Making Animal

I needed a break from the contest work and wanted to do something fun. So, in honor of the new Muppet movie, I present to you, Animal.

"Animal"  18" x 24" Acrylic painting

Things That Go Bump in the Night (And Day)

I am a fraidy cat. When I lived with my mom, if she went away on a trip with the dog, I would either sleep on my brother's couch or I would pull my car into the driveway, drag out my pillow and sleeping bag and sleep in the backseat rather than spend the night alone in my house. I was more afraid of ghosts and Michael Myers than actual people. Robbers and rapists are nothing compared to the supernatural, in my mind!

Car, bedroom, lunchroom..Dante has done it all

Yesterday afternoon, I came home to do my crunches before heading to run at the gym. I was in the middle of a set when I heard a shuffling/falling noise upstairs. I paused The Final Days of WWII on History Channel and froze. No more sound. Ok, I thought, it was probably just my pants falling off the bathroom counter or some clothes falling in the closet. I wasn't happy, but dammit, I had crunches to do! So, I grabbed my cell and plopped it next to me on the floor and continued crunching.

Crunching on a noise-less day

When I got back from the gym, I went upstairs sure I would find my pants on the floor. But they were still on the counter where I'd flung them! I inspected the rest of the upstairs and found nothing amiss. Hmmm...

Last night, my newly MBA-ed husband decided to celebrate with a friend at trivia night at the Fox & Hound, and as I was already pj-ed and squirreled under a blanket watching E! News with a Skinny Cow (Yum!), I stayed put. An hour later, I heard the noise again! Only this time it was a bit louder and longer.

My wonderful Sam's Club blanket in quieter times

As soon as I heard it, I immediately kicked off  my slippers, grabbed my key and ran out the door. Oh the benefits of having your sister in-law living next door! I charged into her place, clutching my house slippers, and planted myself on her couch under her Sam's blanket (you really ought to get one, they're amazing).

I have no idea what's making the noise. We checked out the upstairs again when he came home and again found nothing. I wish I knew what it was...or maybe I don't want to know. Ok, let me rephrase, I wish it would stop!

In other news, I ran 6 miles on Monday (PT Testing interrupted my run, otherwise I would have done all 9) and much to my delight, I had an awesome 9 mile run yesterday! I don't think I lost any speed in these past 2 weeks either, because I passed a few runners I know run my pace. Yay! The hip isn't perfect, but nothing like it was on Halloween, and the pain fades away as I run.

I don't care, I LIKE IT!

So, I spent my entire weekend debating with my husband about whether or not one could tell what my latest painting is supposed to be. Ok, really, he just casually commented once that you wouldn't be able to tell what it was and then I spent the whole weekend randomly shouting out "I don't care what you say, I LIKE IT!"

I've been playing with photoshop and found some really fun ways to manipulate my photos. It was really exciting because it takes me away from my silhouette rut and takes me back to my one of my favorite techniques, stippling. I took a picture of a waterfall on Maui that I snapped on our infamous drive to Hana on our honeymoon (watch out for falling trees!).

Here's the original photo

Here's the photo after I've doctored it



Cool, right?

And here's my painting timelapse

The Waterfall

This is very textured. I used about 2 whole bottles of paint to get the 3D stippled effect I wanted, so it really jumps out at you. I know the picture is a bit modern artsy and not very linear and straightfoward as to what it is, but I love it! I'm using it as my 2nd entry for the Works on Paper contest.

So help end the debate, would you know what it was without the title? But even still, I don't care, I LIKE IT!

Some of Us Worked Today

Nothing like dragging yourself to work at the crack of dawn while your husband's snores come drifting down the stairs.  Brings back not so fond memories of driving thru the frozen tundra of East Cleveland to man the Toys section of Target on Black Friday while all my friends and family were snuggled tight in their beds. Man, going to work sucks when you know everyone else is off! But thank you Veterans for all you do!

Unloading trucks at 3am during my Internship with Target

This week I've worked on entries for 2 upcoming contests/auctions. One is the 'Postcards From The Edge' auction for VisualAIDS, in NYC this January. Since those crazy giraffes were so popular, I made a slightly different version. I know it probably seems like I'm a one trick pony right now, but I'm really trying to get noticed, and since so many people liked the giraffe here, I'm sure those chic New Yorkers might like it too.

The coolest part about the auction is that if someone buys your postcard, they will send you the information of the person who did! The girl who told me about it said her friend's husband's piece was bought by the editor of Better Homes & Gardens last year! I've already determined that Leonardo DiCaprio will buy mine and I will become the artist to the stars.



'The Elephant' for Postcards From the Edge


I'm also entering a Works on Paper contest at the Rosewood Gallery. The contest is in February and I can submit 3 entries. So far, I'm submitting 'The Cheetah' and have 2 more ideas to come up with. This weekend I'll start working on painting a waterfall from Maui that I saw on my Honeymoon.

In running news, my hips still bugging me, though much better than last week. I'm so frustrated! I know it's only been 1 1/2 weeks since my last run, but I'm going crazy! It seemed  like everyone and their brother was out running this week, taking advantage of the last warm days. I wanted to kick them. But, as Frank keeps telling me 'Real runners have real injuries.' I'm trying to think positive and just be grateful that I can still use the bike without pain. I'm going to try running again on Monday and I seriously can't wait. The guy at the gym said 'Yeah, sometimes those things take awhile to heal.' To which I stared at him, unblinking, and said 'I don't have awhile.'

Yes. I take pics of my bike screen. I need photographic proof that I've done the exact equivalent of my 9 mile run and I don't trust myself to remember it right! The bike only lets you enter 60 min at a time, so before I reset it and start again, I take a pic so I can't question myself later and throw in an extra 10 min. just to be sure.  Damn that OCD!

The House That Tink Built

Or painted :-) . IT IS FINISHED!!!!! I have never spent so much time and care on a painting ever! I really hope that my friend's father really likes it. I can't wait to hear his reaction when he gets it this Christmas. Here it is, the documentation of my cabin painting...and my new love of trees:

The actual photograph

Still hating trees at this point

Little by little



Just needs some landscaping!



FINALLY!!!!!!!

The Cheetah

I was getting a little twitchy working on the cabin, so I took a break this weekend and started working on my first entry for an art contest I'm entering in January. I think I need to take a break from the silhouettes after this (unless someone wants me to make them one :-) ). I want to do something different, something more challenging for me.

The Cheetah

Sold!

I am so beyond excited! I sold my first painting! Visions of gallery signings and art paparrazi (are there such things? there should be!) have been dancing in my head. I sent the giraffes on their merry way to North Carolina yesterday and now, dun dun dun....this means a third giraffe painting is in my future. I had no idea giraffes were so popular!

Maybe I'll paint him next

I'm still toiling away on the landscape cabin picture for the girl at work. I love trees now! I've swapped my hatred for trees to hatred for cabins. Trees are just fabulous now that I'm really good at them! I'll show you guys my work on the painting when its completely done. Hopefully, by this weekend, but that will depend on my sanity.

I had an awesome weekend. I ran 9 miles with Frank at the rec. It might have been 10 since I had to count on my fingers. The rec no longer lets you borrow lap counters, but they are available for $10 at the front desk (a string of obscenties followed learning this news). We followed up our rat circles with a nice long dip in the hot tub. Ahhhhhhh...



Saturday night, Tony Stark and his doll went to a Halloween party (party shmarty, I just wanted to do the makeup!) And Sunday, after some wedding dress hi-jinx (I couldn't resist) we made the long trek back to Dayton, stopping in Akron to drop off my 2 paintings for the auction.

And they say you'll never wear it again

The base is practicing security drills all this week, which makes going to the gym tricky. Will the gate be open or won't it? My Type A schedule does not appreciate this disruption. It took me the entire 30 min drive home from work on Monday to reset my brain from bike mode to 9 mile outdoor run mode. I ran my 9 on Monday, 7:46/mi avg pace. I think I might be coming to terms with my new regular pace of 7:35 - 7:50/mi average. Gone are the 7:20/mi runs of my single days. And right now, I think I'm ok with that. I just want to  be able to run (and now my actual hip hurts!). And sub 8s aren't too shabby.

Anyone else having a disgustingly injury-filled year?