Bird on the Street

Good Things

10:45 pm

In no particular order, things that are making me smile:

My art is being shown on the Style Lush Blog and there’s a Giveaway going on over there as well. Go enter to win a free print. You should check out the whole site–there are shoe pictures over there!

We’re headed to Plano tomorrow for more ABR training–finally got that mess worked out. Can’t wait to find new ways to help Charlie maximize his potential–also, we’ll be getting comparison photos, which I LOVE! Like before and afters, but with my kid.

I wrote an article for a national art magazine and they sent me a contract in the mail–like, I might be in an honest-to-goodness magazine. I’ll let you know if it all works out, but a magazine, y’all–not one that they sell in super markets, but one they sell at most major booksellers. How cool is that?

Charlie got a new chair. I don’t know why, but I like it better than the old one. Feels less bulky. It may or may not be doubling as a coffee table in this picture.

This picture of Charlie. Again with the beach theme only my sand is colored–I figured, what the heck! Good visual contrast! Yeah, looks a lot like marinara–he scooped that stuff up lickety-split and shoved a handful in his mouth. It’s possible that we took a bath thirty seconds after this picture was taken. It’s also possible that I found orange goo in his nose about an hour later.

He might be a little cross-eyed, but he is cross-eyed with glee I tell ya.

Filed UnderArty Stuff, good things

A while back I told you all about a piece of art I was creating for a young man who lives in a residential facility. I don’t want to over-step, but I think it’s accurate to say that he has had some issues in cerebral development, so while he is old in age, he is young at heart.

I really stepped out on a limb with this piece–it’s larger than I usually do and it’s also very different in terms of colors and materials. I went with BRIGHT colors because I wanted it to appeal to all ages. I didn’t want it to be too cartoonish, though, so I did have to get rid of a Moose I’d painted that my Hubby said looked like Bullwinkle. (It didn’t look like Bullwinkle other than the fact that they are both Mooses–Meece? What’s the plural of Moose?)

His mom also told me that he loved to run his hands along things to see how they feel. This made me determined to add texture to the painting. You can feel the waves, and the blueberries and lobster have been made three-dimensional with paper mache.

Like I said, very different than my usual stuff, but good for stretching me and also good for my heart–making this piece for a young man in special circumstances.

Tomorrow I promise to tell you all about how I almost got arrested. . .

Filed UnderArty Stuff

2010

7:16 pm

I’ve been making a lot of goals for 2010–apparently I’ve got big expectations. Here they are in no particular order:

Crazy museum a few blocks from my house. I have no idea what this contraption is.

Run a 5K without dying.
Read the entire New Testament.
Approach 5 stores about carrying my stationery/art (scariest. thing. ever.)
Submit writing to a print publication.
Travel somewhere that is NOT Plano, Texas.
Try to include more regional stuff in this blog–not just pictures of Charlie at an outdoor concert, but pictures of the concert itself. It’s pretty cool around here and I should showcase that every now and then.

Fountain at the park in town–the town is built on a natural spring which is believed to have healing qualities–the Native American girl is reaching out for the water that is bubbling up. One of our neighbors has water that just bubbles up in her backyard.

In addition to these goals, I’m really going to try to focus on celebrating more. I feel like sometimes I let the stress get to me and really, life is good. Celebration is in order.

What are your plans for 2010?