artful mischief, tee hee

just got back from spending a weekend full of  traveling (i.e., driving!), painting & overall,  mischief-making with my dear soul sista, lia (aka “artjunk grrl).  we have been getting together like this for the past 3 years now.  this year i thought it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to just drive to her house (instead of the usual flying)…but i didn’t figure on driving thru the allegheny mountains in PA!  omg, that was sheer treachery, esp. in the flippin’ rain!

anyway, i thankfully made it safely to her place & even tho i was exhuasted as all get out, we managed to draw & paint our little hearts out.  lia’s hub was such a dear…he took care of their girls & got dinner & drinks for us, so that we could focus on our art projects.  i showed lia how i learned how to draw a face as well as how to make her own flesh-colored paints, tips & tricks that i learned when i took sweet misty’s class as the wonderful valley ridge art studio.  we even called misty too during our little retreat. she was as sweet & gracious as ever.

  i also got to meet lia’s newest addition, rella…their omigosh, too-cute-for-words bischon-poodle mix.  she is a such a baby doll, at only 12 weeks old.  i miss her sweet, playfulness already!

oh & yeah, it was hard leaving LIA!!!!!!  why can’t we freakin’ live near each other?   it was a blast, short, tho sweet as it was.  i can’t wait for next year when we get to do it all again! 

after i left lia, i told my hub that i would stop by arlington national cemetary to go visit the late senator + his famous bros’ gravesites.  i would have gone with lia, but it was raining & i really didn’t want to make lia take me there with  it being all rainy & cold.  on the way to arlington, i passed by my old stomping grounds off key bridge.  i decided to take a quick detour to the old hood & take some video snippets for the dh to see.  it is so weird being there again, after all this time.  it smelled the same & a flood memories rushed back as i walked around the g.u. campus.  time may have gone by & the people may have too, but the ol’ hood still looks the same!  man, talk about walking down memory lane.  it was as if i were a student there again.  it really felt like it was those few minutes i was there.  i hope the vid came out ok…i will try & see if i can post to my you tube soon.

alright, i have so many things i need to get done today.  i had to switch days with my schedule at school.  thank goodness i did because i wouldn’t be able to function, hehehe.

until next time, have a wonderful week!  xoxo mary ann

just call me rosie

now that i am sold on all things WELDING, i see that my artistic aspirations are heading into a new direction.

if you had asked me a year ago if i was going to enjoy welding as much as i do, i wouldn’t have believed it.  a year ago i was so engrossed in making those itty bitty books & now, i have visions of creating sculptures out of metal. 

i still enjoy making those itty bitty books, but welding really has opened up new art possibilities.  i feel so EMPOWERED.  & it does wonders to boost my morale & self-confidence. 

i am discovering a whole new world of art-making & also a new tribe of kindred souls.  i am loving every minute of it. 

fascinating how one’s art evolves, isn’t it?

i just received new welding gear made especially for women.  i got a flame retardant jacket and gloves & i am very impressed.  those ratty, grungy & oversized jackets i had been wearing in class were really uncomfortable, plus not to mention GROSS.  now i have gear that fits me to a T (& CLEAN too, hehehe)…i will feel safer & for sure, more comfortable as i weld my little heart out.  i can’t wait to wear them!

in class the other night, i welded a little house (pix to follow…don’t have my usb cable handy).  i was practicing making different weld joints.  but man, does it ever get wicked HOT working so close to metal as i have.  now i can see why peeps wear skull caps under their welding masks…you literally are sweating bullets.  i am looking into getting my own auto-darkening masks & skull cap.  can you believe how into WELDING i am?   it’s friggin’ awesome, hehehe!

i am sad that we are at the halfway mark with the classes…i am hungry for more welding time!  i am seriously thinking about taking more classes.  it tickled me that there are a number of workshops/programs out there around the country…i wish i could take them all!  but i am really serious about taking the next step…to become a bona fide welder.  i’ve got the bug & i’ve got it BAAAAAAAAAAAAAD.

the other night i had this crazy dream that i was a welder/speech therapist.  in this dream, the people in it kept telling me what an amazing welder i was & that i should consider switching careers!  how’s that for a  SIGN ?! hahaha!  well idk about quitting speech therapy altogether, but i am going to pursue welding & see where that ride takes me.  you only live once & all that… 

anything is possible if you set your mind to it, right?  

busy day ahead.  yoga class & speech workshop this morning & then later  going to chi-town for a couple of days for some family business (my side, that is)…

i finally wrapped up the last art swap (the sweet n sinister halloween tag books are ALL mailed out) & i am DONE with hosting anymore large group swaps until further notice.  

btw, there’s a giveaway in the flickr group for 4 extra tag books…BUT it is limited to the peeps who actually participated in the sweet n sinister swap.  sorry but that is only fair.

that’s all for now.  until next time, have a good weekend. xo mary ann

“I’m nobody! Who are you?”

I’m nobody!

Who are you?

Are you nobody, too?

 Then there’s a pair of us — don’t tell!

 They’d banish us, you know.

 

 How dreary to be somebody!

How public, like a frog

To tell your name

the livelong day

 To an admiring bog!

~emily dickinson

 

remember the days when life was oh so much simpler?  no cell phones, texting, apps, blogs or nings?

can i have those days back? please?!  the fast-paced technology constantly bombarding us these days is just a bit too much for my liking.

i had to delete my beloved follow your bliss ning group the other day.  it was very upsetting but things were getting out of hand in there & frankly, i did not like the direction my group was going.  to my chagrin,  my original vision for the ning started to get distorted & then misunderstandings occurred….it was all too much to bear.  it’s been a month since we buried our loved ones & i was starting to get back to some semblance of normality when crap started to hit the fan in the ning group.  i just didn’t need anymore undue stress, so i deleted my ning group because i needed to eliminate the negativity AND keep my follow your bliss vision intact. 

then i plan to delete the itty bitty book club on flickr.  one of the (ahem, former) ning members is currently hosting a swap so i will wait (& everyone’s been forewarned).  then after the vintage circus book swap is completed, the flickr group will cease to exist. poof, it will be gone!  it has to be done.  i need to make a clean break of the negativity that’s been brewing so that i can one day, when things quiet down & the time is right, start afresh with a new, yet even more “exclusive” group.  gone are the days of  “free-for-all”…there are just too many rotten eggs that come in that basket.  if/when i regroup in another format, people will be more or less, “hand-picked”.  it really is no fun to have fair-weathered (or worser yet, free-loaders!) peeps in a gathering that is supposed to be devoted to supportive, creative souls. 

 i need a break from online art groups right now.  i am exhausted: mentally, physically and  financially.  if anyone out there has ever organized a large group swap, then you know all too well how much work, effort, time & not to mention, out of pocket $$$ are involved.  sadly there are more people out there, it seems, who are looking for FREE things and don’t give an “f” how much work/expense it is to host/organize a swap.  well, from here on out, the buck stops here.  enough is enough.  no more freebies.  (pls. note, i am referring to those peeps who always want things for FREE, not those kind souls who are very appreciative & understanding of all the tremendous work that goes into swaps)…

along those same lines…

i don’t know about you, but i am growing tired of how the online community, in general, is behaving these days.  if it’s not constant, shameless self-promotion of one’s blog/site/products, then it’s blatant copying of other’s ideas/work/etc, which for me, is greatly off-putting.  seriously.  blogging/online social networking is not what used to be when i first started out nearly 4 yrs ago.  & that’s pretty much why i’ve not been blogging/tweeting/facebooking much.  i just cannot stomach what i sense is going on these days.  it’s such a shame, really.  i can remember when everyone was a “nobody” like in the emily dickinson poem (one of my favorite ones, btw).  seems like now, everyone wants to be a “somebody”. 

well, they can have it.  i’d rather be a nobody.  & i’d be damn proud of it to.

she’s a maniac for sure

remember this?  a blast from the past…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsJukf6_B4s 

i am totally into my welding class…it’s been empowering, you know?  i’ve taken welding like a duck to water. 

my sis jo wanted me to snap pix in my welding garb…kinda hard to do when i am in the middle of welding & so is everybody else in the class, but i snuck in some pix while i was in one of the welding booths.

i donned a 10-shade helmet & got ready to stick weld a couple of scrap metal that i cut up into squares…

the welding booths are kinda tiny, i think 4 ft wide by 6 ft or so…it felt like being in a closet, but the vent was on…

looks kinda messy…just that i didn’t pound out the slag bits (the extra black bits on top of my weld beads)

look out, REDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD HOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT metal, hehehe….

yep, that’s yours truly under that 10-shade mask….

 the shop/classroom…the booth with the yellow curtains is the one where i just finished working at…

 

couldn’t wait to get home to show the hub what i had done…

coach jeff said that for my 1st time ever welding, i did an “outstanding” job.  the piece above is actually two pieces of metal scraps that i stick welded together all the way around…  it was easy, really, once i understood how to go about holding the weld gun.looking forward to making more SPARKs in the coming weeks!

oh, gotta scoot…i’ve got school this morning but i wanted to show n tell before i left for the day.

have a super day & keep the SPARKs coming!  xoxo mary ann

i’m here…even though it’s been quiet on the bloggy

september was quite possibly the most HORRID month i have ever had this/any year.

october is somewhat getting better…but i’ve been UBER busy at school, making up days that i was on bereavement leave last month. plus, parent-teacher conferences were last week & i had a couple of meetings. my caseload at the preschool is steadily growing (no complaints-not yet anyway) & has been keeping me on my toes. AND keeping sadness at bay…

i also have been meaning to continue my wonderful time i had at valley ridge a couple of weekends ago…but i quickly got immersed in school stuff. i am hoping to find time this weekend to catch up on what’s been happening since i last posted.

i spent the last several days also working (piecemeal, i might add) on completing the itty bitty fairytale book swap. i mailed off everyone’s books, except for one, as i didn’t/couldn’t find her address. but i feel like a huge weight has lifted on ONE shoulder. the other one is still burdened with this other swap i’m hosting, the sweet & sinister tag book…packages having been steadily pouring in the last few weeks & the deadline is this saturday. so i suspect i will be inundated with more packages.

on another (exciting) note, my welding class, for those interested to know, is going rather splendidly to my surprise! a couple of weeks ago i was literally shivering in my boots & so terrified of the welding torch! but the other night at class, i miraculously got over my fear of hurting/burning myself (&, horrors, OTHERS!). coach jeff, my instructor, was so very kind & patient with me. he is such a great teacher to have around, especially for this (MOI) complete novice. i can hardly believe it, but i know how to flippin’ gas weld now! woo-hoo! scared of me, hehehe!

i am so totally stoked…i can’t even believe that i am typing this, but i am totally diggin’ my welding class. it’s as if the light bulb clicked on for me the other night. the strangest thing bec. i went in there still wicked nervous, but came out of there feeling so incredibly EMPOWERED. really exhilirating, the feeling of learning a new skill & totally lovin’ it. i can’t wait to make more SPARKs fly, hehehe!

i also very recently met an artist/gallery owner who wants to see my artwork & possibly show at her gallery…wow, talk about total serendipity. i went to visit my friend jean, who owns this amazing antiques mall just down the road from me. jean is a collage/mixed media artist too & she has some wicked cool works. anyway, while i was visiting jean, tanya came by (her studio/gallery is downstairs from jean’s place) & it was such a cool, impromptu meeting of creative souls. i took snaps of my visit…i hope to post them soon…

ok, i’ve got dinner cooking on the stove. i’m making chicken & pork adobo, using the recipe my dad gave earlier today when i called because i had forgotten how to make it. the kitchen smells like my mom’s been here cooking, only, it’s me, who’s cooking…

anyhoo, i digress…lol…

i have school tomorrow…another busy day with preschoolers…gotta love it. friday i have a speech workshop to go to & then hopefully, i will have a weekend devoted to finishing art wips and updating this bloggy with pix & other stuff.

until then, have a good rest of the week & i’ll be back soon!

xoxo mary ann

getting back…

i’m staying overnite here at valley ridge art studio….for that art class i mentioned in previous post.  i almost wasn’t going to go because i was worried about leaving my dh alone for the weekend.  but i am glad that i went (& that my dh wanted me to) because i so enjoyed seeing misty (the instructor) and kathy (the proprietress of valley ridge) again & i had a wicked fun day playing with paints & crayons.    my studio time has been pretty much non-exsistent in the last couple of weeks & going to misty’s class this weekend was really a good catalyst to get back into the studio. 

taking a live class vs. an online one (such as the one i recently took with suzi blu) is always so much better for me because i can see things happen in real time with a real, live teacher who is right there & who can answer questions on the spot or give friendly suggestions and tips.  idk about you, but i really appreciate the live class experience more than the online ones, especially  because of the real time factor & also  being around other like-minded peeps who are just as eager to learn from such a fab teacher such as misty.  to get to see the artist creating art before your very eyes in real time is priceless.  to me, anyway.

don’t get me wrong, i learned a lot from taking suzi blu’s online class…but, her feedback would either be wicked delayed or none at all.  & that’s just the nature of an on-going, online type of class set-up, you know? her online classes have a ton of peeps signed up & there is just no way for her to be able to get to every single person for every little thing, you know?    anyhoo, it was interesting to me to compare how suzi & misty explained how to draw faces.  both gals are tremendously talented, but they sure do have a definte different style & approach.  kinda cool to see how each gal draws faces…gives me different techniques to try and use.  i love to learn new techniques and incorporate the variety in my own works.

today, we worked on some painting & collage techniques.  & oh yeah, drawing & painting faces.  tomorrow, she’s going to show us even more techniques(!) on drawing faces & then we will get to work on creating on a large canvas (poster size)…this should be very interesting…

after misty’s class tonite, some of us piled into a couple of cars & drove down to this hidden gem of a place, global view gallery.  it is owned  by a lady, marian, who has been traveling to india and southeast asia for 40 years, learning about their cultures, their traditions and handmade textiles and other cultural artifacts.  it was fascinating to visit this gallery and shop. 

going there reminded me of  some of the things my parents had around the house when we were growing up…they had a bunch of stuff from the philippines hanging all over the house.  never paid too much attention to them as a kid, but when i went into the global view gallery, it reminded me of the filipino stuff my parents had.  i will have to take my mom there one of these days.  the gallery owner, marian, said that she would like to meet my mom & ask her about handwoven textiles from the philippines.  very interesting place.  everything there is handcrafted and handmade.  no sweatshop made items there. 

welp, it’s getting late & i don’t want to oversleep & be late for day 2 of misty’s wonderful class.  i plan to take more pix tomorrow.  until then, good nite!

stick, mig & tig

oh mylanta.

i made myself go to that welding class i mentioned in last post.  my dh encouraged me to go.  so i went.

i didn’t know what  to expect exactly. i mean, when i initially signed up  i was all psyched to go for it.  i have long admired those towering, abstract sculptures that i used to see all around downtown chicago & other similar urban public spaces.  & something inside me said, LEARN.  so i signed up.  just. like. that.

that was about a month ago…

but when i entered the welding workshop last monday night,  GULP!  what in the heck did i get myself into?!

talk about going outside your comfort zone…HA!  i was about a kajillion miles away from it. 

here i was, sitting in a very industrial-looking room with a bunch of men, many of whom were tradesmen looking to become more marketable.  one gentleman, an older man, was there to build airplanes and so wanted to brush up on his welding skills. 

& then there was little ol’ me.  yeh, me with my grandiose ideas about creating my own metal sculpture works.  somehow i started to feel out of place, especially with the tradesmen looking at me rather dubiously.

coach jeff*, the instructor, seemed to be okay with my reason for taking his class.  he said that he has had ladies take his classes over the 30 years of teaching welding & was glad to have me aboard. *(i call him “coach jeff” bec. when he is not teaching welding, he also head coaches a local high school football team). 

he gave us an overview of the class as well as talked at length about safety (which made me even more of a nervous wreck than ever!) and the general order of events for the next 2 months.  he talked of ”stick”, “mig” & “tig”.  he could have been talking mandarin chinese for all i care because i hadn’t a flippin’ clue what he was talking about.  not in the least.

overwhelmed with T(oo) M(uch) I(nfo), i later wikipedia’d “stick”, “mig” & “tig”.  they all refer to the 3 main types of welding that we (or more frighteningly, i)  will be doing in class.   

oh mylanta.

coach jeff & the airplane guy both said that they will be there to help me out.  omg, i think i am going to need major supervision.  seriously.

a few months ago, i thought getting a burn from scalding water was wicked bad.  try 4000 degree F open gas flame!  or how about burning your retinas out from the super intense ultraviolet rays from the welding rod!

next week, coach jeff says we will start learning stick arc welding.  i’m nervous about this whole concept, but nevertheless,  i’m daring myself to go thru with it. 

 

(photos courtesy of wikipedia)

 talk about  distraction from all the grief and sadness we’ve been going through.  they have been promptly replaced by FEAR at present.  i don’t have time to be sad when i am fearing for my safety (& that of others!).  okay?!

but i’m going to give it the ol’ college try.  yup, i’m going to see if i can do this.  coach jeff seems to think i can.  wish me luck.  i’m going to need it.

we must

as hard as it is, we must carry on.  slowly but surely, we must.  life is for living & i am sure our loved ones would want us to move on.

the grief & shock are still fresh, but we are hoping– no, counting on!— that time will loosen the pain that grips our hearts. 

the folks at the preschool have been so very kind & understanding.  i plan on returning back to work tomorrow. it has been a relief to not have to worry about work.  i am grateful to them.  i don’t know how i will be tomorrow  but i will just play it by ear.  the tears come without notice, you know?  hopefully working with my preschool students will be enough of a healthy distraction.

then my parents & their overseas visitors will be coming up tomorrow.  i have cleaned & tidied up as best as i could.  don’t know how much of a hostess i will be when they get here.  mom says not to worry.  i just do not feel like my self these days.  neither does my husband, poor dear!  it just tears me up to see my dh so utterly beside himself with grief.

i nearly forgot that my welding class starts tonight. i’m going to play it by ear today on whether or not i will actually go.  since i already paid for the class, i’ll likely go.  but i don’t know how attentive i’ll be.  we’ll see…

it’s hard to get excited about things when i am feeling as numb as i do.  i signed up a while back for this wonderful workshop with misty mawn at valley ridge art studio for this coming weekend.  i am still planning to go through with it, though, again, i don’t know how attentive i will be… i am also worried about leaving my dh alone for the whole weekend.  maybe if he is up to it, he can come with me?  idk, i’ll be such a wreck, i think, if he is having a time of it & i’m not there…

like i said before, it’s going to be a slow heal. & will need to take it one step at a time.

slow heal

these past couple of weeks have been unbelievably difficult.  the pain & grief were & still are UNREAL.  the sudden absences of our loved ones are starting to sink in…& i’m afraid it’s going to be a slow heal.

i wanted to thank you all again for all the wonderfully kind & comforting words, thoughts and prayers.  please know that we very much appreciate them.  i especially wanted to thank my sister jo & her husband tim for taking care of us (i.e., sharing their beautiful home with us, feeding not only us, but the many friends & family members —& there were a lot of them!—that we have seen over the past couple of weeks & for being there for us).  we couldn’t have gotten thru all this without their love, compassion and support.   

we’ve got one more hurdle to go…the private burial service we’re having for my bil this saturday.  it’s been helpful to have been around as many family members and friends during this very stressful time.   i cannot even begin to explain the extreme sadness we’ve been feeling these days.  i’ve never quite experienced this before.  & i am afraid that this won’t be the last time either…

haven’t been doing much work in the studio.  things kinda took a backseat when stuff started to hit the fan.  i had a couple of works in progress when we first got the news about dad…then when i was up to it, i worked on my art wips a little a time, in between bouts of tears.

it’s been hard lately to write something cheerful these days because i’ve been so overwhelmed with grief.  but i think i need to force myself to get back into my art-making.  a friend mentioned that perhaps my art can be like therapy?  i think that might be a good idea (thanks pamela for the suggestion!). 

so here are some little things i’ve worked on:

 

these are for red lead’s september atc swap.  the theme was, what red lead image are you?  i was in the middle of making these when we learned that dad had fallen & broken his hip…anyway, i finally finished them.  i used a set of rubber stamps that i had bought a few years ago from red lead.   & just cut out copies of my baby pix.   it’s kind of a dark-ish palette than i am used to using, but i wanted to use the papers & embellishments that i already had in my personal stash.

when i made these atcs, i didn’t know that the text i assembled here would hold so much weight for me now:

never forget…today’s joys

what matters most…today’s joys

loving life…today’s joys

then i made these because i had a conversation with my little niece & nephew a few days ago about dying & how they believed that people became angels in heaven.  i saw that lorri’s september atc theme was angels, so i started to think of something…here’s what came up:

cherish the memories…especially the happy times with loved ones.

have courage to survive through the pain & heartache & most of all,

 to carry on.

have hope, comfort & peace that time will heal our grief & that memories will live on in our hearts.

i realized after i made these that i couldn’t part with them…so back to the drawing board & made these for lorri’s swap instead.

here are a couple of close ups:

this is the most that i’ve shared/written since everything happened two weeks ago.  i’ve not had much energy or desire these days.  each day has been a struggle, but both the dh & i  are hanging in there.  we’ve got one more final goodbye to do for my bil. 

so please bear with me/us as i/we try to get through the next couple of days. 

as always, thanks for stopping by.

xo mary ann & joe

sadness, part II

two funerals in less than a week…UNREAL. 

 we will be there for you bernie, we will be there for you.