Freehand Friday!

Is it really Friday already? This week has flown by...Christmas is just a blur now and the New Year is only days away! And I couldn't be more excited :D I'll be in New York City on New Year's Eve to watch the ball drop and I'm staying up there through January 3rd. I haven't been to New York since 2000, so needless to say I'm super thrilled! Since I've been uber busy trying to get myself ready for New York and still working nearly full-time hours at my part-time job, I haven't had a chance to sketch anything this whole week, but I do have a little sketch I did a few years ago that I'd like to share. He's a bird pen named Mr Bojangles and I and a former co-worker used to dress him up for the holidays. So to for my last post of 2012 and to welcome in the New Year, I'd like Mr Bojangles to have that honor...here he is in all his chipper glory:

Merry TWOsday!

Since Christmas happened to fall on a Tuesday this year, I figured I'd put up a short post about two things inspiring me at the moment. Course, I did go home for the holidays, so I don't want to take too much time away from the festivities of gifts and feasts. Anyone else cook a big feast for their Christmas dinner? You'd think we were feeding an army here, but I won't complain, I love the food!

1) Well it's Christmas time, people! While I'm not a huge fan of the more popular, teeny-bopper-sounding Christmas music and I work in retail so any song about Santa, reindeer, presents, etc. has been overplayed on the satellite radio to the -inth degree, I do, however, have a favorite Christmas song. It's "Carol of the Bells." It literally gives me chills when I hear that song. I love the versions with the choir singing and the rock-themed orchestra playing. To me, that song sums up the excitement and anticipation of Christmas.

2) For my second little bout of inspiration, and since it is Christmas after all, I'm going with a quote from the Bible. It's my favorite and my confirmation verse: John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one cometh unto the Father, but by me." This verse sums up the importance of Christ's birth; without Him and His sacrifice for us, we would not be able to enter the kingdom of God. Everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, that's part of the wonderful freedoms we take for granted in this country, but for me and hopefully all fellow Christians, the true meaning of gift-giving and the spirit of Christmas is found in Christ. Merry Christmas, y'all, and safe travels!

Freehand Friday!

Well, ya know, since it's the Apocalypse and all today, I figured I'd try to lighten the cataclysmic mood by posting a sketch I did earlier:

I call it, "The Rose." Wonder why, huh? I drew this relatively small 4"x6" sketch on a pad of white drawing paper using a mechanical pencil. However, one of my co-workers at my full-time job bought me a sketching and drawing kit that I can keep at work and actually produce some nice pieces on my lunch hour. I really like doing little sketches like this while I'm at work; they're quick, so I can fit them in during my breaks, and it's a nice break from staring at a computer screen (even when I adjust the brightness on my computer, my eyes still burn after a solid hour of wide-eyed glaring at the luminous glow of the screens...anyone else have that problem?)

Since it's Friday--and the apparent Apocalypse--I'm keeping this post fairly short...you know, in case the Mayans were right and some catastrophic event happens and I have to duck and run...you just never know. Wait...what's that sou--

Wacky Wednesday

It's surely been a wacky Wednesday for me. Most everything's cracked me up for some reason, and what hasn't cracked me up has terrified me. Sounds wacky, huh? Let me explain...

So the day started off with me running late; rushing to make it to work on time (I need an alarm clock with an extendable hammer to make me up)! And for no apparent reason, as I sped frantically down the interstate, I happened to look over at the driver next to me and this guy is belting--I mean BELTING--out an unidentifiable song. He had his head back, eyes half-closed, fist in the air, and with a mighty passion he was screaming the lyrics to a song I couldn't even begin to guess at. While I can't condone this frantic, wild display of one's vocal ability while driving, I couldn't help but laugh. Then I looked up at the vehicles in front of me and saw nothing but brake lights..."Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!" I screamed, like a small girl trapped in a closet of clowns. Thankfully, I was able to slow down in a safe and orderly manner, but nonetheless, I had to retrieve my heart from the floor boards of my car, where it had fell in an attempt to save itself.

Throughout the day at work, I had to recover from several bouts of laughter that led to numerous mini asthma attacks. And just as I thought I'd make it out of work without yelping like a terrified elephant noticing a mouse in its path, a giant--no, that doesn't pack the level of terror I need to convey--a GARGANTUAN spider dropped from the heavens onto my nose as I meandered down the hallway. You think cats can jump when they get spooked? Dear Barbara! I clung to the ceiling like Spider-Man for a full fifteen minutes while I, yet again, watched my poor little heart escape and plummet to its demise on the linoleum floor below. Thinking surely that would be all anyone could possibly handle in one day, my heart's 563 bpm slowed to a normal 60 bpm and I cautiously pulled my claw-like fingernails out of the ceiling tiles and ventured home to do some much needed present wrapping.

Arriving home, I had almost forgotten the bipolar mix of events of the day as I was greeted by my roommate's two energetic pups. Knowing that I'm running out of time to get all these mah'velous gifts wrapped, I feverishly slung tissue paper, wrapping paper, scissors, gift bags, tape, and recently purchased merchandise into the air repeatedly until each piece landed beautifully in place as perfectly displayed presents (...too much? Yeah, maybe I embellished that a bit...maybe). Deciding to take a break to cure my latest episode of carb-craving, I went into the living room and was immediately distracted by the playful antics of the pups. I was sitting on the couch texting and apparently not paying enough attention to the pups because all of a sudden I realized I was not alone on the couch. I slowly looked up as I felt something on my right shoulder and that's when I saw the littlest pup out of the corner of my eye. I don't know why, but I gasped loudly which made li'l pup screech in terror and fly--yes, literally, fly--about four feet straight up and backwards, then she turned in mid-air and took off across the invisible ramp down the hall. After I realized what happened and shared a painful look of embarrassment with li'l pup, I was stricken by another laughing fit. Three mildly serous asthma attacks later, I still can't help but laugh.

As you can see, there's nothing "simple" in my life, I operate daily by a measure of extremes...livin' on the edge, you know? But that got me thinking about how wacky my brain's wired. Then I remembered a picture I had taken earlier today of my desk and using that picture as a metaphor for life--my life, anyway--all I could think to describe it, is "wacky."

Oh look, it's Tuesday!

I mean "TWOsday!" Time for me to share with you two things that are influencing me at the moment:

1)First thing's first...music. Music always inspires me. Depending on the genre, music can make you feel every range of emotion; it can make you smile, make you dance, make you cry, make you laugh, make you tense, make you want to do something...music activates your senses. Personally, I can't even begin to pick a favorite genre; I'll listen to pretty much any and everything. There are, of course, songs that I am more partial to than others, maybe because of how I feel at a particular moment, but right now I feel like dancing...kidding...have you seen me dance? I can't dance...I can fall, I can fall ungracefully with arms flailing, kicking and screaming...that's my "dancing." So instead of dancing, I feel like something new...something to amuse me...something like a muse...Oh hey! Muse has a new song out!

I love that song...I love that band! The song "Madness" details the trials and tribulations of a relationship between two people; however, it pretty much sums up the love-hate relationship I have with my art. When you put your all into something, it seems to tear away at you too. All of Muse's songs seem to be able to take exactly how I've felt at times and turn the emotion into lyrics and music. Now I'm really going to sound like an art student, but their music is so cerebral. I don't know if it's the marvelously organized compositions of their songs or Matthew Bellamy's amazing vocal range; maybe it's the synthesized sound. Who doesn't love a good synthesizer? Come on now, you know you do...why else would Christopher Wolstenholme be using a Misa Kitara in the song "Madness?" Because synthesizers are awesome! When I've got the inspiration to create something, most often I'll use Muse as my muse and be able to crank out several ideas for pieces.

2) My second inspiration for the moment is the quote, "A creative man is motivated by the desire to achieve, not by the desire to beat others," by Ayn Rand. If you're reading that name and saying to yourself, "Who in the world is Ayn Rand?" Slap yourself one good time...shame on you...now go to Amazon, a library, your local bookstore, etc. and get yourself a copy of the books: Anthem, We The Living, The Fountainhead, and Atlas Shrugged. Read them.

Ayn Rand is my favorite author; her work is amazing. While her reasoning is a little more ego-based and she even created her own philosophical belief system called "Objectivism," I still love her work. While I'm definitely an altruist and Ayn Rand rejects the notion of ethical altruism, her work speaks to me. The first book I read by Ayn Rand was Anthem and I couldn't put it down. I don't want to spoil the plot (and the twist) for you if you haven't read it, but wow...just like Rand's quote above, her main characters are driven by the desire to succeed, thinking and reasoning on a higher plane than the rest of the material-focused society. And it is very important to realize that there is actually a fine line between achieving and beating others. Achievement is the reward for hard work completed and finding one's own way of completing a task, not just finishing first. And yes, maybe in order to achieve, you have to be a little selfish. But if you're only concerned with beating everyone else, then you have a juvenile mindset and you won't achieve anything; you won't grow mentally or intellectually. You might not be the best painter or designer, but if you put aside emulous ways and just create and share from your heart, then YOU will be recognized for what YOU have completed. Now go out there, go be motivated to achieve!

Hey hey there!

First, I want to say thanks for checking out my blog! If you like my work feel free to comment on my posts and let me know...and don't forget to check out my online portfolio by clicking the "Portfolio" tab. I'll be updating my blog with new posts every Tuesday and Friday. The "TWOsdays" posts will feature two things that are motivating and inspiring me that week and on the "Freehand Fridays" posts I'll upload a new free-hand sketch each week.

Second, if you like my work and want to own a piece, check out my Etsy shop by clicking the "Shop" tab. And don't forget to share my blog and online portfolio!