A Trinket for Thursday

Hello everyone, hope you are doing well! Today's trinket comes from my Italian Renassance Art History class. Today we studied portraiture and looked at paintings of the Duke and Duchess of Urbino. This peice features the duke and his very idealized wife on the front and then pictures of them in their separate carriages and chariots on the back. Here is the front:

His face is "messed up" because apparently he is missing part of his face, including his upper nose and eyeball. The artist spared the duchess of looking like her actual self by painting her in the ideal female model of the Italian Renassance:  pale skin and blonde hair for purity, expensive fabric and jewelry for social stautus and wealth, and modern hairstyle. Lucky her.

Anyways, that was not the trinket for today, but just consider that an extra tidbit. Here is the back panels and the trinket for Thursday:

This picture is showing the paintings without their frame, but they are placed right behind the portraits in the same over-the-top frame.

The duke and his chariot pulled by white horses are on the left, while the duchess and her carriage pulled by unicorns are on the right. Now...for today's trinket:

FACT:  Unicorns can only be tamed by virgins.

I bet you were not expecting that one! As it turns out, you can learn something everyday.

As you go about your weekend, try to learn some random useless fact. It will do you good. Laugh a little! Oh and remember...it's the random reasons.

P.S.:  Expect an art post tomorrow!

Stress and Deflation

Hello everyone! Hope you all have had wonderful weekends and are ready for the new week to start! I have been working on my two studio projects this weekend, and they are both finished! I am slightly impressed seeing how I did not have to stay up into the early morning hours to have such an accomplishment as two finished projects. Anyways...here they are.

Project 1: Foam Carving. Class:  3D Fundamentals.
Goal:  To create a relief carving out of insulation foam which has a background, middle ground, and foreground. Use an abstract square from a personal photo to a 12x12 inch panel.

I used a photo that I took when CJ and I had a picnic at the lake.

Then I chose this 1.5x1.5 inch square to carve:

It was a lot of work and it definitely took me out of my comfort zone, but towards the end I started to really enjoy it. I am looking forward to getting this piece framed and placed on the mantle.We had to paint the carving in one color, so I chose a pea green. It is going for a more contemporary natural look.

Project 2:  Contour Line Inflatable Object Drawing. Class:  Drawing 2

Goal:  To create a charcoal drawing using vine charcoal and an eraser. The erasure should cause a sense of progression or history, and the object must be drawn from either deflation to inflation or vice versa.

This project and I went round and round. I hated it. I procrastinated to the extreme, but in the end, I love it. It has a meaning and I believe that it can definitely be seen.

Here is an up close view of the final piece. It shows the sense of history that the drawing has due to the repeated drawing and erasing.





This is the finished project. I drew my inflatable pool ring from inflation to deflation. In the beginning the object was simple, but towards the end it became more and more complicated. The final drawing is darker than the rest and was not erased like its 100 predecessors. The title is Stress, and it represents a big ball of stress. It also can be seen as: 1. Stress causes you to feel deflated. 2. Stress takes over. 3. This project stressed me tot he core. As you can see, the ball has completely taken over most of the page. It covers the border and the whole ball cannot be seen. It is complicated and confusing.

Critiques are tomorrow! Wish me luck! As you go about your week, don't let stress take over your life. Take a breath and relax...it ALWAYS turns out ok. And, as always....its the random reasons.



Sick for Home

I know, it is terrible. I have absolutely no clue as to why, but lately I have been really really homesick. What stumps me is that I have gone longer periods of time without a trip home...I was home in late May. Who knows. Maybe it is because I am just working this summer, not going to class or anything like that...and I just have a ton of time to think. Uh-oh. A bad side effect of my home sickness has been that I have no drive to create things, which for someone who loves art and creativity and little pretties...it's terrible. But I am starting to feel the creative bug again and hopefully will be super creative on my day off tomorrow. Fingers crossed! Today I am going to post a picture that really tugged at my heart strings, and made me very excited for my trip home in July.

I am also excited to say that there will soon be a blog post with some sort of creation in it...maybe tomorrow--we will see. Stay tuned!

So as you go about your day, be grateful for your family and for home...there really is no place like it. Your family, whether biological or not is the most important team you will ever be blessed to be apart of..so cherish them and strive to spend time with them. Oh and, as always, it's the random reasons...

it's the Random Reasons.

I have noticed that my entries have started to get a little lengthy, which I apologize for. So, in an attempt to keep things light for the weekend, here is a quote which I found, really liked, and thought really said something about why it's the random reasons in life that keep life wonderful.

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.” --Ashley Smith

Forbidden, but Found

"We dance round in a ring and suppose,

While the secret sits in the middle and knows."

 -Robert Frost

Secrets. What is the point in them? The only kind of secret that is a good secret is the secret kept for a surprise. That is all. But, why do people keep, or try to keep other secrets? Charles Sanford put it nicely: 

"Secrets are made to be found out in time."

Today's post comes from an area of my life that has been a big secret. However, as I learn more about this secret which has recently surfaced, I realize that there were a lot of people keeping this secret. I am from a small town....so it was probably known by a lot of people. Why didn't anyone ever say anything? Why did I have to find out by myself? Why in the world was it such a big mystery that no one wanted me to solve? I may never know the answers to these questions, and I suppose I am coming to grips with that. Secrets are meant to be kept, but they rarely are. It is shocking that this particular secret was kept for as long as it was. And even now that I have discovered the truth, investigated, and took things into my own hands and let them out into the open light, it is still a forbidden topic. It's just a tad bit puzzling. But, I suppose,like most mysterious things it will always hold a bit of secrecy.

The art for today is something I created in high school. It is pencil and charcoal and was an assignment. At the time this piece had nothing to do with secrets, but when I look at it now it reminds me to live like an open box. Be true to yourself and honest with those around you, and everything will be, for the most part, wonderful.

 A long time ago I decided to try my hardest to never keep secrets that are not in the nature of a joyful surprise. Things like surprise parties, gifts, and genders of babies are perfectly ok to be a surprise. It is the things that people keep hidden for negative reasons that are terrible secrets. So I encourage each of you today to be honest, don't keep things a secret from the people who need to know the truth...and as always...it's the random reasons.

Oh, oh, oh...it's Magic

Last night was a date night. With our crazy work schedules and everything, C.J. and I have not been on a date in a long time. Yes, we see each other everyday, we usually have lunch and/or dinner with each other on a daily basis, we watch movies together at home, and other everyday tasks...we do them together. But, we had not been on a date. You know, the kind where you both get dressed up and then go do something you wouldn't normally do. The fun kind of date.

Dressing up--it is magical. There is something about getting all dolled up to go out that just makes everything so fabulous. I have realized that when I get all caught up in school and work and the monotony of it all, all I have to do to get a little bit of rejuvenation back is make an effort to get dressed up. Whether it be for a date or for no reason at all, getting all pretty seems to make things so much better. I love it! It is such an easy and fun fix to a problem.

As for the date, we went to this wonderful steakhouse in OKC (they have great steaks and delectable dessert!), then we went to a movie. It was a great evening away from our work, school, and everything else at home.

So, as you go about your day or your week, don't let things get boring. If you have to wear pearls to wash the dishes, if you feel the need to put on a cute pair of heels for work, or if you think your family needs to get dressed up for supper, do it! It does wonders. Most importantly, always remember...it's the random reasons...

Pulling Out the Hair

Someone once said that "Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness."

Stress. Stress. Stress. It seems to always be lurking around the corner, ready to chase you, tackle you, and consume you as soon as you seem to be a tad bit worry free. I do not handle stress well. In high school it made me physically sick, but unless my mom interfered I just kept trucking along. Now, my mom is not around to tell me to "take it easy: or "to get some rest" so it is much easier to find myself buried in a big deep pile of stinky stress. I know...I'm terrible. However, I have learned how I handle it...I just keep going until whatever is stressing me out is accomplished or until I just have to take a moment to breathe. It usually only takes a moment to temporarily talk myself into settling down. I'm sorry for the rant, I suppose this is one way of my attempts to release some of my stress. I have yet to have an ulcer...so that is a plus! haha!

What I am telling all of you is to stop and smell the roses, to not give yourself an ulcer over nothing, and to allow yourself some relaxation time. I will try to take some of my own medicine. It will most likely be bitter. So relax! And, as always, remember that it's the random reasons...

Live like you mean it, love till you feel it.