Friends That Blow Bubbles Together Stick Together

I am so glad I finally found time to create again. I have been so swamped with homeschooling, work, and construction that I haven't been able to dedicate time to creating lately. When I came across this vintage girl and her adorable dog, I couldn't resist even though it took me days to complete. My Lyme is acting up and I am having trouble with my fine motor skills in my hands again. So, it takes me a long time to complete a piece like this one, working 15 minutes at a time, giving my hands plenty of breaks in between. Controlling a mouse is an arduous task when my hands are like this. Heck, even typing is an issue.

Things aren't going to be slowing down much, so I've got to grab time when I can. My work will be featured at The Gallery at 122 Main until October 31 (to benefit The National Capital Lyme Association)  and I will be showing some new pieces at Arts By the Bay in November (more details coming about that later). I am taking a trip to Las Vegas next week (hoping to get some great photography opportunities) and my Artful Blogging article comes out November 1. After all of that we enter Thanksgiving and Christmas rush! Being busy is good, I just have to remember what my body can handle and take care of myself, a feat I am not always very good about. I am adding some "bucket list" items to my professional list, so I will be working towards making those goals come true. One is to enter a juried show and another is to make it on to a show like PBS's Artworks. Lofty dreams, but the only way to achieve them is to go for it!

This piece was created with many, many layers. It started with the vintage girl and her pup. I removed them from the background of the original vintage photo and then painted them in photoshop to add color to the black and white original. Then, I collaged in a found background (from a public domain site where artists share their work for others to use) and then changed it a bit to fit my needs. Next, I created the floor using several textures and then painted it in Corel Painter Essentials. I imported the floor into photoshop as another layer, combining it with the background wall. I then imported a picture of a chair and balloon, modified it to fit my needs, layered the girl and pup on top, and then added the bubble gum. I added shadows and light in photoshop, and then I layered three papers: a postcard with child writing on it; the word "secrets" cut out from a magazine (can you find it?); and an old stamped library due date plaque from the back of a book. This gives the piece the mixed media feel I was looking for. All of my pieces have a much deeper meaning to them than their quirky, sometimes whimsical surface, as does this piece. I will hold the meaning close to my heart unless you ask me in person and I will tell you the story.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Sunday...hoping to be able to blog and create a little more this week!  xo

Finding Your Tribe

It is interesting, after going through major life changes, how sometimes people fall out of your life when your priorities, beliefs, and circumstances are altered. Friends you once had, you might not have much in common with anymore and therefore, fall away like the last light of dusk...softly and almost unnoticeably. One day you look back and realize that you have slipped away from each other not for lack of caring, but for lack of commonality. It is supposed to work this way, in my opinion, because there needs to be room in your life for others to enter, to either bless you or teach you lessons.

When we chose to foster and adopt twin toddlers back in 2010, I noticed a shift in friendships. We were thrown back into the stage of diapers, potty training, babysitters, and the like, virtually overnight. It was a huge earthquake in our life, a mammoth change that shook our world upside down, albeit in a wonderful way. Friends fell away then...not because they did not love us or the twins, but suddenly we were in a totally separate stage of life than them. But, we gained different friends through meeting other foster/adoptive parents and parents of kids the twins' ages.

When I became very ill with Late Disseminated Lyme Disease, the same thing happened. Because I was bedridden for months, unable to socialize and not very exciting to hang out with, friends fell away then as well. But, I gained friends yet again, who could relate to chronic illness and the catastrophic effect it has on patients and their families. Friendships bloomed out of a common fight for health and wellness. I'm thankful every day for those people and their understanding.

Then we decided to homeschool. So far we haven't lost any friends, but already I have begun to see the young buds of friendship forming with other moms who are in my shoes. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with a homeschool group today and I immediately felt at home and understood by a handful of ladies. During a time in my life where friendships will yet again shift, it was good to see the beginning stages of finding my tribe unfolding in front of me today.

And of course, I am most thankful for the wonderful friends who have never left my side. The ones who have cried with me when my father died; the ones who brought dinner when I couldn't feed my family because I was so sick; the ones who cheered when I said I was going to homeschool...they are the golden nuggets shining brightly in my sometimes difficult life. They are my heart.

To all friendships...old and new!  xo

Dance in the Puddles

I am the parent of one of those children, a girl, who wants nothing more than to be loved by a dear friend. She is a people person. Everywhere we go, she yearns for the attentions and sweetness of a girl her age. If there is a girl in the area within a few years age difference from her, she finds them, and says, "Mama! I found a friend!" She may not ever know her name, she may not ever see her again, but she declares that girl her best friend for that moment in time. I hope one day she can find a true friend that is her confidant, her safe place to fall, her favorite person to share secrets with.

Inspired by the vintage photo I showed at the bottom of this post, I created two very different pieces...this digitally painted art piece, Dance in the Puddles, and In the Sweetness of Friendship. I really love them both, but feel more of an emotional connection to this one.

Hope your week is starting off well. Mine certainly is as I am in Lynchburg visiting my mother. Nothing like quality time with the woman who can still bring me peace and comfort as well as keep me grounded and in line.  Love you, Mom!

xo

In the Sweetness of Friendship

In the Sweetness of Friendship

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures.

Khalil Gibran

Inspired by the beautiful vintage photo at the bottom of this post, I created this mixed-technique digital painting. There is something so sweet and special about a friendship between girls and women. It isn't easy to find that person or people that totally get you, who celebrate successes as well as take away the pain of failures. So, when you find her, hold her tight for you truly have a gift. I am often envious of women who have a close relationship with her sister/s. Only having a brother, and growing up closely with two of my male cousins, I never experienced the closeness of a sister (but am so glad I had those three boys to grow up with). It is part of the reason why I wanted to have four kids (and hoped for two of each) so that everyone could have a brother AND a sister. As God would have it, I was blessed to have that happen...I have two boys and two girls.

I hope you love this digital painting as much as I enjoyed doing it. It is a mixture of different brush techniques (the sky is different than the buildings, which is different that the pasture, and the girls.) I used acrylic digital brushes as well as watercolor brushes and a sketching technique. Once I started this one, I had to finish and I stayed up late into the night to do that, unable to sleep until it was completed.

Have a blessed and safe weekend, y'all!  I will see you on Monday for another look at these same girls, but painted in a different way. You'll have to tell me which one you like better ;)

Flicker Commons

xo