Daily Doily

The rest of...

the February photo a day challenge.  You can see the first half here.

16. SOMETHING NEW        17. TIME

18. DRINK        19. SOMETHING YOU HATE TO DO

20. HANDWRITING        21. A FAVORITE PHOTO OF YOU

22. WHERE YOU WORK        23. YOUR SHOES

24. INSIDE YOUR BATHROOM CABINET        25. GREEN

26. NIGHT        27. SOMETHING YOU ATE

28. MONEY        29. SOMETHING YOU'RE LISTENING TO

I'm going to keep participating too :)  Here's the list for March:

8/52 Weeks

1 painting (or part of a painting):

I painted for the longest amount of time in a while.  I took out parts of the above painting that I felt needed to go + added some new.  I'm trying to decide if it is done yet.  I think I need some time away from it.  I also started a new painting.  I'm playing around with assemblage/collage on this one.  So far I've just added some fabric scraps :)

1 sketch:

1 art journal page:

(Prompt from this e-course)

Currently.

Obsessing Over: Milk.  Haha.  I know, you would never guess it right?  I'm not sure what happened but the hubby has influenced me to drink large amounts of milk.  I've never gone through cartons like this before ;)  Strange?  Oh + by the way, I like ice in mine while hubby sticks his in the freezer.  Cold milk is the best.

Working On: Finishing my recent painting + starting a new one.  This Sunday I spend hours in the studio with little distractions (this hasn't happened in forever).  Vera would come check on me every now + then.  I even got a blister on my thumb, haha.  I think I am almost done with one painting + I did start a new one.  I added fabric collage elements to this one which is new + exciting.  I will post pictures tomorrow in my 8/52 weeks post.

Thinking About: The speeding ticket I got :(  I'm pretty bummed about it.  I'm trying to decide if I should go to court or just pay it.  I really don't want to ruin my pretty perfect driving record! 

Anticipating: I got management excellence again this year at work (3 times in row!) + I won a trip.  I can't wait for the packet to arrive so I can hear more about it.  I think it's to The Greenbrier in West Virginia.  Has anyone been?  Have any recommendations for that area?  It will be my first time in WV.

Listening To: Older Coldplay, haha...like when they were really good.  Also, I've been playing Kathleen Edwards "Voyageur" a lot.  I'm pretty in love with it.

Eating: Girl scout cookies.  Ahh!!!  I bought 4 boxes (thin mints, samoas, tagalongs + trefoils) on Sunday + have put a pretty big dent in them :)  It's so hard to choose only 1 flavor + then you end up eating them all.  What's your favorite?  Mine is probably thin mints if I HAD to choose only 1.

Wishing: I had more time.  It seems like there's never enough time to do all the things I want to do.  I guess I just need to be better at time management :)  It's hard with a full time job to get it all in. 

Art Lecture // Laurel Sucsy

I went to this lecture last night at Rhodes College.  I'm really enjoying these artist lectures by women with families.  It's very inspiring to me :)  Sometimes I find myself thinking you can't have both, but it's just not true.  You have to make the time to keep what you love in your life.  Here are some of the notes I took:

• Structure changing, but spaces stay the same
• Like moving furniture- collect + push around
• Painting talking back to her, start a conversation
• Got rid of marks + focused on color when painting in the grid
• Up in the air until last minute
• Didn't like the structure of the grid
• More spatial, super illusionistic
• Edges become abrupt- build painting with edges + each mark lines up with each other + shifts
• Task to maintain concentration so worlds don't pull apart
• Her world has been described as plate tectonics
• She's consistant in trying to make awkward slipping
• Shows the roots to her brain- missteps, version without the makeup on
• She feels everything she does is different- gestures, edges, time, consistently shifting
• No static, color/contrast, how paint applied
• Describes work like a music album- some slow songs, some upbeat, etc.
• Different brains on, different personalities

// current work //

• Hovers
• There's this thing you want to do + you don't do it.  You can only make what yours hands allow you to.
• Hard to create openness + finish a painting
• Turn works around to find a new "bridge"
• Works on same painting for years- crazy transformations, finds anchor but anything can change if she protects one area.  Holding on to right area?
• Hard to describe her new work because she is so personally attached.  She doesn't "know" her work until a year out.  She can still remember what music she was listening to when she made the marks.
• Discover one thing + find another
• Enters the work through small things
• Color choice is more intuitive + instinctive
• When she sees painting she sees shapes, landscape, etc.  Sense of light influenced by painting outside
• She loses a lot of paintings + loses stuff she loves, but keeps working.  Jokes she has a super appetite for failure.  Success rate low.  The whole thing has to work, not just the parts.  One piece went to a show, came back + she realized it wasn't finished.
• She has a certain time to paint + puts an apron on + creates rituals to make her paint at night so she doesn't go do dishes, etc. *I have talked about this.  I'll find myself painting a little + then doing the laundry, cooking dinner, etc.  Instead of focusing large amounts of time to my work.

♥ 

I hope everyone has a great weekend :)  I'm looking forward to it.  It's beginning to look + feel a lot like spring around here.

7/52 Weeks

1 painting (or part of a painting):

I know, you can probably hardly tell that I worked on this right?  I swear I did, but I won't say it was for that long or continuously.  I added more black + pulled out some more lines.  I'm trying to make some parts more crisp + not all so hazy.  I'm about to start a new one, i promise :)

1 sketch:

1 art journal page:

and my new cushion I got to sit on when I paint :)  Isn't it a cute pattern?  I got some for my patio chairs too! ♥

(Prompt from this e-course)

Romantic Valentine's Night In

We both worked during the day.  I got a sweet little rose along with all the other ladies at work.  I ordered some vintage looking playing cards so I could make Zac 52 things I love about him deck.  I saw the idea on Pinterest + I LOVED it!  I was freaking out because they hadn't arrived yet + thank goodness when I went home from lunch they were there!  I was able to get them finished just in time :) I used a sanding sponge to sand parts of the card white to add writing. 

Zac picked up some pretty roses for me + I picked up a pretty bottle of wine for him.  I usually buy wine based on how cute the label is :)

Zac made dinner all by himself.  I sorta felt bad for not making anything, but he wouldn't let me :)  He's a really good cook (except for the salty, inedible mashed potatoes, haha [it's ok baby]).  He likes to experiment, when I always follow a recipe. 

He got chocolate covered strawberries for dessert :)  Yum, yum, yum!  It was the perfect little night in spent listening to records, enjoying each other's company + romantic notions ♥

---

We're going to see The Vow tonight + I'm so excited!!!  I hope everyone has a great weekend.  xoxo

Halfway through...

...the instagram february photo a day challenge:

1. YOUR VIEW TODAY        2. WORDS

3. HANDS        4. A STRANGER

5. 10 AM        6. DINNER

7. BUTTON        8. SUN

9. FRONT DOOR        10. SELF PORTRAIT

11. MAKES YOU HAPPY        12. INSIDE YOUR CLOSET

13. BLUE        14. HEART

15. PHONE

6/52 Weeks

1 painting (or part of a painting):

1 sketch (or two [look sideways, haha]):

1 art journal page:

(Prompt from this e-course)

Happy Valentine's Day

Zac "BLE", Please be mine.

♥

*photo by Tec Petaja

V-Day Mixed Tape

This is the "mixed tape" that I gave Zac on Valentine's Day 2 years ago, when we got engaged :)  These songs will always melt my heart + give me that warm fuzzy feeling inside.  "Just One Thing" was our first dance song at our wedding too ♥

Do you have any songs that hold a sweet spot in your heart?