Take 2...

So I am not off to a smashing start...  But little happened the past few days.  Here are the highlights:

Got to spend more time at my families house with Tami and Amberly, I adore my sisters.  I am so proud of Sara, she has been working hard at Wally-Mart and has lost 20lbs.

Steve (hubby) likes my Marinara sauce so much we had it 2 nights in a row for dinner.

Tim did finally get to present his final report in Utah History (he is in 7th grade).  After having computer problems the first try then losing the thumb drive and having to redo his paper cause he didn't save the file anywhere on the hard drive.

Ordered a new cpap mask after wearing my current one into the ground.  My mask style is$80 to replace, yuck.  Also got to order a few books on my favorite culture:  the Minoans.  Looking forward to reading about them.

Now that I write it all down, my life has got to look really boring to the casual observer.
Still doing this for me not anyone else.

Also moved into the 21st century with a smart(ish) phone upgrade.

New Years Project and Day One

So about 10 years ago I stopped writing in my journal daily because I developed some health issues which forced me to drop out of college and into a massive depression.  I didn't write anything for 10 years, all the lessons I learned, the good times I had, the memories of my grandma, lost because I was too depressed to write them.

So, my only goal for this year is to write here everyday.  I will not be fascinating everyday, some days may only be a sentence and I do not expect anyone to read it.  I just feel I need to do this and keep a place I can exercise my thoughts and record my experiences.

Anyone who takes the time to read them will be greatly appreciated and know that I feel so much of the support you send, and send it in return.  There will be art reports, dinner reports, kid reports, hubby reports, mental and emotional reports, gratitude reports, etc.

That being said here is todays entry:

Didn't sleep soundly last night, but I did get up at 7am to make breakfast.  To explain, it isn't an attempt to be a supper mom, I get up and make breakfast for 3 big reasons.  First, because I need to eat.  I feel so much better all day long when I do eat in the AM (It is a blood sugar thing).  Second, to save money on cereal.  And lastly it is to see my household off to a good day.

So as usual I made oatmeal with toasted pecans and cranberries.  Stayed up with April until 9:30, we did some of the activities in her Christmas princess book together (she is a very smart kid and my sis Tami is an awesome teacher).  Went back to bed as usual since I cannot function with less than 10 hours sleep (Thanks health issues...)  And didn't get out of bed till 3:30 PM.  I hate days when I sleep so much, makes me feel useless.  To be fair I needed it after the weekend and Monday I had, they just wore me out.

I am about to go make dinner, sausage and peppers with cabbage and butter potatoes.  Yummy yummy!

Best news today though is that I am feeling mentally alert and emotionally fantastic.  This is in large part to getting to spend time with my sister Tami, she fills my bucket.  And to the patience of my family and hubby who is awesome.

Oh and Tim just brought up a basket of clean towels, what a good kid!  I do love folding clothing, odd I know.

Great Pen & Ink: 6 Jack Kirby

This month I am highlighting Jack Kirby.

First off please read and respond to this article: "As 'The Avengers' will Make Millions, Creator Kirby May Get Squat" 
To stand up and help out check these:
A Buck for Jack
The Jack Kirby Museum

Jack Kirby, the man responsible for creating and illustrating so many iconic comic book characters.  In fact his art is large part what made them iconic.  Captain America, one of my long time fav's he created with Joe Simon in the 1940's.  Check out the following:

Jack Kirby was insanely prolific and highly creative.  Jim Vadeboncoeur Jr.'s article on him at JVJP's Illustrators site is wonderfully done and very informative (see link below).  My favorite thing about Kirby is his ability to narrate a story visually and how he uses subtle cues in layout and motion to lead the eye through several frames.

For further reading and to see more art check out the following:

JVJ Publishing Illustrators
Roc's Nest

Wikipedia

The Jack Kirby Museum

Great Pen & Ink: 5 Joseph Clement Coll

Great Pen & Ink: 5 Joseph Clement Coll

Nice to be back at this art appreciation thing ;). 

So today we have Joseph Clement Coll, an illustrator from the golden age of illustration at the early part of the 20th century.  His style is fantastic, flowing, and dynamic.  With nothing more than lines his work conveys passion, violence, and wonder.  Sadly he did not live a long life and these days his amazing pieces are barely known.

For further reading on the man and to see more art, check the following:
Wikipedia
Illustrators
Flesk Publications Gallery 

Great Pen and Ink: 4- John R. Neill

For the Blog this fortnight we have John R. Neill.  I am bias with this one too since I had a bunch of Oz books from my Grandma that he has illustrated.  His simple flowing line style had a significant influence on my art.

"John Rea Neill (November 12, 1877 - September 13, 1943) was a magazine and children's book illustrator primarily known for illustrating more than forty stories set in the Land of Oz, including L. Frank Baum's, Ruth Plumly Thompson's, and three of his own.[1] His pen-and-ink drawings have become identified almost exclusively with the Oz series. He did a great deal of magazine and newspaper illustration work which is not as well known today."  -from Wikipedia.

For a more complete Bio please visit the official page: John R. Neill

To see the article previous please visit the Metallic Visions Blog

Hey I'm Still here!

So here are some updates...

The Enfinitea experiment only proved to me that I just cannot handle caffine without flairing.  I would take them if there was a caffine free option.

We have our house and love it, I have a before and after shot of the kitchen for all of you:

And my Studio in all of it's messy glory:

When Steve and I married we had all of my herbs and spices and all of the 10 yr old watkins spices he got left with after his divorce.  It was a lot of herbage to deal with.  So the other day I got rid of all the herbs and spices that had lost their wham and cleaned out the bottles.  The watkins herbs were in these perfectly sized glass bottles and I hate throwing glass away.  So I utilized my wonderful and useful label-maker and re-vamped how I keep my spices.

I love how it turned out and there is so much more space in my little cupboard.

Take joy while you can.

I am happy, happy because I have a safe place and the man I love more than anything. So over the thanksgiving break my boyfriend Steve asked me to marry him. Actually, his exact words when i told him, once again, that he should marry me were as follows: "It's not like I haven't thought about it." Said has he presented me with a ring. It was charming and fit with our relationship.

On the evening of December 21st, the winter solstice, we were married by a dear old friend on mine who is a licensed pagan minister. It was a lovely and simple ceremony and my hubby liked the idea of everyday of our marriage becoming brighter as the days lengthened. He can be such a romantic. Both my parents and his parents were there and his kids, Tim and Alexandria, were our best man and bridesmaid as it were. My youngest sister Sara was also my bridesmaid. Our closest friends, Beth and Seth were there as well as the much missed Mike and Leah who also served as witnesses. We decorated the living room with snowflakes and candles. The entire ceremony was candle lit and just lovely.

The we spent the first week of our marriage packing up my apartment... We survived it so that bodes well for our relationship.

The only real downside at the moment is that my entire studio is in boxes and it is making me a wee bit crazy. I miss my jewelry making and my beads and my masks and fabric. It is temporary though since we found the perfect house and are in the process of convincing a bank they want to let us have it.

I need to draw more, desperately need to draw more. I am losing my muscle memory for it and that is a very bad thing. So since the big studio stuff is unavailable I have been drawing and experimenting with ideas to combine my 2d and 3d art.

Trying also to get all my pages linked up and cut out the things I can do without to save money since I make zero on my stuff lately. Events are coming up though and things may turn around. I am hopeful, always hopeful, and grateful that I am in a position that I can do what I love and treasure. That I can create and make things that uplift my soul and share them with others.

I started another blog just for art things, this one will be more personal. Not that anyone reads them, not even my husband (haha).

the other blog: http://metallicvisions.wordpress.com/