Dust bunnies gathering in a dark corner

Unfortunately, I've neglecting this blog this year. However, I do have a very legitimate excuse. And the excuse's name is 100 Book Ninja - my blog chronicling my journey to consume 100 books in 365 days. 

It is currently day 292 of my challenge, leaving me just over two months left to accomplish my mission. With just over two months to go, I am 76 books in, with 24 left to read. So for now, please check me out there. 

Still life, still painting

Our painting fundamentals class week 4 focused on still life - more specifically figures. Our instructor brought in a number of ethnic dolls, but I had brought in my bird from work and tackled him as my still life project.

Bird is the word.


Becky took on the ethnic doll project. Check out the detail.

Wicked t-shirt painting skills

I've learned in the last 24 hours that I have mad, wicked t-shirt painting skills. At work, we had our monthly Fun Lunch, which was themed Falls Office Olympics 2010. We were divided up into teams to then be pitted against each other for the ultimate awards - Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals - in four sports, T-Shirt Decorating, Straw Javelin Throw, Sugar Shotput and Dizzy Chair Spin.

I did some t-shirt decorating and think I did a pretty darn good job.

We took home the Bronze, but I think it's just because we didn't wear the wings to go with the awesome shirts.

Our mascot did wear the wings however...

Black + white + primary colors = Cat Stevens

For our third week of painting class at the Beck Center, we were able to choose two primary colors with which to add to black and white. Our challenge was portraits. Look like anyone you know?


I figured that portraits would be a reach for me. I was defaulting to my assumption that landscapes and more abstracts pieces would be where I would perform decently. I was pleasantly surprised when I finished the initial balance between positive and negative space.


But we were challenged to try mixing colors and testing different brush strokes, so I pushed on. I used blue and yellow as my two primary colors. I can't say that I'm unhappy with this week's outcome, which for me is saying a lot since I'm pretty shaky on my painting-ability confidence level.


Next up, Becky's "Cat Stevens"-type portrait. She actually followed directions and tested out more color and brush stroke styles than I did. I really like her use of color and playing around with different styles.


She finished her first piece early and had enough time left in class to try her hand at a whole person.


Becky has been painting in her downtime as well. She recreated a retro Barbie for her mom this past weekend. I love the collar.


Next week, we're breakin' it out - all the colors are fair game.

Mad Baker or Strawberry Shortcake?

My sister sent the image on the left to me last week with the caption, "Mad Baker." But as a Twitter conversation quickly pointed out, "Are you sure she's not a reincarnation of Strawberry Shortcake?"

So one must ask, is it Olivia or the embodiment of a beloved carton character?

Monochromatic for week two

Week 2 of Painting Fundamentals at The Beck Center was an exercise in monochromatic.

I chose crimson as my color to be mixed with black and white. My challenge seems to be using values correctly in my work. Though I suppose this is why our instructor is gently easing us into color one week at a time v letting us use the full spectrum right off the bat.

I spent too much time outlining my painting before starting the actual work. Though as Becky observed, I seem to have better functionality with architectural features. As class was about to conclude, I wasn't interested in finishing my painting at home, so I went old school on the birds. Remember the type you used to add to your drawings in elementary school - the solid wide V style. As you can see above, I took the easy way out and pulled the V bird style.

With my adoration of all things red, I thought that crimson would be a good color to start with, and when I first saw the piece we were working from, assumed it was a good selection as the piece also had a certain dark, foreboding aspect to it. But while working on it, too many of the shades were just too close to pink or mauve for me. A fellow classmate used green, which seemed to work much better - though he also seems to be comprehending the whole value thing while it continues to escape me. I should probably spend some at-home studio time practicing.

Becky, on the other hand, gets the values thing and its practical, real-world application. Check out the value scale at the top of her work. We joked that she's going through her blue phase. Hey, Picasso did it, why not a PR pro who's also a painter.

While I was DONE with this particular exercise when we got to the end of the night, Becky plans to finish hers, which I'm speculating she may just be at home working on right now. I'll post her "finished" piece when she shares a shot of it with me.

Additional note on the post from last week's class, Becky gifted her bat artwork to our friend Alissa, who named it Frank. Frank now keeps Alissa company in her 24th floor office in a certain historical office building in downtown Cleveland.

Next week's class is black + white + two primary colors. What are the primary colors again? Guess I better do some quick research since obviously I was out sick on that day of high school art class.

Bring it on book challenge, I can take you

Starting on October 21, 2009, I laid before myself the mighty challenge of consuming 100 books in 365 days. To chronicle the journey, I started a second blog, Bibliomania:

It's not just any ordinary challenge though...the gauntlet thrown breaks the challenge into a number of genres, including books recommended from friends, short stories, poetry, fantasy, teen and a couple more. It also forbids any rereads and doesn't allow for audio books.

I'm little over 25 percent of the way through the calendar and have successfully tackled 24 books, with 76 to go. Better get a move on.

If you're a book lover, you can check out the details and follow me here.

Bats in the belfry

I try to be happy and satisfied with the gifts that God granted me, but one thing that I've always desired was to be an artist. I would love the ability to competently draw, paint, create.

But low and behold, my creative talents, to date, have been fairly hit and miss. I went through a mosaic tile obsession, a time period where I was determined to learn how to quilt, then it was wood burning, then onto paper arts (though not scrapbooking), then it was crocheting (which did actually result in one blanket for my sister, next was knitting. I'm pretty positive there were a number of other attempts in between all of these others.

I think my biggest obstacle is that I would never commit to just one medium. My mosaic tile obsession lasted for a couple of years and did result in a number of creative trays and candle holders - though I learned fast that my grouting skills, which are critical to successful mosaics, aren't just bad...they're horrible. If it's just 90-degree angles, I'm good, but once you get into broken tiles, which are more creative and interesting to work with, I'm lost on the grouting. But I digress from the point of this post.

For a while now, I've wanted to take a painting or drawing class. I was interested in challenging myself to step outside my comfort zone, even if I'm positive the results are bound to be somewhat disastrous. So when my friend Becky approached me about taking a painting class at the Beck Center for the Arts, located right down the street in Lakewood, there was no reason to say no.

Our eight-weed Painting Fundamentals class started last night, and I had a ball. Most of the class was spent reviewing supplies and initial technique. Our instructor started us with a basic painting project - a black and white painting of a bat, so I thought I would share my initial foray into the land of painting. Heres my first take with the image I was tasked to recreate.

There were two bat pictures to select from, and Becky chose the other image. She's painted previously and definitely picked up on the theories the instructor shared much faster than I did. Here's her first project:


Turns out Becky is not a big bat fan, so she imagined she was working on a picture of a rabbit, you know a cuddlier version of a bat. I believe she "gifted" her painting to our friend Alissa this morning.

My parents, in particular, my mom would find the bat project more than a little ironic. During one of our family vacations, my mom came across a Big-Eared Eastern Bat (which I image looks a something like this). She wasted no time in making that my new nickname, as it matched with my innate ability to overhear any conversation of which I was a subject, especially when I was not one of the conversation participants.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next class. If you're looking for art, theater or dance classes, here's a link to the Beck Center's Winter/Spring Class Catalog. It offers a great range of classes for adults and youth alike.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Oftentimes, a photo or illustration can tell the most powerful and distinct story about a tragedy. This week the New York Times ran "Op-Art: Scenes From a Catastrophe," featuring works from four painters, Mario Benjamin, Emmanuel Dostaly, Pascale Monnin and Patrice Piard, "that reflect on the disaster and its aftermath."



This is the first in the series is by Pascale Monnin from Port-au-Prince and is demonstrative of the tragedy and trauma of the last two weeks in Haiti.

It's a timely reminder, especially as there is a continued need for money and food and resources to help this devastated island nation. It's not too late to donate.

Way, way back week

Supposedly it's way, way back week on Facebook, and you're supposed to post photos from your past. Here are a couple when I was blonde, curly and perhaps more innocent...though there may be a question mark with the last one. Figured I might as well share the chuckles here as well.

Circa 8th grade

Circa mid high school