In progress, acrylic on 16″ x 20″ canvas. Lots to do…
Favorite acrylic color right now is Titan Buff (unbleached titanium white).
Plan to go to two gallery shows tonight, an opening and a closing.
June Art – so far
June work so far. I need to set an art goal, I have let work and life get in the way.
I bought a Canon Rebel camera today. I will now be able to photograph my ideas rather than trying to find references online.
I need to work on a self portrait.
I need to photograph a pastel I took to work…Diane told me someone might steal it. That would be flattering but kind of sucky since I haven’t really photographed it yet…so I need to shoot it when it goes up.
The quarter is coming to an end and I plan to spend some of my vacation in NYC.
May Art
April Art
April Art
March Drawings
I am behind. To save some space (and my own time) I will just make little galleries or else I’ll be here all night. Click on an image to see the larger version. These were all created in the month of March.
Mediums used: Acrylic on canvas, India ink and chalk pastel on paper
Watership Down
2″ x 2″ wood pieces, acrylic and graphite. I may go over each with an ink pen…
Art in March
March was a pretty busy month. I didn’t do as much daily drawing as I wanted, but I did do quite a bit of art. I actually finished two pieces that will soon be in the Ai gallery/lobby. Small potatoes I know, but a tater tot is a good start. I’ll post those when they actually go up. I technically still need to seal them…still figuring that out. Apparently there is more to it than I thought. I am also concerned with the canvas warping. I know I need to invest in better canvas and probably stretch my own. More stuff to learn…
As for daily drawing, my art wall is getting filled. It’s starting to creep to other walls. Considering having a little tiny gallery show at my even tinier apartment and if someone wants one they can tip me/donate to cover cost of art supplies. But then also thinking if I keep going all year, might be a cool little show to have somewhere. But I did miss a lot of March while working on other stuff. Need to think about that.
Oh and by the way, Austin Full Monty Painting & Life Drawing Sessions is having a call for entries for “Relationships”- an exhibit examining the interplay of the inner and outer dialog of couples. Submission deadline is April 17th.
Daily Drawing: March 18th – 21st
Daily Drawing: March 21st Charcoal on menu! Quick sketch on Chinese take out menu left on my door.
Daily Drawing: March 20th Chalk pastel on toned paper. Figure drawing session at AVAA. Hair is hard…and my proportions are way off. Good thing I’m practicing.
Daily Drawing: March 19th Charcoal on wood…in progress. Someone has asked to buy them…was going to be a gift, but if someone wants to pay! I really love the work of Audrey Kawasaki on wood…so I figured I’d try my hand at it. I really like how it looks, but how do I seal them without ruining the charcoal? I’ll email her and ask…
Daily Drawing: March 19th Charcoal on wood…in progress. I did three on the 19th, the two above and this one. I have done more work on it, but it’s not done, so here is the rough.
Daily Drawing: March 18th Graphite on wood. I sketched and prepped stuff the day before. Hard to see, but it’s there…the larger piece changed to the one above. Just more interesting to me.
Runner’s High
On February 20th I ran 13.1 miles…very, very slowly. Oh, so slow.
That morning I met up with Julie, Liz, and Katie (all my peers at Ai, plus Cathy) to get this thing done. We arrived at our destination a bit before 6am. Each of us ready to go. It was exciting. There were so many people there; runners, family and on-lookers. It was weird to be on the Capitol grounds before sunrise. After a few trips to the bathroom to get that “last pee” in, the race started. About 15 min later, we actually got to the start line.
Lance Armstrong was also running…way ahead of me…I told him to go ahead and not wait. He didn’t.
It was amazing to see the flood of people running ahead of you (up hills). It was inspiring and just cool. I saw people taking photos with their cameras (as they ran). People stopping to hug their families and take pictures with their kids. Along the way I heard all types of music coming from some of the homes on our path. One of which was the Karate Kid song, “You’re the Best”. The support from the city was awesome! I hear it’s actually not as many people as marathons in other cities but I was impressed. Around mile 9 things started getting yellow. LiveStrong had the “Yellow Mile” and that was amazing. There were rows of people in yellow shirts clapping for you and calling your name (which was on your racing bib). On the road were giant chalk notes to the runners like “You can do this!”, “You’re doing this for you”, and “You’re my hero”. I may have shed a tear or two…I kept it in…I think. It was inspiring. But sadly, way too short.
I must admit, the entire race was really fun, until I got to mile 10 (at the corner of Mopac and the service road). Then it was all downhill from there. Oh, pardon me, I mean UPHILL. The last 3 miles of the race were the hardest. Crazy hills that I saw people, bent over, heaving as they got to the top. I ran, yes, slowly, maybe more of a trot really. I did take some walking strides as I crested the giant hill on Enfield, but I got right back to jogging.
Crossing the Finish Line
I started seeing more crowds and cheering as I neared the end. It’s difficult to see the end since the finish line is between buildings. I wanted to sprint the last leg, but without seeing it, I didn’t want to start and run out of steam. When I finally saw it, I sprinted. I remember hearing “Vertigo” by U2 playing as I ran. I crossed the finish line, with tears in my eyes. Partly because I finished, partly because the race was finally over and partly because my finish time was 3 hours and 20 min. I ran for 3 hours and 20 mins. Um, I ran for 3 hours and 20 mins. Now think back, remember I wanted to do it in 2 hours and 20 min? Well, apparently I never calibrated my new Nike+ipod chip…so I was tracking the wrong time as I trained! There was no way I could have ever made 2 hours…but I finished.
Oh and you know that Runner’s high people talk about? When does that kick in? Hour 4?! I’m kidding. I think I felt it in mile 4 but it ended somewhere around mile 9.
My body was jacked for about 2 days after, with sore knees for a day or two more. Will I do it again (but train properly and capture my right time)? Maybe…ask me in 9 months.
Daily Drawings: Feb 20 – 28th
Starting from latest to oldest:
Daily Drawing: Feb 28th. Charcoal and marker on newspaper. I tried capturing expression. And look, I drew a guy. They are so rare! I may stick to the ladies.
Daily Drawing: Feb 27th: Pen on paper. Quick sketch of my friend Jennifer. During our book club, she kept moving, hence the too big nose and too small eyes. Sorry Jen! FYI, you are way more attractive than my sketch could capture!
Daily Drawing: Feb 26th: Mixed media. I think I need a lot more matches…
Daily Drawing: Feb 24: Graphite on paper. Really rough sketch…just had an idea and I wanted to get it down. Sorry hard to see, my pencil needed to be sharpened but I just used it anyway. This will probably the next painting I do…let’s see if I can pull what I want off.
Daily Drawing: Feb 23rd B – 2 in 1 day again! 
Marker on paper…needed a happier drawing since my first one (see below) looks so mean!
Daily Drawing: Feb 23rd: Self portrait! Pencil on paper. I look so mean…don’t make me angry, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry. Looks like my mug shot, “have you seen this woman?”. I am a serious artist! I look so serious when I draw!
Daily Drawing: Feb 22nd: Chalk pastel on paper.
Daily Drawing: Feb 21st B: another since I missed Feb 20th. Chalk pastel on paper.
Daily Drawing: Feb 21st: chalk pastel on paper.
Austin Half Marathon
On Sunday I will be running the Austin Half Marathon. I will keep a calm and steady pace, running the entire way. Going up those steep hills I will spot a place in front of me and go towards it. I will have great form and I will complete the race smiling (or crying from happiness would be okay too!).
Positive vibes all around.
This is my first half marathon. I am running with a few of my coworkers: Julie, Liz and Katie. Katie and I are the newbies, but we’ve had Liz and Julie to support us the whole way.
Tomorrow I will get up around 4:15am, have a half bagel with peanut butter. Meet up with Julie and Cathy at 5:15 and then meet up with Liz and Katie when we get there. The weather will be perfect and all will be well!
Here is a map of where I am going. I didn’t realize I would run from north of the capital, down to Ben White and then over to Mopac and then back on Enfield. They aren’t kidding about those hills. I have run 10 miles, I can do this. We can do this, and all will be stronger for it after (and with no pain!).
