264,900 minutes

“Two hundred sixty four thousand nine-hundred minutes.
Two hundred sixty four thousand moments so dear
Two hundred sixty four thousand nine-hundred minutes.
How do you measure, half of a year?”

At the risk of blaspheming J. Larson’s classic, a parody of “Seasons of Love” from ‘Rent’ seems appropriate to show just how much I’ve slacked in the past six months.

I am ashamed. Embarrassed. Horrified at the state I’ve gotten myself in, physically. I had surgery last August, which was the springboard to my half of a year’s worth of excuses to not eat right, not exercise, and just be overall lazy. That slid nicely into a river of denial where “I just don’t feel like it” turned into “I’m depressed because of the weather” and “I’m down because I’m lonely,” and an overture of “Woe is Me” arose to the heavens to the point that even I am annoyed by myself. *ugh*

So, where does 2012 find me? Weighing a whopping 230 lbs. My lights in 2011 was 189. (Truth be told, I’m actually sitting at 222 right now, but let’s just go ahead and claim it. I’m claiming my 230.) The reasons don’t matter. It is what it is. Dwelling and analyzing won’t get me to change any faster.

SO! Here’s the plan. Kick my own ass when I make excuses and whine and cry. Get aforementioned fat ass into the gym after class. Not self medicate with food and wine, and voerally just shake this mental plague that’s been hurting me since last year and before.

Sound like a plan? Good. Because it will be. You hear that, me? You know what to do. Get off your ass and do it. I’m really disappointed in you because you let yourself get lazy. You know better. So go show you and go show me that we think we’re worth it. I’m not giving up on you. Deal?

Deal.

More artwork

In an attempt to learn how to better post pictures on here (I’m horribly behind, I know) — apparently I have figured out how to post a gallery.  Who knew? So here’s another sample of the work that I do.  Some are photos I’ve taken.  Some are paintings that I’ve done on the iPad.  Some are drawings I made with sharpie markers.  I try not to define my work by a “style” at this point — the more eclectic and diverse, the more you learn!

Notes on these pieces:

“Begone! You have no power here” – A photo I took after I quit a board of directors I was on, for a less-than-professional group of people. It was a struggle to work with that group for the 8 months I was on the board, so finally I gave up and resigned, and then ripped up my board of directors meeting schedule.  And had way too much fun doing so, as well as editing the final photo. This one just makes me smile, because I do like how it turned out, as well as how good I felt finally taking charge of my activities and not letting people push me around. (Photography with editing)

Modern interpretation of “Girl with a Pearl Earring” — I am starting a series of these Reinterpretations of the Masters.  First off, Vermeer.  What if she was an elf? What if there was no earring? What if she was painted in a style reminiscent of Dali-meets-Eric Carle?  I like how she turned out as well. (iPad art – ArtRage app)

“The Other Mother” — inspired by a bohemian photograph and painted after reading Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline.”  I love how spooky, haunting, yet haughty she is.  Very creepy. (iPad – ArtRage)

“Hoss” — this is a photograph I took of my cat, Hoss.  He’s a Maine Coon mix.  In this photo, I wanted to play with light and shadow, hence the slightly unconventional backlight on most of the photo.  This print recently won Best in Show at a local competition. (Photography, Nikon D50)

“One Fish Two Fish” – these roughly 2-3 feet long fish were drawn based on the Seuss book, and used as props in a local production of Seussical the Musical.  Look at what you can do with posterboard and sharpie markers!  They’re so happy and colorful.  Definitely a fun project.  And no, I didn’t project and trace them.  Those are bonafide freehanders. (Posterboard, Sharpie marker)

“Cat in the Hat” – another sketch used in the programs for Seussical.  This one is approximately 5 X7, and again, just marker on sketch paper.  I love mimicing Seuss’ style. It’s so free and whimsical.  I use him for inspiration when I’m teaching beginning art classes at a local Center for the Arts. (Sharpie, sketch paper)

“Shadow on Fiesta” – Inspired by Pollock, but I wanted more of a connection for the viewer to the piece, so they could see the process behind painting.  How better to do that than a shadow?  This piece is 36 X 48″.  It definitely makes a statement.  This was one of my pieces I did in college, and it was awarded a Best in Show trophy for the student exhibition the year I painted it.  I love the colors and the energy of the color spots, as well as the shadow — It reminds me that I am in all my pieces I create, sometimes you just can’t see me.  (Acrylic on Canvas.)

I hope you’ve enjoyed this art post! I’m hopefully going to be able to get more things like this posted in the future.  In the meantime, keep chasing your dreams, all!

Time flies…

..when you’re having fun? Or just when “real life” gets in the way of you having a life?

Ever notice that? We spend all our time as kids wanting to be a “grown up” and have a “real life” and, if I’ve learned anything in my 28 years on this earth, it’s that “real life,” quite frankly, sucks.

Not all the time. Sometimes it’s quite grand. It’s just that it’s far too easy to get caught up in all the little things – work, bills, chores, stress – that you miss out on enjoying it because you spend so much time worrying about it and rushing from one thing to the next.

I’m challenging myself for this last half of 2011 to slow down and enjoy. Pare down the things I don’t like doing and amp up those that I love doing. (Why am I spending so much time on activities that stress me out and worry me when I really don’t have to? It’s a waste of life.)

Won’t you join me? Take time every day to ENJOY. (And if someone can help me figure out how to post more artwork, that would be great.)

ARTrage artwork… Part 2!!!

Some distressed photos:

ArtRage ArtWork! :)

I have been meaning to do this for a while, so here we go!  Random postings of samples of my work.  As time permits, more will be posted, as well as discussions and interpretations.  Enjoy!

Study of Mandarin Oranges:

 

Sketch: Modern Rooster

 

Picasso Dog #3

 

Timeless Lamentation

New Format, New Headers!

Just a quick update — I’m still trying to learn how to use WordPress, but I did figure out how to customize the header on my pages to rotate to a random piece of artwork that I’ve created! I’m very excited about this. Click through (or refresh the pages) to see some of the many things I’ve done with my iPad and various sketching / painting apps.

One of these days I will figure out how to make an actual gallery page.

Enjoy!

Thursday Thankfulness – June 2, 2011

So… enough of this doom-and-gloom blogging I’ve been doing lately. Ugh. I was even getting annoyed with myself!

Cue some lovely motivation from random Sparkies posting on my other blog (thanks Texas_Grl, Moreenergyat43, and SarahJ19!!!) and also a friend add from Fit-Whit, a Sparkie who’s blog I’ve followed pretty consistently for the past few months, and someone who I find very, very inspiring.

She posted a blog this morning that really resonated with me — “The Distracted Driver: Time to Tune Up and Map Out Success.” In it, she talks about how she’s just gotten off track due to lots of “life” issues — buying a home, running here there and everywhere with a crazy schedule, and just all around being distracted and less than perfectly dedicated to the healthy lifestyle we all know we need to lead.

“Wow,” I thought. “I can’t believe that other people are going through the SAME THINGS I am… people who I really think have got their act all together and lead the healthy lifestyle without even thinking about it can make mistakes too… Hmmm… Maybe I’m not such a loser, after all!”

Which, of course, got me thinking. So much so that I left this very long, could-come-across-as-stalking-
but-I-didn’t-mean-it-to comment on her blog:

“I am totally in the same boat as you right now — I just moved into my first home, too, and boy… you’re right. It completely throws your life off track! I like all the things you posted to keep yourself on track. I’m doing the same, but I’m trying mine differently. I get so frustrated when I try to track EVERYTHING and do EVERYTHING I know I should be doing perfectly all at once, so I add a healthy habit every other day. That way, I don’t get so upset with myself with one mistake. I just correct it and add another good behavior on top of it.

So far, I’ve been eating a healthy breakfast at 6:45 every morning. I sit on my front porch for 15 minutes and eat my cereal, and watch my cat play with the lavendar bush that leans over the railing. I’ve been doing that for two weeks. Then last week, I started doing 3 sets of 15 reps of 15 lb weights with arm rows, overhead presses, and bicep curls at work when I’m on conference calls and my attention is waning. (I keep a weight on my desk at work. My coworkers don’t even look at it like I’m crazy anymore.) Then two days ago and yesterday I made sure I was eating items that were on my meal plan at the scheduled times I was supposed to be eating them. Now today and tomorrow, I’m doing all those things, plus making sure I get a 15 minute walk in sometime today.”

Plus a couple of other random “Hey, I think your blog is great, congrats on all your accomplishments, etc” comments that make me look like a gushing fan of a celebrity (which, really, to me she kind of is).

ANYHOW!

So that’s the plan. Getting back on track. No excuses. I even managed to cook all my meals for this week on Sunday! (There is lots of chicken and rice and fish involved. YUM!) There’s snow peas and celery and carrots and apples and bananas in my kitchen. There’s a gym bag and clothes and an iPod and shoes and YMCA membership card in my car At All Times. There’s a schedule that I stick to. And a fire burning in my heart of WHY I want this for my life.

I like looking in the mirror and being surprised at all the changes I see, changes that go beyond the numbers on the scale. I might have fallen off track a bit, but I’m “recalculating” and getting Right Back where I need to be!

Next stop: Aug. 13, 2011 — Charity: Water 5k. : ) Training starts Sunday!!! I’m really excited.

Thanks for everyone sticking with me while I’ve not been myself. I really appreciate it!

And, in that vein, last night I ran for the first time outside… on the track… in public. I did a mile at a mostly very fast walk, and about a lap of sprinting (half jogging, half full out sprinting). Track lap times were 4:10, 4:00, 3:50, and 3:31. I’m a happy girl!!! Now to continue the strength trainings and the running. 5k, here I come!

Monday Motivation – May 23, 2011

It seems appropriate that I should follow up the prior whiny post with something a bit more inspiring.

I’m having to dig deep for motivation today, but I will hopefully find some in…

Still being surprised at how I look in the mirror. I look THIN. Now, mind you, i’ve backpedaled a bit over the past few weeks, but I’m settling into the healthier routine again, so it’ll be back to normal in no time… but still, if I look in the mirror, and I consciously think about what it is I’ve accomplished — 70 pounds and 4 sizes lost… I just think, WOW… in 30 more pounds, I’ll have lost 100! That seems totally achieveable now, whereas before it didn’t.

Even with all the “less than perfect” things that can happen in life, somedays you jsut have to stop thinking about them. Stop letting them have your attention. They’ll be there regardless, so don’t give them any more power than they already have. Just choose look at the good things, even if it’s just for 5 minutes at a time. Everyone deserves a few daily moments of sunshine and happiness.

Tuesday Training, May 17, 2011

So a success!
After a month off from the gym for health reasons (it takes a LONG time to get over bronchitis and pneumonia!), I hit it at the gym last night on the elliptical and my results were astounding (to me)!!

50 minutes

4.02 miles

12:15, 12:40, and 11:57 mile times

and the best of all…

5k in 37:35!!!

and if you’ll notice in the picture, that’s 2:07 better than what I did BEFORE I got sick! Hip hop Hooray!