tick. tock.

"I don't know what I expect from me as an artist. I will just have to figure it out as I go I suppose. It's just simpler that way." -artist from "Great Work of Art"

Time is tickin' and tockin' on this 100 paintings in 100 days project of mine. It's almost the end of month two and I am about 25 paintings behind or so. I want to be at 60 by the end of this month. (I haven't put pictures of everything on this blog.) I told my sweet, supportive Josh that I was this behind and with gentle eyes he looked at me and was like, "good luck with that." I know I was sick, it's been busy and I'm a bit creatively delirious at times. Okay, koo-coo. BUT- I'm not giving up!! I indeed have a pattern of starting MANY things and not finishing them. My Mom said I have AADD (Artist Attention Deficit Disorder!). Ha! It's true.

For me, art needs to be from the heart. Needs to mean something, bring joy, and be different. Plus FUN. I was ready to have some serious fun, so one early evening I whipped out about 10 small canvas panels I had and stuck them on Josh's workshop (sorry honey!), got my colors out and went to town on them. No plans or rules. Finished all ten that night. Uh huh. Aaaaand, they ended up being CUTE!
Fun, I tell ya.

Stay tuned. I will put some on here. They're kinda "gifty" and will be sold in November.

Here's a group of custom canvases I did recently to coordinate with a sweet shower curtain fabric.

State Fair and Big Tex

                     It's the simple things that make you smile.

 

Being that we are heading to the mountains one of these days, we are wanting to get the most out of this grand state. We feel like we've seen a good portion of Texas. I mean, it is pretty big so we're being realistic here. From Fort Worth to Austin to San Antonio to Galveston and whatever in between...for the most part, we've seen it or done it. We had not gone to the Texas State Fair yet, though. Apparently it is the oldest, largest and best fair in this great nation of ours. Soooo by all means, we gotta go!

It WAS big and crowded/expensive but it what a blast of a day we had. We'll never do it again, so we made the most of it. Road some rides (the most unforgettable spinny-whirly ride actually), played some games, went through the Botanical Garden and Museum of Nature & Science, people watched (oh, you gotta love that), held hands and loved the big blue sky.

I need to start an entirely different paragraph for the food there. Seriously. We just stuck with the typical corndog (best ever though), lemonade, cotton candy route. BUT, oh my goodness....fried EVERYTHING surrounded us. I am not talking like fried chicken here, friends. I am talking deep fried: club salad, pbjelly, caviar, Pop Tart's, Frito pie, chocolate, BUTTER, frozen margarita, Snicker's, latte, lemonade. And last but not least, fried BEER. All I gotta say is "how in the world do you fry these things?" They do it there. They must do it well, because the lines were HUGE.

It was great. With sun kissed-cheeks, junk-filled bellies and worn-out toesies-- Texas State Fair? Check.

The treasure is called right now.

I had my camera and wanted to capture some pictures of tonight. A pretty normal night on school days actually. A bonus that the air is having a chill to it, and we get to wear long sleeves outside. Hip, hip, hoorah! Check out what a Monday night in the Foster house looks like.

 Josh's continual attempts to get that gopher/mole(s) that tear up our yard. Remember Bill Murray in Caddy Shack? Yeah. Hannah had a the vocab word "persistant" in her homework tonight. That's Daddy!

Our poochie looking for some trouble.

She is all that! And so happy on her wheels--love the socks, L. 

 So sweet from her teacher. I agree!

Homework. More homework? Showers. Pj's. Dessert. A little T.V. and xoxo.

There can always be a wonder in the here and now.
Nightie. night.

So long September.

Have one of those weeks lately and it's just plain "ugh"? From Sunday to Sunday- that was me. Sick (again), stress, emotional,... just puny stuff to some, but big in my world. Sometimes life can be so overwhelming. We all carry around our own stress, brokenness and "stuff". So, being that this is a new week- I wanted to get my heart straight. I needed to look at the past week. See the negative. Know it's real (and you know I like keeping it real) but also stick a positive with it.

Josh left for Co. for the week.
Hoorah for modern technology (iphone vs. droid) helping us stay connected.
My heartstrings stretched with devastating stuff that happened to some special someone's in my life.
There is the power of prayer and God is our refuge and strength in difficult times.
The art teacher forgot I was subbing on Monday= no lesson plans and I had to pretty much wing it.
It actually ended up being fun. Then on Fri. I patiently taught a kindergarten class (who barely know how to draw shapes) to draw a cute cat! They were ALL so excited and proud.
Polly ate some of my lunch and barfed (!!) for a couple days. 
Polly is a comfortable companion when I'm lonely.
Need to vent every once in awhile.
I am blessed with THE most incredible friends that are always there. To listen. To encourage, love.
I am 12 art pieces or so behind (including custom work).
I CAN and WILL catch up and love my new paints!
Sick. Run over by a semi-truck? Head a big balloon? (Have I developed allergies?)
Thank you Motrin. Benadryl. Comfy bed. Understanding kiddos and hubby.
It's Fall. October. 3 years since Dad died. Sad spots in the days.
Blessed with memories and love that can never be taken from me. (Also lovin' Fall weather- bye bye almost 4 months of 100 degree weather.)
Missing my Mom (and not just 'cuz she was a free kidsitter!).
Yay! She booked a flight to come in a few weeks.
How many times to I have to ask? Squibble, squabbling again?
I get the honor of mothering angels.
For Sale sign still sitting pretty. No lookers.
Not wasting too much energy lately on the dust bunnies, grime and spider webs. 
Our water bill is whaaat?? Bills. Bills. Bills.
Saturday night backyard campfire. Friends. Family. Laughter.

Last, leaving it on a big time positive- the angels are singing and our hearts are jumping for joy... another Whiting to be born next spring!