Thursday, December 24, 2015

La Noche Oscura



A "nocturne" painting study from life. From a great class taught by artist James Martin.

"To reach satisfaction in all, desire satisfaction in nothing..."

"For contemplation is nothing else than a secret and peaceful and
loving inflow of God, which, if not hampered, fires the soul in the spirit
of love."


-from St. John of the Cross, author of "The Dark Night of the Soul"

These sound like lofty aspirations, haha. But they seem worth the attempt ! ;)

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Tête à tête






From a class taught by Bob Kato and TA'd by Claire Chen. Learned a lot from both, and both people were incredibly generous and encouraging!

Oro!



Costume creation of Justine Parrish, modeled by the wonderful Danielle (I do not know her last name, but she's a familiar face for most figure drawing folks around here)

The Hairy Chopper Saga



Some uber goofy things inspired by my brother chopping palm branches down this morning... (with a shovel. we don't have an axe. yes it's possible.)

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Ol' Chuffers


Glorious, Glorious Pots

The playful way these were arranged made me think of Mrs. Potts and Chip a bit!

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Re-emergence



What a dramatic-sounding blog post title!
But that's what's on my mind as I dust off this little ole blog here...

The radio silence on this blog was because for some time now, roughly a year or more, I was very unsure of my identity. Pretty typical challenge of a young person I guess, but, there it is. I never thought it'd be this way- my whole life I was pretty sure of who I was and what I wanted, and the fundamentals haven't changed I guess; but now I have become more mellow maybe, in terms of being receptive to where life in this world might take me, and how it might change me in ways I don't expect- rather than me tunnel-visioning and being so set on a course of my own design.

During this recent period, specifically, I kind of lost my identity as an artist. In one way that was really beneficial: I let go of who I thought I was, in order to learn. That approach really opened, and continues to open, me up to the ocean of knowledge and thought that I still have to learn. So in that sense it was good. But I also lost my personal drive to be an artist and to carve out what I wanted to say and make as an individual, because I set aside what I thought I could offer for a time, so that I might learn more.

But now, I can feel my old, original instincts from childhood- the ones God gave me when He crafted me as a person, maybe emerging again. The ones, that, aside from all of the world's goings-on and my own thoughts in my too-busy head, make me who I am at my core.

I hope that in the coming months I can explore and develop who I could be as an artist, without losing sight of what matters, and without getting too wrapped up in my own little world. I want to be a citizen of the world! I want to learn more about what is outside of me. The God who is so much bigger and cooler than I'll ever be, the people in this world with all of their varied souls and minds, nature and the animals, the stars.

To start, here's the view outside my brother's window!
May the peace of Christ rest in you, wherever you are at this moment.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Bookish


Doodle away ye mateys~

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Joy... and a doodle!



Random thoughts!

Sometimes it's good just to be simple and enjoy the wind and sunlight.
And I gotta remind myself, joy comes from gratitude, appreciation, and wonder at the little things in everyday life, and the amazing and big stuff too, like people's individual good qualities, and the kindnesses and generosity of those who care about you. Joy also comes from giving of yourself freely to others, and from being generous and caring with them.

Joy is important, otherwise you look like raincloud or someone who had thought eating a lemon whole was a good idea. (Which, apparently it is, if you've got a cold or something.)

Wow I sound so flowery. Whooooo~~~

Also, I have to thank God for his constant love. I am really flimsy, in terms of my character and will and heart/mind, but he really stands by me and is always so gentle and unyielding in his love for me, as he is for every single person. He's always encouraging me and showing me something beautiful.

God is like the wide, open sky!

I wish you, whoever reads this, all the best, all hope and peace, and yummy food and good company.