awaken the artist

i forget the sheer pleasure of viewing the world through my photographer's eyes ~ how every splash of color ignites excitement, how juxtapositions of shape and design bring my surroundings into the realm of art. the ability to transform what i see in nature into the crisp reflection on the screen days later. and how an image can rejuvenate my tired soul ~ bring me back to the path: the warm breeze, the sound of children laughing and puppies barking hello across the park. the power of an image to awaken my writing after months of hibernation; how so much emotion can erupt from one click of the shutter.

i am still in awe of my love for the camera ~ the ability to capture a moment in time, preserved as if trapped inside a bubble, floating freely into the universe. as with any piece of art, each will see something new inside the bubble ~ the emotions which arise as individual as the eyes which view it. and it is my hope, that with each small creative step i take, others will be inspired to view their surroundings with an artist's eye. to find beauty in the mundane: that ray of light escaping the cloud becomes cause for delight, to celebrate the vibrancy of every day.

be free.

i made this video months ago, and couldn't get it to post directly from blogger. i totally forgot about it until tonight.  hopefully it will be better quality through youtube! 

journal pages

i did a layout in my art journal from the other day's post and kinda love it.  the kite string is precious...

the pool

the sounds of children laughing and lifeguard whistles punctuate the view. the hot concrete under our bare feet—the stubbed toes and cool first aid cream to soothe them. i picture the scene in preparation for a swim meet, the lane lines being pulled across the deck like wide snakes, swirling toward the water, bobbing faithfully at the surface to guide our lithe bodies the length of the pool. the turquoise paint chipping from the worn wooden blocks, poised at the edge of the starting line—awaiting the small feet that will perch atop as a baby robin on the rim of the nest. the throb of the gunshot in my ears as i dive out into the warm embrace of the chlorinated bath. the faint cheers and shouts of Tom the Dog. his athletic socks barely visible as i near the opposite end, his arm pinwheeling in a motion only meant to suggest "go faster!" i cannot identify the girls on either side of me, i am only focused on the finish line. my bullseye, looming closer with each frantic kick. my hand smacks the wall with a force reserved for bad children when daddy gets home. it stings slightly as i dart my head above the surface to survey the finish. clear. both sides free from bobbing heads and outstretched hands. i am the winner.

visions

my friend lindsay did a vision board workshop at our art studio a few months ago, and i was able to participate in the activity. she set this amazing ambiance, candles on the floor with a huge circle of magazines covering the space. she had tea and cookies and soothing music to complete the picture. and then she gave us an assignment:  find the images that tug at your soul. i didn't blog about it then because i was still getting out of that yucky place, wading through the grime of my mind, learning to listen to the tugs at my soul.

above is the board i created. it's a bit smaller than a child's piece of posterboard (i like to work with squares, if you haven't seen my artwork). it now adorns the wall of our bedroom at my in-laws house...a place where i need to be reminded of my vision for the future.  for the past 3 months david and i have been living a half life: half the week (while i'm working 12 hour shifts at the hospital) in houston, and the other glorious half relaxing at my parents condo on the beach in galveston. i have felt like i have a split personality, anxious and frustrated in houston; peaceful and relaxed once we pass the city limits.

but i have honored my vision board. in mexico, i swam in waters reminiscent of the teal blue above. i have continued my yoga practice since my return from kripalu in november. i am determined to forge ahead in my dream of living the writer's life. i have been reading and absorbing and dreaming of the future. and i am taking that word "create" to heart...that it is only me who can create the life i desire. i cannot allow others to control the outcomes, nor become discouraged at those aspects of which i do not hold the reins.

i believe in setting intentions. in speaking our dreams and releasing these visions into the universe. it is only then that we are strong enough to attempt those first wobbly steps toward the future.

studio love

i'll try not to cry when i tell you that this is the last week i'll make a mess in our beautiful studio. what a glorious afternoon, playing like i did when i very first fell in love with mixed media. it's been a while since i've posted some of my works in progress. we'll see how they develop over the next few days...

unknown

naptime is over

seen from our balcony in galveston, tx on friday

okay, so i really DID sleep most of the last week away. i may have finally overcome the overwhelm that was taking over in august and have enjoyed the first days of september by relaxing and starting a new art journal. i've noticed that i haven't been painting as much lately and since i'm going through a lot of big changes and decisions right now...i thought it was a perfect time to try it out.

i took an old composition book i never used and cut the front and back covers off to use for the journal. then i took a bunch of unused papers and punched holes and found some little binder rings to hold it all together. i'm excited that it's even something i can do after a full 12-hour shift at the hospital (today) and feel productive.  though the paint's still drying and i haven't added my text yet, i thought i'd give you a sneak peek.

hopefully i'll be posting more pages throughout the month. but mostly the next 30 days will be spent planning for our annual anniversary-vacation, or what david has dubbed "our third honeymoon." only this time we will not be in NYC or a small greek island, but in a rented RV traveling across west texas. we are nothing if not unpredictable.  i'll probably post a bit less this month, but plan to get a whimsical women interview in and a bunch of photos of my travels. 

although it's still 90 degrees most days, i'm pretty sure i feel autumn coming...

grow

happy day

from my in-store painting experience saturday...more to come!

crazy days

ah...the crazy days of summer...so many things to do, so little time. i have so much to say, yet no time to get it all out. i will just have speak through images until the show is over this weekend and i can breathe again. don't get me wrong...i love this crazy life (i created it!), but sometimes somethin's gotta give.  enjoy...

i love how this installation turned out...a leftover album from the covers i used to paint on,

with cardboard squares i kept from our studio renovations.

this is a vintage poster i bought in seattle with my sister years ago...

wax, oil pastels, on an old wood panel found at a junk shop

i hung the whole show all by myself last night while david finished his mural! 

why does art look so much better like this?

found art project

scoot on over here and check out this great project i've joined!!!  such a fun idea...i can't wait to spread some artsy love around houston. above is the art piece i submitted and it's being featured today!

from the studio...

i haven't posted any art in a while...here are a few of the things i've been working on in the shiny new studio!

i am an artist

today i will call myself an artist.  david and i had our gallery opening this weekend...preview party last night and open studio all day today.  i am exhausted and exhilarated.  why you ask?  i showed my artwork, people looked at it, and i

SOLD. MY. FIRST. PIECE!

i actually sold my second piece too, but that was to my dad, so it doesn't really count. it was pouring rain all weekend, but we didn't care...and neither did our guests...it was so fun to finally be in our own space.

we've spent the better part of two weeks completing all the renovations...you can take a peek here. we're official...and we even got our DBA letter in the mail last week to prove it. our dream of mariposa studio is finally real.

creative juices

flow baby, flow! i don't know if it's just this new sense of freedom or watching this or reading this...

but i'm definitely in a "peak" (if you watch madeline's video, you'll know what i mean). i'm bursting with ideas and going crazy trying to get everything else done. i love what madeline says about just going for it when you're in the creative zone...the laundry will get done eventually. i totally relate with so many of the things she talked about and it was nice to hear it articulated.

so, here are a few of the things i'm working on right now...

you may remember these little cards from my antiquing expedition a few weeks ago.  i nailed them onto an old cutting board (also found that day) and i'm loving the start to a new mixed media piece.

and this is the lovely mess i made tonight while d was taking a post-dinner snooze...it's the first time i've actually worked in the studio in our apartment (probably b/c the boxes finally disappeared sometime last week).  i went to my favorite art supply store  yesterday and they have these little packets of scrap papers that i always love to look through...and i got a primo pack...i loved almost everything inside!

it inspired me to start putting some backgrounds together for new mixed media pieces and apparently i got a little carried away. what you see above is only part of the 16 pieces i laid out. if you've read any posts about my art process you'll know that this is totally my style:  assembly line all the way.  but i've never laid out this many at once before.  now, if only my acrylic medium weren't at the REAL studio, i could actually get something done!

and speaking of the studio...tomorrow is the big renovation day.  you can see a few pics here from when i was there on wednesday. the guys pulled down the old chalkboards, so tomorrow will be focused on filling in the mess with joint compound and trying to create some actual walls to hang art on. and since the opening is in exactly one week, it's probably pretty important. and the fact that i sent an invitation to over 100 people yesterday is bumping up the anxiety factor even more.

so i will go back to my new mantra: trust the process. and trust that guy at home depot who promised me that huge 5-gallon tub of gunk would do the trick.

art-aholic

ever since we paid our first rent check on the studio, i've been obsessed with making art. the problem is...we don't have that much time to ACTUALLY DO IT.  last saturday was like heaven (well, besides the fact that the pollen count was about 17 million and my nose was dripping the entire time)...i laid out a huge canvas on the ground, covered it with about a dozen pieces i've been working on and played all afternoon. here we are in our new playground, in all its messy glory:

his

hers

and a few works in progress for ya...

we're back to the studio on saturday for renovation day #1 (well, technically #2....david and george ripped down the bulletin boards on tuesday!) hopefully by next week we'll actually have WALLS!

oops, it's monday

i've skipped my BSM ritual since this move has taken over my life...i actually took this the week prior, but i''d like to add it to the archives anyway. hope your monday was artful...

the creative life

a few weeks ago i took a big step toward living the creative life i have been craving. and then on saturday, david and i took a pole-vaulter's leap right smack into it. i'd been talking about the idea for months, and finally went to my bosses and made it happen. right now i work a regular m-f 8-5 job in the rehab unit of my hospital.  in about a month i will work only THREE DAYS A WEEK!  and get paid the same salary.  that's four days left to write, take photos, paint, volunteer, shave my legs...all the things i usually try to cram into two days and a few exhausted evenings. (okay, the catch is that i'm transferring to the ER position where i'll work sun-mon-tues 9am-9pm and carry the pager overnight each of those nights.)

now, for the second part...we had been tossing around the idea for about as long, but it wasn't until last weekend that it really gelled.  if you look at the above photo, and the one below, and get any type of "feeling"...you'll know exactly why we did what we did.  on saturday david and i signed a lease on an old classroom that hopefully with a little love and some serious demo, will look similar to the photos. this was the opening of iyollo gallery...our friend george's space, which is right next door.  the hope is that we can get a few more artists into the remaining wing of the old school building, which houses the multicultural center, MECA.

if you know any artists in houston looking for a vintage classroom turned art studio...send them our way! i'm beyond excited for this new chapter in our lives, i could never have dreamed this for my life when i started the blog nine months ago.  it truly is a birth...of my creative spirit, following my dreams, and sharing it with my incredible husband...who is finally realizing a life-long dream of showing his work in his own gallery.

i am just happy to have a place to go on those FOUR DAYS OFF to make really big art and write my stories and take photo walks around the historic neighborhood. (and get out of this teeny apartment we just moved into!) it's like the creative wings i've had locked up all these years have finally broken free. they refuse to be clipped...now i just have to jump out of the nest and pray they work.

i'm sure i'll be sharing much more about our studio renovation and business plans over the coming months...especially after may 3, when i start my new schedule. by the one-year anniversary of this blog (sometime at the end of june), i hope to be truly living the creative life.

artful weekend

despite the fact that i spent most of my saturday at defensive driving, i did have a lot of fun the rest of the weekend. one of my friends from grad school got married friday night, and it was a beautiful wedding--but mostly a kick-ass reception--complete with mariachi band! david and i swung by fotofest on our way home to check out the scene.

then, after my class on saturday we stopped by winter street studios, which are open on the second saturday of each month.  a few of my favorites were:

• ryan fugate
• whim designs
• carol mckee

there was another artist, matt messinger, who i LOVED, but he doesn't have a website apparently.  you'll need to go over there to see for yourself!  he does a lot of mixed media and found object art....so i was loving his space. it is so nice to see artists showing the kind of art that i'm making. and all of the abstract art at winter street really has me drooling to play with david's oils.  (in the garage, of course)

here are a couple things i was working on tonight:

oh, and we went to the rodeo today...sometimes there are no words.

okay, yes i did try one.

little red boots always make me smile.

art days

i love these days when david and i are both working on projects...you can just feel the creative energy in the house. i started the piece above last week when i was feeling the yucks coming on...just selecting the images made me happier. i'm also trying to salvage a piece i had intended to submit for the new outpatient building at work (they're using employee and physician art pieces)...clearly i did not enjoy the monotony of the mosaic tiles. maybe i'll post my progress later in the week...

off to ride our bikes and enjoy the sunshine!