Entries Tagged as: meme

Q&A

June 12th, 2007, Comments (6)

I didn't create any finished artwork in Seattle, but I did a lot of sketching and I'm just full to bursting with creative ideas. So, now that I'm feeling less jet-lagged, I can get back to creating, uploading art, and blogging!

Much delayed, here are my interview questions from the lovely, Jessie. Thanks, Jessie dear!

1.  If you were being sent to live on another planet and could only bring one big tube of paint (along with a tube of black and a tube of white), what color would it be and why?

Oh goodness, gracious! That's really, really tough. My mind roams from my favorite color (blue) to alizarin crimson to raw sienna. I guess, I'd stick with the blue, a warm blue, so I could paint the alien sea and sky and lots of blue trees. :-)

2. When you get married, do you plan to change your last name?  Why or why not?

Good question! I debated this for a long time. I know people who have changed their name, those who hyphenate and others who kept their maiden name. I can understand any one of those choices. The fiansor left the decision up to me, he was completely ok with whatever decision I made, which was good. I feel it should be up to the woman to decide what she wants to do with her name. In the end, I decided to change my name to his. After working for my boss who kept her maiden name, I saw how it often made things complicated with her children and since I do plan to have children, I'd like to have the same last name as them. For awhile I wasn't feeling all that attached to my last name at all. I knew my brother and male cousins would pass on our name. But more recently, I've felt more attached to it and I've decided to keep it as a middle name. It'll make my name longer, but that's ok.

3.  You go for a walk and are stopped by a crow who starts talking to you (yes, talking !).  What would he (or she) say to you?  And how might you reply?

After regaining my composure, I'd probably laugh out loud if a crow were to speak to me. The crow would say to me: "Darling, remember that vision I sent you when you did that warm bath meditation? Yes, the one with me and my twin carrying a note each. Hers said, "bring" and mine said, "love." You remember, right? I appreciate that you painted us and that we have continued to show up in your art from time to time. It's been awhile though and we'd like to appear in your art again. In exchange, I have another message for you. Just one word for now: 'Trust'."

And I'd respond, "Well, I was wondering when you'd start talking with me in this world! I'm glad you enjoyed being painted. Your message really hit home for me, but this new message, what does it mean? Trust what? who? ...Just trust. Trust the Universe. Trust myself. Ah. O.k. I'll get on that."

4.  What does your dream studio look like?  And don't forget to give us all the details! :)

It's funny you should ask! I was inspired by a contest at decor8 (a fabulous source of inspiration) to create a mood board. I've made inspiration boards before, but I've never  made one for the design of a room. This is probably due to the fact that I rent and I don't feel like I have a lot of artistic control over how things look here. However, we are planning to buy a home in the next year or so, so it has been on my mind more lately. Plus I've been looking for a studio space, so dream studios have been dancing around in my head.

For my board, I imagined designing a creative space that would be in my home. The theme would be trees (hehe) with the inspiration mainly being the gorgeous look of the shape of bare tree branches against a blue sky. There would be some cozy chairs on one side of the room for relaxing, reading, and lounging and a wooden chest for extra blankets and floor pillows for art picnics and general coziness. There would also be a window seat for journaling and kitty naps. There would be a large walk-in closet loaded with art supplies in clear containers and rolling carts that could be easily rolled into the main room when in use. A flat file and racks would also live in this closet space for storing artwork. Back in the room, there would be a tall bookcase with my favorite inspirational reads and a long desk area against one wall with cork and magnetized boards above. The desk would provide lots of room to spread out and a neat filing system to help me stay organized. There would also be a rolling table/storage space (like the one on my board except with wheels) that I could roll to different areas of the room (depending on my mood and the light in the room) to create on. And it could easily be rolled against the wall if I wanted to work on the floor or do some yoga. The ceilings would be high and the room would have a light, airy feel to it. And of course I would have some lovely tree paintings on the walls. :-)

5.  You have just been commissioned to create a very large mural on the side of an important building that, in some way, tells the story of your life.  Without worrying about your level of talent, what visions come to mind?

I used to paint children's murals and sometimes ones for adults, so I have some experience in this, but not to the scale of the side of a building and never about myself. So, let's see. Honestly, the first thing that came to mind was a large tree, a tree that's hollowed out on the inside by some kind of storm and is now home to wide-eyed owls. It would be night time, a big moon in the sky and swirling stars. In the branches there would be a pair of crows, one holding a piece of paper in its talons that says "trust" and in the trees surrounding this one large tree, you can also see a pair of fox kits. The air is swirling with fireflies and seems to bear a kind of electricity. When you get close to the mural you could see that in the bark is carved my story in little bits and pieces, little random memories..."I rode my tricycle to the edge of the stairs, trying to see how close I could get.", "It was scary to see my dad cry at the therapist's office. I'd never seen him cry before. It was around this time I began to understand my parents were just ordinary people and not gods.", "We dipped paper cups into the pond and caught wiggly tadpoles, odd little creatures.", "I dipped my brush in red and held my breath."

Lazy Sunday Random Bits

May 27th, 2007, Comments (7)

It's been a busy, but nice weekend with the fiansor. Friday night we were out for dinner and a movie (Pirates of the Carribean - it was fun, much better than the 2nd movie, not as good as the 1st) and yesterday we walked around a bit and later drove to Rhode Island to see a childhood friend of the fiansor's new house. The friend and his wife are both cooks and she was baking dozens and dozens of cookies for a party the next day, so we got to sample and take home some delicious cookies. The gingersnap chocolate ones were SO good! Today was a trip into town to get lunch and some errands and then driving around historic Concord. We've been visiting various towns to get a feel for where we'd like to live. Concord is beautiful, but not quite right. We walked around town a bit, peering into little shops and walked around in an old, old graveyard. I love the artwork on old gravestones from the 1700's. And now, I'm feeling totally wiped. I think a nap is in my future. I've been meaning to do this meme that I was tagged for at YogaGlamGirl's blog, so here we go:

4 jobs I have held:
1. Nanny
2. Historic House Museum Manager
3. Muralist
4. Real Estate Agent (very briefly...too much pressure.)

4 movies I can watch over and over:
1. All the Harry Potter movies
2. Amalie
3. Finding Nemo :-)
4. Goonies (hehe...from the looks of this list, looks like I'm a child at heart.)

4 places I have lived:
1. Boston, MA
2. Houston, TX
3. Saratoga Springs, NY
4. Salem, MA

4 Categories of TV programming I enjoy:
1. Good storyline: LOST
2. Creative fun: Project Runway
3. Rediculous: Family Guy
4. Guilty Pleasure: America's Next Top Model

4 Places I have been on Holiday:
1. The little island where the fiansor's father grew up in Greece
2. Venice, Italy on a 2 week class in art history in college
3. Madrid, Spain as an exchange student when I was 15
4. Joshua Tree Park with my best friend

4 of my Favorite Dishes:
1. Salmon and avocado sushi
2. Reese's Peanut Butter Cup sundae
3. My step-dad's chicken cutlets
4. Feta cheese and fresh tomatoes with a little olive oil

4 websites I visit daily:
1. Craigslist
2. Bloglines
3. ?

4 places I would rather be right now:
1. Hawaii...gonna have to wait til the honeymoon. :-)
2. I'm actually good with where I am.

I'm not in a tagging mood at the moment, so if you read this and haven't done it already and would like to, you're it! ;-)