Isaiah 6:3

"And they were calling to one another: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.'"


-photograph courtesy of Jeff

Another Hot Day

After I painted the movie theater, I must have felt that I needed to punish myself a bit more. I also painted this plant outside in August of 2003, and it just so happens to be behind the movie theater.

Moraea Dietes Iridioides

Starbucks

Pink Flamingos

Memoirs

In this painting I used some collage elements; I began by soaking different kinds of papers in a bathtub full of tea in order to stain them. On the papers, I wrote (using different writing utensils) different things about each of the people that I knew I would be painting: How they fit in to my life and what roles they played. I glued the wrinkled papers to a canvas and even painted in some extra wrinkles to add to the effect. Lastly, I painted the portraits on top using oil paint. Every now and then, I read what I wrote about each person, and several of the relationships have changed quite a bit since then. All of them have seen the painting at some point in time, but I don't think any of them have gotten close and personal enough to read the things that were written. :)

Kid Art: Foreground, Middle Ground and Background

I used this painting by Cezanne to teach the first graders about foreground, middle ground and background. They drew their own interpretation of it, colored it with crayons and painted it with watercolor.

Piano Recital

Twinkle Twinkle
twelve four year olds
three rows
Indian style
hands in lap
Little Star
cough, cough, sniff
How I wonder
sshhh!!!
What you are
stop touching me!
Up above the world so high
scoot over!
Like a diamond in the sky
that's mine!
Twinkle Twinkle
ewww gross!
Little star
i'm telling!
How I wonder
i'm next!
What you are
twelve four year olds
scramble into "rows"
Indian style
hands in lap

She bows
pigtails to floor.

Psalm 1:1-3

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers."

Carmike Cinema 12

This was the first painting that I did as a graduate student. I was nervous about painting in front of my new studio mates, who had been there longer and were further into the program, so I came up with an excuse to be out of the studio a little bit. I chose to do some "on-site" painting, which turned out to be a very bad idea. It was the middle of a very hot August when I decided to sit outside in the movie theater parking lot to paint this painting. It's not my favorite painting that I've ever done, but it does have some very distinct memories connected with it. In addition to the memories of the gallons of sweat that I poured out while painting it, I also have some very fond memories of the inside of the movie theater. I LOVE going to the movies; it's one of my absolute favorite things to do... The WHOLE experience. I can't go without popcorn and a drink, it's just not the same. I can't explain why I love movies so much, but I sincerely do, which is why it is so weird (but good) that Jeff has decided to go into post-production.... Anyway... If you're curious about how he's doing, you can check my link to his blog (the beguiler). The link is over on the right- He's in California this week checking out some post-houses. Please pray for him... we're trying, pretty successfully, not to stress out about next year... but it would be nice if he could line up a job before we move.

Happy Easter

This is just a small reminder that God is everywhere everyday... Easter is a great time to remember what was sacrificed for all of us, but God is with us every day. Look for those little reminders and remember to count your blessings.

Welcome

Mr. John's

One quarter, one dime
PEPSI
the glass bottle
clinks into the black bin.
Inside, Mr. John sweeps the strands
into one fuzzy pile.
Mom
decorated with foil
is perched with a magazine.
Elvis is singing, "Fools Rush In"
with static.
Sitting on my feet in the chair
stretching my head into the plastic bubble dryer above
I peer through the foggy helmet
at the lady in curlers opposite me.
She clears her throat while tugging on her knee highs.
I slurp on my last swallow of pepsi.

I'm Inside Looking Out

Fire Escape

pen and ink

Chili Peppers

Grandot and B.B.

So Much Depends Upon


the red wheel barrow glazed with rain water
beside the workshop he built

red and white pinwheel peppermints
wrapped and twisted
resting in decorative glass bowls she litters about the house

the submissive gameboy waiting for him on the end table
beside the peppermints

the sweet tea she brews to encourage him to satisfy his daily water quota;
he won't drink water

the blue and white ceramic floor tiles he scrubs behind the toilet;
she shouldn't be on her knees

trailing conversations she continues
after he's slipped out of the room

the green and white striped umbrella
sprouting from the motorized golf bag he constructed

her pink polyester pantsuits

the unescorted crocodile crawling away from the collars
of all his cotton shirts

and the grilled cheese sandwiches she flips
to the Young and the Restless.

Kid Art with Cezanne

As some of you may know, Paul Cezanne and Edgar Degas are two of my most favorite artists. I was teaching the kindergarteners about still life, as well as overlapping, by using this painting of Cezanne's. I thought they came out very well.

Break

Another post about my childhood fun at Goldsboro Country Club. At fifty minutes past every hour, the lifeguard would blow the whistle to signal the beginning of "break," at which time everyone under the age of 18 would swim to the closest ladder, or edge, to get out. We weren't allowed to put any part of our body into the water for ten minutes. The rules had apparently changed by the time I began this painting of four children dangling their feet in the water. The most embarrassing part about break was the chance that you might be doing handstands underwater when the whistle was blown, having no idea that it was time to get out. Sometimes this could go on for awhile if you didn't bother to glance around when you came up for breath. Lopsided handstand after lopsided handstand followed by a little mermaid swimming and "pretend gymnastics" can be very embarrassing with a crowd of people watching from the side, waiting and timing shouts to coincide with your emergences for breath. "It's BREAKtime!!!!!"

A Picture that Jeff Took

Jeff took this picture while we were waiting outside at the Macaroni Grill. When I saw him setting it up, I was skeptical, but I really like the way it came out. Personally, it makes me think of sitting outside at my Grandparents' house (Grandot and B.B.). They have, or used to have, an iron table similar to this one out on their porch. We would sit outside and eat icecream to the buzzing sound of a neon-blue bug zapper light, while watching lightning bugs appear in various places around the yard.

Jeff's Skateboard Haiku

purchased at the mall
front truck is a little tight
it gets him to class

Forks

What would you do if you were walking around and saw a battlefield of forks in the middle of a college campus? I lay down on my stomach and took a picture.

Anticipation

I don't know how many of you grew up going to some kind of community pool or country club, but hopefully you can relate. We used to line up behind the diving board and the person on the board was never allowed to jump until the person that had jumped last had made it to the edge (so as not to jump on top of the person that had just come up for air in the deep end). So I spent a lot of time at the pool waiting in line. Some kids are completely comfortable with this, but I always remember being very aware of how I was standing. Being up there, right beside the diving board, made you feel like there were always someone's eyes on you, and I never knew what to do with my arms. Obviously I didn't have pockets, so that wasn't an option so I usually tried to settle with crossing my arms or putting me hands on my hips. (just like the girls in this painting). I'm guessing that most guys don't have any empathy for this, but I think girls are probably a bit more vulnerable in the diving board line, especially early teenagers. I mean, when else are you essentially wearing glorified underwear in the middle of a crowded place. Yet the diving board was definitely worth all of the anxiety- We used to play "olympics" (and Emily Brewer was always the judge) to see who could make the smallest splash, best dive, most creative jump, etc.... Anyway- enough about my diving board escapades- feel free to share yours.

Flowers

I agree with Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail when she says that daisies are the friendliest flower... but these seem pretty friendly too. Oh- I just thought of that scene in Alice in Wonderland where the flowers sing... I love that movie.

Ballet Recital

Curtain call
fourteen feet scurry on stage
the curtains part
foggy light floods in
the music starts
grinning shyly, glancing at each other
arms up, hug the tree
tap, tap, tap, turn
tap, tap, tap, turn
wave to sister
tap, tap, tap, turn
six wobbly curtsies

Stucco

Everything in Florida is apparently covered with Stucco. I have no idea why this is... and admit that I have not researched it.

Taking Steps

A Little Reminder

Someone's Watching: a painting and a sonnet

I first apply a yellow colored cream.
I rub it in, a drink that quenches skin.
Foundation hides and smooths out all the seams
concealing every blemish on my chin.
A "Stay Matte" powder takes away the shine.
Two shades of shadow meet before the brow.
Around my eyes, with brown, I draw a line.
I use mascara on my lashes now
which always with mouth open I apply.
Then sweep the blush across my naked cheeks
and line my lips, no lipstick must get by...
to blot with tissue is the old technique.
How false to wear a painting on your face;
I feel I must to keep up with the pace.

















Not to ruin the post with this little addition, but do any of you realize what a pain in the butt it is to write a sonnet?!?!?! I mean! It is freaking HARD!!! It follows a certain rhyming scheme, but the iambic pentameter is the hard part. There are 10 syllables in every line and the stress syllable falls on all the even syllables, which means that the words that have more than one syllable are pretty tricky- they have to fall in the right part of the line so that the stress syllable is in the right place. For example: In line 3, I use the word "foundation" and the stress syllable in foundation falls on the second syllable: foun DA tion- so that second syllable had to be an even numbered syllable on the line- Since foundation was the first word, it worked out well- You can check the whole sonnet- I think I worked it all out and everything is correct, but I have to tell you... it is so much harder than I thought; I actually thought the sonnet was much more difficult than the painting- KUDOS TO SHAKESPEARE!!!!

St. Patrick's Day

Hope everyone had a great St. Patrick's Day last weekend!!!!!