basking in the beauty

who's materialistic, will you be consuming a whole lot this december, where will you be looking for gifts galore? lust/content factor. measure your motivation.

anthropologie

blissen

imsmitten

fredflare

here's a few, more to come, more of my favorites. hooray!!!




last night with the ap students went really well. it is hard for me to believe that ten years ago i was one of those seniors in highschool just beginning to discover and experiment with art. ten years ago was the first year lauren started teaching. i was one of her first students to continue with an artistic path. i love showing and sharing my work with other people. these kids had all sorts of questions, they're just great big sponges soaking up anything and everything creative. the whole point was to push the inspiration needle so that they could get through the rest of the year. lauren had been talking with them about embellished surfaces. i think of my work as collage, but i suppose it is embellished. i was so happy to see five new pieces framed. i'd like to go ahead and get about ten to fifteen new pieces out. i've already got three, but they are small.

it feels good to see completed work and know that a work is finished. there's no going back and any doubt i had about the outcome has to be booted away. i talked with the kids about process and not using other people's art. i have always been intrigued with the pure aesthetic and where it comes from. is the pure aesthetic in me? it is similar to that of an original idea, but differs because of what we as individuals find to be personally beautiful. beauty can be all things. even deconstruction can be beautiful. the process, the emotion, the elements and principles of design all hold one form or another of beauty. i felt like a disciple last night. which is a bit of brag way to put how the experience felt. but i was imparting ideas and theories to something these kids have rarely put their hands on. i had my polyoruthene, wax, thread, drywall tape, paintbrushes scattered around my apartment. i feel like being an artist is no big deal sometimes. it's sort of like an artist a dime a dozen. just like everything nowadays. being recognized feels great.

pretty boy floyd

who can it be knockin' at my door? one end to fill the void. i know it takes an effort to be clean. last night i set up the week. so tonight i'm having six ap art students come over so that they can see what i've been making. a bird's eye view. luckily i got a telephone call from ron at framewrights. my art, all of five pieces are now framed. i had it all framed exactly the same way, formality or consistency, whichever. i can't wait to see what they all look like framed. hanging it all in my apartment is going to be a challenge considering the fact that they'll all weigh more. oh well, it's rather worth all the trouble and moolah. even though i want to plug bob and ron for a minute. the work they do is absolutely wonderful and affordable. so if ever you're in chattanooga and need something framed, look them up.

i'm on the aesthetics committee at new city and it's time to decorate the sanctuary. so that's on the books for thursday. next week is secret santa at work. i'm not looking forward to it. i'd rather participate in a chinese/white elephant exchange. although it does end up being fun in the end. the difficult part is trying to gather five presents that someone is going to like under five dollars. unga bunga!

the 45Revolver has gotten a new job. it's a step up from the gym position he's had sense moving to honolulu in feburary. he'll be working as an engraver, which sounds kinda strange for an airforce base, but evidentally there are all sorts of things to engrave while living and working on an airforce base. i'm glad for him and hope it is challenging enough. as you can see he'll still be keeping up the spinning. busy as ever.

moe of mae for me

on monday or tuesday of last week i got home from work and found in my box a wee from hillary. i was so excited that i spent the rest of my holiday introducing moe of mae to everyone, family and friends. she went to thanksgiving dinner with me and to my parentals house and everywhere. now she's snuggled up under the warmth of my desklamp.



when i first got mae i thought her name was moe. but then with help i realized her name was actually mae. so now i really enjoy just saying moe of mae for me. i love her and will cherish her forever. make sure you go and see hillary's other wonderful things. you won't be disappointed. ever.

i've been busy as i mentioned. i spent most of my holi-daze at home playing zoo tycoon. but on friday evening kate, joel, aaron, and laurie came over. so i spent a whole bunch of my time cleaning up my collage mess. i also changed the sheets on my bed and repotted a christmas cactus. i didn't have any soil so i used clementine peels and coffee grounds. it works well, i did it with my banana tree and the leaves are huge. i even have a tiny baby banana tree coming up on the side. i watched a whole bunch of television too, but i mostly just constructed a bunch of zoos. i finally thought to increase my beginning budget. so on the last zoo i started with a five hundred thousand budget. easy, but too cool for school.

happy holiglaze

this is the loveliest view from my apartment window, looking northwest across the simple little city. the weather was just beautiful a couple of weeks ago and now all hell has broken lose. i feel terrible about what's happening in texas. and poor hillary in chicago thought they were getting snow and now is disappointed because of the nothing that fell from the sky. i'm still here on the frontlines, finishing the last of me pc day before trudging home to take a nap. i've got much to do. first there's the parentals for a cheesecake pan. i'm going to change things up a bit and go for this pumpkin cheesecake. it may be alot of work but i don't have really anything else to do this evening or tomorrow before the outdoor extravaganza.

i'll also be updating my photos. i've got some very exciting things to share. i'm so pleased because i've actually gotten three whole collages finished for cards. for kate's dad and for the possible 4bridges fest. i can't wait for everyone to see. totally new and improved. the photos won't be that wonderful because i'm still really trying to figure out this dinocamera from the prehistoric age. it eats batteries for breakfast, i believe. the closer i am to the object the better the pic. i also have some very awesome news about what i got in the mail yesterday. but i'm not going to say a word until i've got the photo to prove.

i've been struggling again in my job, but i think i've got it figured out again. i don't want to spend too much time complaining because i know i am most fortunate to have the job i do. i am a "gotta fix it" type person and if it's broken i've got have my nose tooling around trying to figure out a solution. even a mental solution for my own stress at the least. i know that i want to change jobs but i don't want to move on until i know what is going to happen with honolulu. it's definitely a catch 22. the other thing i've been struggling with is this time and distance between the 45 and all. gosh!!! i find myself repeatedly being ridiculous with him in conversation. i ask stupid questions that i already know the answers to. i constantly worry that he's not doing the things he should be doing. i am frequently unsure of his intentions and everytime i ask, he's very quick to remind me that he is in love with me, that he wants me to be in hi and that if i don't quit asking stupid questions he'll let me go from the phone. everytime i experience something in my walk with god i want to tell the 45 about it, but instead of just telling him about what i'm thinking i ask him self righteous and prideful questions as if i've got something up on him. i'm sick of it in myself. thankfully 45 is patient and gentle, not an unkind word comes out of his mouth. but it's difficult to learn this way. i just don't ever really see how ugly my heart is. i was so stunned and overwhelmed with the sermon on sunday. i could barely rehash it for you now. but it has left me with a clearer vision of myself. i also notice often that my attitude with my mom is much the same. but i do want to hear truth and i do want the grace. i'm too stubborn. i'm too this way in motion.

one other little thing is that the holidays are a bit misgiving for me. considering all the friends and family around me have significant others. i would love to be with the 45 and i suppose underneath it all my fear, anger and insecurity in my life poise as stupid selfishness and pride. i'm going to learn one of these days to listen more closely to the whisper. james 1:16-24.

happy holiglaze.

in the red

oh my body is weary, my vision of the weekend is blurry. if there was ever a busy weekend this was it. i went and saw the incredibles on friday evening. i thought the movie went really well. i may have been the only one laughing a couple of times though, so maybe it wasn't that good for everyone. dash was the cutest and violet reminded me of erin p. after the movie i went to lamar's as i said i would and saw jairus play. my friend georgia has moved back from ashville, which is fairly nice. laurie and ann were there too. on saturday i did nothing. absolutely nothing until m.k. came over to cut my hair. now it is short and manageable. no more ponytails.

saturday night i went bowling with chris and beth. we did the 12am-3am, $13 buckaroos for all you can bowl. i'd say that i'm a good bowler. but maybe it has more to do with the fact that i'm not throwing the ball down the lanes. sunday was family day and catchup on sleep day. i can't wait until the holiday day. i'm not working but tomorrow and half a day on wednesday. i'm baking for thursday. i'm looking at a pumpkin cheesecake to take the place of a pie. we're actually going to attempt to eat outside this year. the weather has been rainy and unpredictable, but fairly mild. my aunt c. has a nice big back yard and a large firepit. we're going to build a big ole' fire and cover the large picnic table and WHALA! i got to talk with kate and jen both this weekend which was really nice. jen is making tons of cards to sell in a museum down in lakeland.