause me to burst.... That is what means the most to me.

salsa, pictures, & paintings (day 14)

 Is it really Tuesday? Where did the weekend go?!


I have a yummy fresh salsa recipe that I need to share.... I made some yesterday and it's pretty much all gone. I think I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, & dinner.


4 roma tomatoes
1 medium green pepper
3 green onions
1/2 a jalapeno
1 lime
season & garlic salt, pepper and cilantro to taste


Just chop it all up (I leave mine in bigger chunks, but my bf uses a food processor), squeeze in the lime juice and add the seasonings... then shake it up real good. It's super easy to make and tastes delicious!
Here's a recap of my weekend in photos....

Amber, Diana, & I at the Paseo Arts Festival (it was sooooooo hot!)

Amber & Jackson at the Arts Festival (seriously, how cute is this?)

Diana & I at the Pretty Black Chains CD release party

Diana & I going to get food at 6pm for the first time all day long (*bad idea)

Those were all taken on Saturday.... Sunday, I obviously did absolutely nothing but lay on the couch all day (I'm way too old to think I can start drinking at noon AND close down the bar at 2 am) and Monday, I painted..........

First of all a HUGE thank you to Amber for letting me use her camera!!!!!! They're all 12" x 6" but I decided to try to paint on all the canvases I have laying around before buying any more.Hopefully I get some more painting time in before classes start next Monday!
Now off to my 100 day challenge... Hope you all have a wonderful day!




Day 14 - A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without

my darling little sister & I (summer of 2010)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.9

paintings (day 9)

Today I pick up my paintings from The Wine Gallery :) I'm kind of happy to have them back!
But the good news is that I sold 3 of them!!!!

I have to  meet a woman at the gallery tomorrow at 3pm to sell my sugar skull painting and then another friend of mine bought 2 paintings (the fish in the bowl and the birds I painted at the wine tasting) that I will be delivering to him on Wednesday.

and I painted a canvas for my bff Katie's birthday :)

and once again, blogger is being a brat and letting me comment sporadically... so I promise I've been reading and trying to comment! Darn blogger! I hope you're all having a happy thursday and looking forward to a 3 day weekend :) 

Day 09 - A picture of the person who has gotten you through the most

that would be myself.... I've learned that I can always depend on myself and that I should appreciate and love myself like I would a friend :) I have to thank Liz for making me realize this... I mean, it makes sense, right? I'm with myself all the time, I am constantly talking to myself inside my head (especially when I'm trying to meditate!) and ultimately, my decisions are my own. I'm just thankful I finally realized this :)

inspiration in the form of street art

I had a few spare moments last night while trying to talk myself into finishing my english assignment, so I clicked Stumble! on my toolbar.

I came across a collection of 106 photos of amazing street art. I chose a few favorites to post, but you can go here and see the rest of them... I dare you to look and NOT be inspired. Maybe I'll go paint something on the side of my house now.... :)