I’ve been thinking a lot about this project. My thoughts are still not clear so bear with me. Btw, I appreciate all the feedback you’ve been leaving so please don’t interpret my silence as lack of appreciation. I go back and forth between my ideas. Part of me wants to just draw and not paint so I can focus on one thing at a time. Draw more with shading and charcoal for the whole thing. Then focus on painting once I’m really good at the drawing, shading, etc. Part of me likes the painting and doesn’t want t give it up. Part of me wants to draw these, more idealized, faces and part of me wants to make them more emotional, more real, more artistic. I am pretty lost. I will give it a solid think and then decide.
Actually I’m thinking I will move to just drawing them. What do you think? I feel like if I can draw them really really well with lots of great shading and blacks and whites and everything in between, then I can worry about the painting afterwards. First, I can learn to add emotion. I can learn to change expressions. Really really focus on the portraits. And then worry about the painting as phase two.
So with that here are my last set of six painted portraits for a while.
Here they are, painted:
and then here is the next three drawings:
and painted.
Let’s see how the drawing works out.. I make no promisses. I might come back to this. Or even do a different version. Who knows….
Six Portraits a Week is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
I have to make a plan to get out and take some photos. I’ve really been even more like a hermit than usual partly cause I am doing so much CHA work. But alas, it’s almost over and now it’s even getting warmer here. Lest you think it’s always laughter and roses here, today Nathaniel decided not to take his nap until much later. Then I had to wake him up because otherwise he wouldn’t sleep at night. So he woke up super cranky. And looked like this.
And this.
And this. It went on for quite a while. We went and got David and he was still crying.
The first thing he did was get David’s water out of his lunchbag which he does every night.
I snapped some shots of David.
And he acted all silly as he likes to.
Nathaniel watched suspiciously.
Then finally he started playing again.
But all that crying had gotten to me already. I feel tired and exhausted. Extra tired tonight since all the whining, wailing, and crying tends to wear you down a bit. I’m sure the little boy had a headache and I feel bad for him. I gave him lots of hugs and tried to play with him but he just needed to be alone and get over being tired.
By bedtime, he was throwing himself on the couch and giggling alongside David, of course.
Now they’re both sleeping and I am ready for bed myself. I have some organizing to do, some homework and a portrait to draw. Then it’s bedtime for mommy, too.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a good day at work. I got some important things moving and I felt good about progress.
2. I am grateful for a kind offer from a good friend. I am always filled with gratitude at the generosity of others.
3. I am grateful that a lot of people have signed up for my classes at BPC already. I really, truly love teaching there so I am very excited to have both my classes coming up. If you’re enrolled in either of my classes, thank you for taking a class with me. I know both your money and time are important and I truly appreciate it deeply.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I did a project that compared sawdust and wood shavings at school {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played with mommy (we did workbooks)
3. I am grateful that I picked the people to invite to my birthday. I struggled a lot with this since we can’t invite the whole class (there’s a limit where the party will be) and so we had to pick some and not pick others. I told David to not talk about his party at all at school so as to not make anyone feel bad.
Catalyst One Hundred and Twenty-Seven is: What’s your word/focus for 2011?
Thoughts:
“Let go of the past, be free to do anything you desire. Anything.” My word for 2011 is free. I plan to let go of all of what holds me down from my past and also let go of all the ideas I have in my head of what I can and cannot be in the future. My plan is to work on whatever I need to work on so I can clean the slate. Be free of any burden. Free to do anything. Truly.
Details:
Graceling was a pick from my Young Adult book club. It’s not the kind of book I would have ever picked up on my own. I don’t tend to favor young adult and I really do not like fantasy genre.
And yet I loved this book.
I felt the pull of the writing and the characters immediately and I cared about them. While it might not have been deep or intellectually stimulating, it was a truly enjoyable book for me. I cannot wait to read Cashore’s second book, too.
I’m a fan.
And back to work and back to school means back to our regular schedule. Up at 6, reading, eating, packing, dressing, bus, layout, etc. etc. And the little boy is still being funny.
So many people ask me how I get so much done in a day and can work from home. A big part of it is this.
My kids are just amazing. They play by themselves for hours. Happily. Every now and then they interrupt and we play together, we laugh and then they go back to playing alone. I am lucky, I really know it. Here’s David, showing off his gratitude journal.
And then having a bit of silly time.
I missed it but this is seconds after Nathaniel went over to hug him.
And then went back to playing.
And playing some more. He still into the blanket carrying of course.
And here’s David, playing on the iPhone which he gets to do after writing his gratitude, eating his veggies, and reading with mommy.
Nathaniel learned the word yellow today and he also started taking my finger and making it point at the things he wants. He’s getting more and more communicative and he’s so very cute. When we get food, he’ll nod yes or no and then point at his tray to show us where to put the food. Love that boy.
I have two more layouts to do and I am ready for CHA. Phew. I will like having something else to do in the mornings. I will like printing new photos out and gathering some stories. I need a little break after this. I will enjoy taking time to journal more and work on my classes more.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. Today, I feel a deep gratitude for my children. I am truly blessed as a mother. I have two incredibly nice, kind, loving and fun kids. They are so full of personality and character. I hope that it continues to be so. I feel so grateful.
2. I am grateful for another day of exercise. I must admit even after 109 days, it’s still really hard. I still have to drag myself to the garage. I still think I won’t ever get through it. I still feel tired at the end. But I do it. I am thankful and proud that I do.
3. I am grateful for a good, productive day. Some days feel out of control but today felt good. I have some todo items and I am woefully behind on email and replying to comments but still I don’t feel like I am drowning which is good for me.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I got a card from school (it’s a photo id) {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played on the phone
3. I am grateful that I went to school. He had a good day at school and worked on some fun projects, he tells me.
Today’s page is inspired by the amazing Melody Ross. Nothing nearly as amazing as her work of course. This was the first homework for the Soul Restoration class.
This is a representation of my soul house. I won’t go into the details since it’s part of a class and paid content but I wanted to put it here since this particular page is a lot about the art. I loved how Melody used the different colored pages to create a collage so I wanted to try to do the same thing. Trust me when I tell you hers is a ton more stunning but I still love how this turned out.
I added specific truths that spoke to me. The ones that are a lot about my goals for 2011. I’ve made a few more pages for this class so far. And I love the class so if it comes around again, I highly recommend it.
Weekly Art Journal is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
And here we are, already at the end of our long weekend. It’s 6pm which means I have this entry, a few more entries, a portrait, possibly some journaling and bedtime. And then it’s officially next week.
Our morning started with a trip to the dentist. Where David did awesome, as always. I took this with my phone.
I took another photo when we got home to show off his newly cleaned teeth.
Nathaniel made lots and lots of his expressive faces.
And laughter.
More faces. Oh uh.
Then he watched his brother play on the phone.
After nap time, it was time to take another family photo. As I set up, Jake ate some peanuts and, of course, Nathaniel wanted to be a part of that, too.
I cropped this out of one of family shots. He looked so wonderful.
There’s always much laughter when we do these shots. So we have a lot of outtakes.
and blurry shots.
Then, while I processed the photos, Nathaniel showed his dad some of his books.
And then spent some time looking through David’s notebooks.
While he played on the iphone.
I love this shot of both of them occupied and engrossed.
I spent most of the weekend doing homework and as of this morning I have a ton more (and even more is coming tomorrow). I decided I will have to come up with a schedule for all the homework I have in Misty’s class. I want to, scratch that, need to, spend more time drawing before I can move to painting. And same with painting. So once CHA comes and goes, I will spread it out. A month of just drawing, a month of painting, a month of collage, etc. Next month, I have the sketching class, too. Not to mention the two I’m teaching. Ugh. It looks like things will stay busy for a while.
Just the way I like it.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a quiet day. It was busy in the morning but I spent most of the middle of the day lying on the couch, watching misty paint. Can’t think of a better way to spend my day.
2. I am grateful that we took another set of family shots. We already have more photos of us than we did in all of 2010.
3. I am grateful that I made an appointment for Nathaniel at the dentist. I am a bit scared since it’s his first and we haven’t been so good about brushing his teeth but I am grateful to start taking care of it.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I played on mommy’s phone {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that mommy and I read together
3. I am grateful that I did my workbook.
This layout is made with the December A Million Memories kit.
Journaling reads:
I snapped this photo while you begged me to give you some cookies. You were holding the box and looking at me. It is by far my favorite photo of you. It stops my heart on its tracks each time. I love you so deeply my son that it hurts. I am so thankful that we are blessed by your presence each day.
It’s so nice to have a three-day weekend. I sort of wish they were all 3-days. In 2002, I used to work 3 days a week and I never ever got used to it in a way where it felt long. It was the perfect number of days to work. Just when I started feeling tired, it would be time for my long weekend. I volunteered and took classes on the two weekdays I didn’t work and it just was the perfect schedule for me. So if every week was a 3-day weekend I think I would still enjoy it to bits.
Today started on the same schedule as everyday. I try to take family shots every day that all four of us are around so we set it all up but it was really early so there’s a lot of noise in the photos. Here’s one of the outtakes.
And another.
After I scrapped and exercised, it was time to read. We took the book basket down and Nathaniel picked a choo choo one.
And David picked a level 3 to read to me. Which he read beautifully. Then I read to him.
After that, it was quiet time for all of us. I did manage to snap this wonderful photo of David before I sat to draw some and journal some.
The little boy played.
And I love this photo. Jake took this while I was sitting and drawing. But look at the face Nathaniel’s making to try to get David’s attention (he was watching harry potter.) I love that Nathaniel sits with David so much and looks up to him so much.
And I love that David’s nice about it almost all the time.
We briefly had some friends over and then I had to run out and buy some shoes. Which reminded me how much I hate shopping. Then it was time for family night. We played some more Zingo and then Jake and David got to play a tiny bit of Wii because Jake had promised him earlier and they hadn’t gotten around to doing so.
And now the kids are asleep and I am moving a bit slowly but I feel good. I’ve done most of my homework in most of my classes. I have a bunch of setup I have to do for my blog and creative therapy, etc. But that’s on schedule for tomorrow. Tonight is about my portrait, some journaling, and some more drawing, all while watching the Golden Globes.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for family night. I love family night, even when it’s short.
2. I am grateful that I finally bought some shoes. I’ve been meaning to buy flats for a really long time.
3. I am grateful that I took the time to draw today. It was calming and I am thankful for the time.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I get to play will with daddy {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful for family night
3. I am grateful that I get to play with my legos a bit in my room
David says:
I liked that Glinda was nice to everyone but I didn’t like when Oz was trying to trick everyone. He said he could do magic when he can’t.
I thought the china city was silly. I also like that the witch kissed Dorothy because it protected her and I liked that the shoes carried her back to Kansas.
My favorite characters were Toto and Dorothy because they were very nice to everyone. Like how she took the scarecrow off the pole and she oiled the tinman. My other favorite character was Glinda.
My least favorite character was the Wicked Witch of the West because she was bad and she tried to fight them with the golden cap but they couldn’t hurt Dorothy because she had the kiss.
Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
I don’t want to start each of my entries with how tired I feel so I won’t tell you that today. But rest assured, I do. Anyhow… Despite the fact that it was a weekend, I spent my day with a very similar schedule to my weekdays. Except, instead of working, I lay on the couch and read all the content and watched all the movies for my classes.
While I scrapped, the little boy read some more books.
And reacted to each page.
While the big boy played with his legos.
Then Nathaniel went down for his nap, I read to David, I exercised and then showered and took the Christmas tree down and then set up the camera for our family photo. Here’s me doing a test run.
And another. I told Nathaniel there was a squirrel in the backyard to get him to look at the camera, hence the expression on his face.
Here’s an outtake from our shot. David looks like he’s hurting cause he was playing wii and focusing too much. He took a long break after this photo.
Then he and Jake went to Target while Nathaniel and I rested.
And I snapped some photos.
While he laughed.
and laughed at me.
and then he realized his brother was gone which meant he could mess with the remotes.
The boys came back, we all put everything away and had dinner and now they’re almost ready for bed.
I plan to do a lot of the homework in my classes tonight. I stopped doing portraits two days ago and plan to restart that tonight, too. I must admit that I am most behind misty’s class. It’s partly because there’s a lot of homework but mostly because I truly feel like I can’t draw. I try and it looks terrible and I get impatient. I know it’s practice but when it sucks so bad you don’t even want to practice. Several of you commented on doing more emotion or shading etc with my portraits. The thing is I feel like I am so far from the basics that I am not ready to add expressions, feelings, my style yet. I can’t even draw two eyes that look the same. I can’t make noses or lips I like. I am working on those for now. I work hard every day to quiet the voice inside me that yells “you’re not an artist” or “you’re no good at this.” Again, I know it’s a lot about practice but it’s hard to feel inspired to practice when I think so little of what I create. anyhow….so I put it off. Which, of course, doesn’t help at all.
So off I go to journal, draw my portraits and maybe do another few drawings from misty’s homework. And then journal more and make some cards for the soul restoration class. Long night but full of joyful work. Let’s see how far I get.
Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that the tree is down. I loved having it up but I also like it gone for some reason. I put some lights up so that I can still feel the joy.
2. I am grateful that I have only five layouts left to do for CHA. I like making them but I think I’m ready for a break.
3. I am grateful for some quiet time tonight. I have some jaw pain again and I look forward to curling up and being artsy and introspective for a while.
Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that i got some shirts for school {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played wii
3. I am grateful that I get to stay up and play in my room a little tonight
jake
This was Jake’s first week back at work after the long vacation. I think the vacation was a huge success for all of us and it gave him tons of energy to power through the long days he worked since he went back. He’s been happy and energetic and productive the whole time. I think there’s a lesson about the value of rest somewhere in there and I think I need to pay attention to it.
karen
I’m still mostly doing the same thing: preparing for CHA, working, exercising, and making portraits. Three of my classes started this week so I have a ton of homework and I have promptly begun to feel like I am falling behind but I am trying to coach myself daily and give myself permission to pace it all so that I can keep getting the sleep I need and not drive myself insane. This year is just as much about slowing down as it is about moving forward, so I keep working on reminding myself that.
david
David had another great week at school. We finished another book, did some more workbooks, and he even had a playdate all by himself. He’s growing up and there’s nothing I can do about it. Part of me loves watching him grow and part of me is so sad that pieces of his life are happening without me already. He’s such a kind, gentle soul and I am so thankful to have him in my life.
nathaniel
Nathaniel continued to be about the choo-choo. But now he’s also got a blankie. He seems to like having it around and grabs it from his crib when he gets up from sleep or naps. He started saying more words this week like “up” and “nana” for banana. He also has a word for the blanket. He’s been eating carrots and corn and even green beans sometimes. He laughs a lot and hugs me a lot. He also cuddles under the blankets with me often which is my very favorite thing. I love and adore him and I am so glad I am here to see him grow up.
and here’s the card version:
Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.
|
projects for twenty twenty-six
projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
|
