Karma

In the 7th grade one of my best friends began complaining about how her eye hurt. She rubbed it over and over and it began to twitch. So I made fun of her. Then she went to the doctor and found out she had a scratched cornea. She didn't come to school for three days because she had to wear an eye patch. So I made more fun of her. It was all good-natured, she laughed along with all of the pirate jokes, and twitchy eye faces I made at her for years afterward, so don't go thinking that I went all MG on her...
HOWEVER...last night as I was laying in bed thinking about the fact that today is her 25th birthday and how great a person she is, my eye began to hurt. At 4:30 this afternoon I found out why: I have a scratched cornea.

6 weeks ago my brother won his school's science fair. He was invited to the district convention. He told my parents he did not want to go, it was not his 'cup of tea'. They made him. They giggled over the fact that he hated science and his science fair project, over the irony of him winning and having to go through with the convention. Then he came home with the notice that parental attendance was mandatory. Two weeks ago my family (minus me) got to the old state fair grounds at 8:00 a.m. and didn't leave until 6:30 p.m., after they had experienced over 150 middle school science fair presentations.

There is a really mean and nasty dog in my apartment complex. He/she/it growls and snarls at other people and my poor pup all the time. He/she/it stands at the window and goes bezerk anytime you walk past. He/she/it happens to live right by the mail boxes, so Pup and I encounter he/she/it frequently. I have never approached the owner about their fearsome (absolutely obnoxiously annoying) pet. Last week Pup slowly walked up to the creature, head bowed, little tail tucked and popped a squat right outside he/she/it's window.

These are super-silly, trivial examples of what I have been taught recently (except for my eye, it hurts like something you cannot imagine, unless you have given birth, and then maybe you know a little more about pain).I don't know all of the legitimate boundaries and principles of karma. I DO know my own faith. I am a Christian. A word to the wise: don't make fun of others (if you can help it). Another little nugget of wisdom? Don't worry about those who find joy in your pain...God does that for you.

"Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord" --- KJV

Utterly Untitled...

I made these for one of my good,good friends...she loves purple, blue, green and gold...she is an absolutely fabulous woman, full of life, and very spunky. If I tried to label her it would be impossible, hence, her pieces are titled....

"Utterly Untitled"

I Love My Boys..."1960"

I had a request for a Dallas Cowboys themed piece....and I love my Boys, regardless of the lockout or their playing record, so I happily obliged!

"1960"

Meet Henry....

I am a bit childish at times. There is something about the joy of being a kid that I truly miss! When was the last time you were honestly care-free? Well, I can tell you it has been a very long time for me, but every now and then I get small little flashes of it. Penguins are one of those flashes for me!I love penguins...I think they are just so cute, they way they waddle around and flutter their puney little wings....I love that they mate for life and scoot their lil' babies around on their feet...all the kiddie movies, and going to aquariums, I just love 'em! Call me crazy, you wouldn't be the first....

Meet Henry, #3 in my collection, imported late last night from the New England Aquarium...

If you think this post is bad, wait until...Painting Your Own Garden Gnome, coming later this weekend...oh yeah.

Check please!

I love lists. There is something about making a list that makes everything feel a little more controlled which makes me feel a little less anxious. I have studied many different psychological disorders and theories, so I know all about how this statement makes me sound and I am a-okay with it. I hate change and I hate chaos. I love order and control, which is odd for an artist, but I relish my status as an enigma. My mother made lists all the time while I was growing up and still does. Making a list is great…organizing thoughts and seeing what all needs to be accomplished. Even better? Checking off items on said lists! I will actually add things to my lists that I have already done, just to be able to check something else off! The sense of accomplishment is priceless! Any feeling of order in this crazy world is so scarce, that I will take it anywhere I can get it. List-making is a way of figuring out what you want and getting it….


I grew up with list-makers. They may not all know it, but it was unavoidable in the environment in which we were raised. At a certain point we began to formulate our lists, most likely without even recognizing it…or for some, their lists were formulated for them; we were to graduate high school, go to college immediately, graduate, get a job, find a significant other, get a better job, get married, get a house, have kids…I have watched many follow this path, as if they are checking things off one by one. I have beat myself up many times over the fact that I have not followed the same list and checked off the same items, one by one. That’s what I was ‘supposed’ to do! There’s just a couple of problems with all of this list-mania…I don’t want a husband right now. And I am not ready for kids. And I don’t like the idea of caring for an entire house. And I am still in school because I have FINALLY figured out what I want to do with my life. Not one thing has been checked off of the life list I made when I was in the middle of high scool, busy being a know-it-all, other than graduating high school and going to college. But would I really want a life I didn’t desire, simply to be able to say that I had followed a check-list that supposedly led to contentment and happiness? Everyone has heard it before, but we all seem to forget it: there is no ‘normal’. There is no magic, universal equation that leads to success in life.

I just came off a really rough week…emotions running amok, school taking a necessary but unfortunate backseat, and various other factors adding to an interesting hormonal tornado. Sunday evening I broke out the trusty ol’ journal…and of course I made a list. I called it the ’26 List’. It contains various achievements I would like to accomplish before my next birthday. I ended up with a pretty long list. Now I am not one to set myself up for disaster or disappointment, so I have decided that I must accomplish only one of the many items on this list by December 25, 2011 and simply strive for crossing off as many as I can, after that first one. A list like this could take a long while to work through, and I was prepared for that.

The next morning, via a message in my in-box, I was able to check off one of the goals on my list. Just like that. God is good.

Lonely Hearts Club Series - II - 'It's Tricky'

This series is pretty self-explainatory; all hues of pink and blue, revolving around hearts. I'm perplexed by love and fascinated by relationships. Boys and girls are so different...but I don't have to tell anybody that! Hearts get broken, but they also grow stronger; they find new joys. These pieces reflect those truths.

Here Comes the Sun II

Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.

Pablo Picasso