Monday, February 21, 2011

Inspiration through colors


Only in quiet waters do things mirror themselves undistorted. Only in a quiet mind is adequate perception of the world.
~Hans Margolius~


Days are passing and at times you just have to stop and take it all in. I had one of those moments the other day. In the midst of running errands I took the time to see my surroundings in a different light. There is a realization that comes with solitude that despite how busy, chaotic, or fast life can become, you can still stop and choose that moment to slow it down for at least second and take it all in. These moments keep me grounded and gives me the opportunity to weed out the negative and be thankful for the beauty around me.

My walk through Glendale, KY 2011.









Valentines came and went. Usually we do not celebrate it since we try to do that every day. :) But this year it meant something more and I was not only surprised but my heart melted when I received flowers from Bo. They were a beautiful mix of Lillis and Roses.





The fragrance it put in my home and the visual impact keeps my heart soaring and patiently waiting for his return.

In other happenings, I have been diligently working on my painting assignments. I a a bit behind right now because I week has just not been enough time for me to "finish" a piece. But the great thing about this online class is we can work in our own pace and then choose to share it or not but actively still be a part of discussions and support for each other.



Our second painting assignment was to take an artist that inspires us and create a painting that incorporates some of their techniques but in our own voice and subject. The artist that inspires me so much right now is Flora Bowley. Her vibrant abstract paintings takes on an emotion of its own and I hope to one day be able to use color to convey how I feel on canvas. For now I am a beginner and shy actually to share my work but you know I guess at one point I will have to put it out there and keep my inner critic quiet so that I can continue to learn and explore.

My second painting started off in a disaster, I put that canvas to the side and started fresh and so far this is my progression. It is not finished yet but soon to be. :)











Here are other paintings I am working on that will end up being a triptych in out living room.







Throughout the class and exploration, I am learning that I do love color more than I realized and I love vibrant and bright colors. I already saw that when we painted the rooms of our house but now it comes out more in my artwork. It has become a nice bright spot in my day to paint as the Kentucky weather still is grim and dreary. I know though spring will come soon and our environment will once again be bright and cheery and full of color. :)



The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color.
~Hans Hofmann~

Saturday, February 19, 2011

State Bound!



Once again I am running after the days! This is what happens when you have two teenage boys! LOL! So I will break it up in a couple entries so it is not too much to take in. LOL! :)

Last weekend was Regions for high school wrestling and our high school was the host this year. I was busy making sure I had food for the hospitality room, my gifts for the seniors and also making sure I take pictures of our wrestlers. We were up bright and early and was at the high school all day. So I boarded Kaiah so she can play with her friends at Sam Russell's. :)

Nick competed in his weight class of 112 while Jared was one of the helpers at the tables(he did not wrestle in Regions because the Varsity in his weight class was a senior). I ran from mat to mat taking pictures and when it came time to honor our seniors and their parents I stood up with the coach to hand over my presents to them. I made collages for all 6 of our seniors as a memory to take with them. They were just simple but they loved having pictures of their hard work. :)

Jared working the clock and score.


Nick on one of his matches.



Helping Coach hand out Senior Gifts and honoring their parents.



Collage gifts to the Seniors













A few pictures of Nick wrestling.





Its a pin




Another pin.





Nick fought his way through a hard weight class and placed 4th which made him eligible to go to State. And our team took 2nd in the Region! :) I was so proud of our wrestlers that competed and also all the parents and kids that spent their whole Saturday volunteering their time to make sure our Regional Competition went well.

112 Weight Class

CHHS Bruins taking 2nd in our Region.



This week before the guys left for their road trip to state I went to the school to get some snapshots of our State team. :)
Our State bound wrestlers.





I know this road trip will be an experience to some of the wrestlers like Nick and the last for our seniors. I know they did the best they could and no matter what I am very proud of their hard work and all their accomplishments. :)

In other news, I have been busy still working on my painting for the 2nd Assignment and working on my 3rd. I am hoping to have progression pictures up soon.

Until the next time...have a great weekend!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Feeling Accomplished :)



The weeks are finally starting to move for us. Not as fast as we want it to but enough to feel like a day is over and another one starts. Our family has experienced some emotional ups and downs this last week as we heard bad news throughout the week. I know it has to be frustrating for my husband being not only is he far away, but countries away. :( We do the best we can for what we can do and just hope it all works out from there.

On the positive side of things. I am really enjoying my American Tribal Style belly dancing class. I feel worked out and it is also a time to be able to just learn something new with other women and step away from the reality of things for a little while at least. My instructor is very patient and informative and really comfortable to be around so I look forward to the classes even more. :) If you happen to be in the area she is teaching in two different places. Here is her information if you would like to learn. :) http://www.urvashidance.com/


I am so proud of myself that despite being "busy" as I always am, and besides fulfilling my to do things I have also accomplished what I enjoy to do and that is learn more about painting. I have always been creative all my life, whether its to doodle, journal, write, collage or make jewelry. And lately I am finally feeling more confident to give myself that opportunity to explore and to understand the need to create. I started with my glass jewelry because it was so hands on. I could shut the door to my studio or space and just create losing myself in my creative mode. What was a hobby is now a little more and I hope that it grows. But in the in between stages I get a creative block and have to switch gears into my mixed media art. Although I have pieces hanging in my home my confidence to actually paint was always lacking. I had an inner critic that would just destroy my hopes of learning the media better, until I found the Get Your Paint On Class.

Stumbling upon this class was a great thing to happen. I was afraid at first not knowing really what to expect not out of the class but of myself and thought what is there to lose. This last week was our first assignment and even if I had some rough moments or unmotivated days, I pushed through and enjoyed the whole process of creating. I also realized when I dedicated a whole day to painting not only for the class but for my personal projects that it was such a rewarding and therapeutic feeling. I am not an expert by any means and still a very fresh beginner but I have realized it is okay to let go and give yourself the freedom to just enjoy learning, experimenting and creating.

So with that said here is my first assignment:
Our first week assignment for our class was to be inspired by Gee's Bend Quilts. The history and the quilters behind the quilts were inspiring in its own right but seeing pictures of the geometric and gridded quilts was so inspiring. I usually just start throwing paint on a canvas but this time I did sketch it out in my sketchbook and sketched it out on my 11X14 canvas.

Images taken from the internet from different sources for inspiration:






My first assignment in progression:











The finished piece after sanding it down and spraying matte varnish on the painting.



I feel so accomplished that not only did I finish the assignment on time but I also enjoyed it and took my time to work on it. This week I picked up our second assignment which will deal with Subject Matter and Painting Style. There is a lot of information and inspiration and I know this will be more of a challenge than the first, but I am looking forward to it and this is the reason I took the class. So thank you to Mati and Lisa for challenging us and yet making the class so fun that we look forward to the new assignments. :)

Besides the painting assignments I have been working on a triptych for my living room wall. Bo already put the hooks up on the wall to remind me my canvases should be hanging there. :) I will share those with you in the near future as this painting class has given me a boost of confidence to just paint what does feel good to me and what I like. :) Bright colors to be my main palette as you can see. :)

It is snowing again and looks like a complete blizzard outside. The boys were let out of school an hour early today. Days like this give me more time to work on my projects.
So off I go....:)

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Filling my days with productive creativity..


Bo sent me this picture to brighten up my day. Aah if I had Dorothy's red shoes to click myself there. :)




My days have been busy with creative adventures. I started my tribal belly dancing class last Thursday and look forward to two nights a week of sharing my time with a wonderful instructor and other women who are taking the class as well. Its nice to be around others that share the same enthusiasm and eagerness to learn.



The second class I am so excited to be a part of is a 5 week painting course online. We received our first assignment yesterday and inspiration today and it makes my day to see the inspiration and support from both the instructors and have a community that is supportive and creative. At the end of each week we can choose to share our work with each other and it will be nice to see what others have created and the feedback that I will also be receiving for my pieces. This is a nice step out of reality for me and keeps me focused on the things that make my world happy. :)



Besides that I have updated my Etsy site and will be sprucing up my jewelry at the gallery. Here is the link if you want to stop by and take a peek.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/abbyandbodesigns

So my gray winter Kentucky days may be filled with color anyways. :)
Have a great week.