I'm Completely Captivated

I've been reading, Captivating: Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul, this week.  I am REALLY enjoying it!  Just knowing that the longings and desires that I have had ever since I was a little girl are God planted is an encouragement.  Like most girls, I dreamed of a knight in shinning armor coming to my rescue--saving me from the evil that was holds me captive. (I still get excited at the idea)  Someone who will delight in me, and love me.

I've found the Prince that I've longed to know, love, and adore.  Jesus: my Prince, my King, my God.  He doesn't only love me like as daughter (like I've always thought of it), but as a lover too.  I am someone He longs to be with and to rescue (and He has rescued me)!  Who could ask for more?  I don't need (or even want) another at this point. Who could love me like He does???  

This is just a brief summary of a single chapter - I have been on cloud 9 ever since reading it though!  I am able to re-visit areas in life that I have grown numb too.  The beauty that I find all around me is an example of God's love for me.  He sends me "notes" and "hugs" through the little things that He knows I love: like color, light, textures, sounds, etc. -- I went for a walk this morning and just enjoyed His presence and creation! (photo)

While I've known some of this for a long time, a switch has really gone off in my head.  I needed this, and I LOVE knowing that God loves me so much!

"Artists Are Among Us"

I recently entered an art competition for the County residents who are over 18 years of age (or 18, like me!).  This exhibit is entitled Artists Are Among Us.  Artists can only submit two pieces but may use any media they want.  The pieces must also have been made within the past two years.  Anyway, the deadline was yesterday an I will find out if I got either of my pieces (pictured) into the show on the 31st.  If I did get my pieces in then I will have to deliver them--framed and matted--to the Padzieksi Art Gallery on the 8th of September.  The show will then open 2 days later and then close on the 17th--I will be at the Arborshire for the entire time and will not be able to see the show. 

I was required to make both of my pieces available for sale.  That was a little hard, I did not really want to do that.  THe chances of any of my pieces being selected for purchase is slim-to-none, but the idea still gets to me.  I work hard on my art and don't always want to give it away--or even sell it!  I priced African Safari at $75.  I don't think anyone is crazy enough to want that thing, but it did take a lot of time and effort.  My Glass Bottles (bad title but it was last minute) I put for $600.  I really don't want that one to go--I love it and spent over 24 hours on it!  But it's not THAT good, so I think it's safe at $600! haha

...I should have put a higher price tag on it...

I will update this post when I find out if either of my pieces made it or not

Updated: July 29, 2009

My Glass Bottles piece made it into the show!  I'm so excited!  Not surprised that my other piece didn't make it but I still would have liked to have both in. HURRAY!

Hi. I'm New and Clueless

My tale commences before work, when I was politely informing my mother that I was not looking forward to working the register on Saturday.  AT ALL. Because I have had this awful feeling that my manager is going to throw me in front of the horrid foreign object and say: "if you mess up, you're FIRED!" But thankfully I don't have to worry about that until Saturday, right?

Wrongo!

I walked in today and my manager calmly enlightens me on my unexpected, and inevitable doom. Basically a CVS down the road was short a cashier and because the other members of our store did not want to go, I was obliged to rescue the sister store with my lack of experience. I was already brainstorming my final words to the living when he assured me that he was not going to send me off until I had practiced the register.  I had 1 hour to perfect the alien machine before driving to the #1 store in our area, hoping to provide some sort of "help".

If only I had been granted the promised hour!!! After about 30 minutes, my manager returned and informed me that it was time for me to leave (WHAT???).  I’m pretty sure that I had an uncontrollable twitch by this time, however I was not about to say “no” to my new boss.
So after receiving the location of my final resting place, I headed toward my car. As soon as I start the car--after unlocking it and buckling up of course--I call my mom in a panic, and to give her my last testament.

THANKFULLY!  Right as I was pulling out of the parking lot, my manager called my cell phone (that I was trying to call my mom with) and shows mercy on me.  The manager at the #1 store had found a replacement and I was off the hook!  I pulled a hasty U-turn and almost flew back into my store.  After that I was able to successfully avoid the cash register--that is, until tomorrow...

ps.

The picture is from my first month at the Arborshire.  I was avoiding homework and eating chocolate--the usual.  Unfortunately, as an art student I am not physically able to eat M&Ms like a normal human being--but it's more fun the way I do it!

Craziness That Really Isn't

Family camp was this week--fun and crazy like always =)
I wasn't able to be there for very long because of work but while I was there I had a good time. It was great to see some friends from school and to hang out with the church family again!
Work has been keeping me pretty busy--while it's only a part time job, there are a lot of hoops to jump through (like two full days of training that didn't teach me a thing!) and I'm also working for June twice a week. At least work is getting me out of the house, and providing the all important pay check! Oh the things I do for school--I find myself wearing my Arborshire T-shirts to motivate myself, haha
While I am not busy working I've found time to spend with my crazy siblings and parents. Sienna and I play volleyball and soccer together a lot (photo), Hunter and I are going mini-golfing this week, and Connor and I... we just do any weird thing we can find. Nothing new there =)
Anywho, I was kinda stuck in a rut for a while a few weeks ago. I started to feel a little depressed, which is not something that I suffer from very often. Thankfully mom came to my rescue and found a gallery that is open to entries for adults (18+ years) within my county! I can submit 2 pieces and have to pay a fee but I think it would be worth it to get a piece (or both) in! To top it off there are 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes chosen among the pieces that make it into the show!
I hope I'll be able to do it--the deadline is really sneaking up on me and one of the pieces that I wanted to enter is not as quite what I was hoping for (see below).

Safari Drawing - First Reveal

Okay, so this is my unfinished drawing of the safari that I was talking about before. I ended up running out of room and can't add as many animals as I planned/wanted. I've spent somewhere around 36 hours on this thing and unfortunately I hate the thing. I've just become really frustrated with it and I'm not sure if I will ever be able to "finish" it to my satisfaction. (but Da Vinci did say that art was never truly finished, it was simply abandoned--not that that makes me feel any better) I like the elephants but that's about it at this point. Hopefully a more complete copy will appear in future posts--I'm going to try working on it again this afternoon.

African Wildlife

I have recently (as of two days ago) gained an interest in African wildlife; especially zebras, elephants, lions and giraffes. So I did some research via google and picked up some photographs to play with. I want to start working on a larger piece. I'm thinking of an African landscape with the necessary animals as the main focal point. Before I started, I made a few practice sketches to see if I could do a half decent job. Here are my first two sketches, the first being a pencil sketch of a young elephant and the second being an ink sketch of a hyena cub.
I will probably have more sketches up soon as well as the larger finished product. As of right now, my little elephant will be featured in the final piece, however the hyena will not--he's cute, but not quite what I'm looking for.