Tempting Narcissus and The End of a Series

My ballerina series comes to an end. This is the last of them. It is officially time to move on to other ideas. This has been a very fun series but I am ready for new adventures

Drawing of the Week

Many of the drawings I do, I use me as a model. It's so interesting how they all look like me yet all turn out so different. I think it's the features that I choose to emphasize in each one.

The Shemer Museum Art Show: Part 2

I thought that the poems that the poets wrote to go with my paintings were so good that I would post them for any who would like to read them. Poetry is so amazing; like a painting in words.

The Shemer Museum Art Show: Part 1

What a great night. The Show at the Shemer Museum was awesome! I was one of the winners as well. They made posters of four of the artists paintings and the poems that went with them. And, as you can see, mine was one of them! They are going to frame them and hand them around Phoenix. So cool! The poems that went with each of my three paintings where also really great. I will put those on here for all who would like to read them in another post.

Sketch of the week: I'm a bird

So I guess I sometimes make this noise that makes my husband imagine me as a bird. He described the beak and hair to me so I made a drawing of it. Although he imagined my limbs to be spindlier as he put it. Well, sweetie, pucker up. This bird is coming for you.

The return of Sketch of the Week

Art Show

I have been accepted into the Shermer Art Center & Museum's show "Making Connections: Water and Life in a Desert City".

Three of my ballerina paintings will be in the show. Poets have been selected to write poems about the art of those accepted into the show. The show runs from October 24th- November 30th. Below is the description given on the Shermer web-site.

This exhibition will focus on the many talented poets & artists in Arizona. Arizona poets will be invited to respond to selected works from a juried competition of Arizona visual artists. The works will be presented side by side in a special exhibition called Art of Poetry, Poetry of Art. There will be a special closing event called Shemer’s Night of Sight and Sound: Where Art, Poetry and Music Merge on November 20, 2013 beginning with a poetry slam at 6:00 pm; a presentation of poets, with a DJ, and projection of the visual art at 7:00 pm.; a reading by Alberto Rios, Arizona’s new poet laureate at 8:00 pm; and a mixer/reception from 8:30-10:00pm Broadsides will be produced that feature both the visual art and the poem, and prints will be displayed in libraries, community centers, and local businesses in Phoenix, Scottsdale and Paradise Valley.

http://www.shemerartcenter.org/opportunities/artist_opps/

Exploring Nature (God is definitely an artist)

I have a little point and shoot camera that I have recently decided to carry around with me. It has been really nice because I have caught some images that I would not have otherwise. The first set of pictures is a trip we took up to Tonto State Park to  hike and see the natural bridge.

 I saw this amazing sunrise the other day while driving in my school bus. I didn't yet have any kids on board so I pulled out my camera and began shooting. Windows of Heaven: the panorama of sun rays way way wider than my camera would capture.

What a cool day for clouds. They reminded me of little fluffy white sheep in the sky.

Saturday Morning Practice

The latest in my ballerina series.

What a Summer: Disney World!

What would a fantastic summer be without a fantastic vacation. When me and Alan were first married we went to the Phoenix zoo and played around at Papago Park for our Honeymoon. Since we were essentially getting married again, we decided to go on a real honey moon. Disney World! It was definitely a blast but just a few guideline for those who are thinking of venturing to Disney world.

1. Don't fly stand by. Big mistake. We had to end up buying regular tickets for the flight home.

2. The water in Florida, no matter where you are is terrible. It tastes like chemical swamp water. Plan money in your budget for bottled water.

3. It is going to rain. It is Florida and no matter the time of year it will rain. Bring a poncho. A water proof camera would have been nice as well.

4. They do not have microwaves that you can use in the park. We brought microwave meals to save money on food but ended up eating tons of snacks and buying food anyways. Just put it in the budget.

 5. Don't think you are going to make it to the park on the same day that you fly. We left at eight in the morning and between the time change and the time it took to get to our hotel on the bus, it was later than we thought and we were exhausted. 

6. But most of all, have fun no matter what unexpected surprises come your way.

Here are some pictures I took with exception to the ones I am in, of coarse!

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 That's my sweetheart!

What a Summer: Victorian Wedding part II

             An amazing dress would not be complete without lovely accessories and fun reception decorations!

   My beautiful hat!

My vintage reminiscent shoes.

Silk flowers with pearls, ribbons, and tulle.

I made the silk flowers; seven in all. 

Me and Alan were first married on 3-14-09, pi day (3.14).

We were sealed on 6-28-13, 2 pi (6.28).

We decided to have a pi theme. We made these toothpicks that we found on the Marie Calender's website to celebrate pi day. We had pie instead of cake at our reception. The amazing thing about pi is that it's a never ending number. It goes on forever. Neither me nor Alan are huge math people but pi became a special number for us. A never ending number for a never ending family. 

(Pi = Love, and both are forever)

I found this idea on Pintrist. These ribbon wands were great party favors and kids loved them. They were an excellent accent to the ribbons we had hanging from the door and from the chandeliers.

This Blog is dedicated to mostly my artistic endeavors, but I want to take a minute to diverge. It took us four years after being married civilly to be married in the Temple. There were some days when I thought it may never come. There were some days that I thought that if it did come it would be much longer than four years. Time passed quickly but it wasn't easy. Heavenly Father definitely knows what is best for us. The ways in which me and Alan have grown as individuals and as a couple have been incredible and profound. I truly believe that  the past four years were a blessing and that we would not have learned the things we did without it. Even if we had been sealed in the temple when we first  got married, we would not have learned what we did. We are better people because of the past four years. I'm so grateful for our beautiful sealing day. I'm so grateful to my wonderful husband, for how hard he works, for how much he loves me, and for how much he loves his Heavenly Father. I could not ask for a better person to be sealed to. He is my best friend and I love him so much. 

What a Summer! : Victorian Wedding part 1

            The past four or five months since I last posted anything have flown by. What an exciting summer! Me and my sweetheart Alan were able to be sealed in the Mesa, AZ Temple on June 28th. It was the most beautiful day. I spent much of my creative efforts leading up to the sealing redesigning my wedding dress from when we were first married in 2009. It was so awesome to be able to do somethings for our sealing that we were not able to do when we first got married. I have posted some pictures of me in my dress that I designed. I created it to model the Victorian time period. The Hat I got from the Renaissance Festival, the fan I inherited from my grandmother (Helen Tays), and I ordered the shoes and jacket online. After all that it seems that I didn't do any designing on the dress, just assemble pieces. The gathered satin around my waist I added on too and extended it down to my hips. I also added the tulle bustle on the back. It wasn't a ton I did on the dress but the whole outfit came together beautifully! To feel like I stepped out of the mid 1800's and be sealed in the temple all on the same day was amazing!

The pictures were taken by my mother-in-law, Ginger Wellard and
by Lindsey Gettler of Lindisima Photography http://www.lindisimaphotography.com/blog/

Seeking the Higher Light

 

Just completed this second mixed media piece in my series of ballerinas. This lightness they have in contrast to the oil paintings I think is really nice and speaks with a voice about the subject of balance in a way that the oil paint maybe can't. "Seeking the Higher Light" comes from the idea of "Good, Better, and Best", a talk given by Dallin H. Oaks in the October 2007 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There is so much good in the world but where in the journey can we find the best in the world? Sometimes the good just isn't enough. Seek the best!

 

Sketch of the Week

More sketches inspired by the Renn. Fest. My camera however, made her eyes look a little crazy. They are boring into your soul.

Lighting makes all the Difference

 I am loving the lighting in these pictures. My brother, husband, and I took a trip up to Papago Park in Phoenix, AZ to climb all the awesome rocks. What a fun adventure but I also got some great shots. The amazing sun that was out that day balanced with the right settings on my camera really gave the images a nice look and feel. I love that the way the light and color came through gives me the feel of what it was like that day. Success!

 

Painting with Light

 

 

 

 

What an awesome activity to share with my photography class. These are some images I took but my students went wild with this one and had an awesome time. For any photography teachers out there, this is a super fun activity for students and its a great way to teach them about Aperture and Shutter Speed as well. We just turned off all the lights in the class room then, waving my phone around, I let them try taking pictures of the light streaking across their cameras. I then let them get into groups and take turns taking pictures and streaking the light. I had to work with many of them to help them get their aperture and shutter speed to the right setting. Many of then though, did not have cameras that let you adjust the aperture and shutter speed so we had to play around with the pre set settings to optimize their light streaks. Many of them really got excited about trying to make shapes or spelling things out. Even if you are not a photography teacher or into photography, this is just fun to do just for the heck of it.