Thursday, January 26, 2012

Happy New Year!

It's been a while, and though I believe I have said this before, I am definitely going to start blogging more regularly and this time I mean it!

But how can I say that if I've said it before and failed, HORRIBLY FAILED?  Well things are changing in my life and for the better.  You may now be saying "and what are these changes?"  Or "change, pray tell what these changes be?" Or you've left to get some lunch, either way I'm going to tell you.

Over the past 3 years I have worked two jobs, one is a women's dance fitness studio which I love.  The atmosphere is creative and positive, I am surrounded by amazing talented women, I get to listen to music I enjoy, I belly dance, I can grow in so many ways and the list goes on.

The second is a evil and dark place, it is a children's consignment store.  Most of the children are not evil, the evil comes from the owner of this store.  I could go on and on about how crazy this woman is and how she has tortured me but I will spare you.  Perhaps I will make a separate post just to describe the evil craziness of this woman.

So my big change is in less than I month I will be saying SEE YA! to the crazy children's store and calling job #1 the only 1!!!!!

With having only one job to worry about and being in such a creative environment I will have more time to focus on other joys in my life, such as my art which comes in many forms, writing, dancing, drawing, painting... I love it all and soon I can do it all!!!

So I just had to share my good news because I am jumping like a jumping bean with excitement!  2012 is a year for change and I hope you all have some amazing changes coming your way soon!  Thank you to those who have stuck around and to those who have joined my blog while I was away.  Welcome and I hope you enjoy my art and my ramblings!

New horizons ahead! Yaaaaaaay!!

Friday, September 9, 2011

Show myself the love: Curls

I've decided to start a new series of blogs which are titled, "Show myself the love".  So many of us put in so much energy caring for others, weather it be at work, or people closer to us such as family or friends.  We strive to reach higher, hoping to be accepted and judging ourselves, usually harshly, along the way.  "I should have done this differently", "I wish I had a flat stomach like hers", "why didn't he notice my new dress?" "I did that speech horribly" and the list goes on.

We're our worst enemy and most of us don't realize how much we can really bring ourselves down.  I say enough!  These blogs will be dedicated to bring ourselves up!  Don't look to the outside world to boost you up, look inside yourself and remind yourself how amazing you truly are.  Though don't get me wrong, revel in those random compliments others give you, try to see what they see and know that it's true.

In this series I will post a picture of something I love about myself and I encourage you to think of something you love about yourself as well even if it's the same thing and please, leave it as a comment.
I love my curls, I take a shower, put a bit of gel on my hair and BAM! I've got body, I've got bounce!  I don't have to spend hours with a curling iron or damage my hair with perming chemicals.  I can leave it down or throw it up with a few delicate curls left around my face.  And if I happen to want to use a curling iron to get more styled curls I don't have to worry about them falling out by the end of the day.  Yes, I love my curly hair!  What do you love about yourself?

Just for a little extra fun, and because I love random fact, here's some info on hair:
1. Facial hair grows faster than any other hair on the body.  In fact, if the average man never shaved his beard it would grow to over 30 feet during his lifetime, longer than a killer whale.

2. Every day the average person loses 50-100 strands of hair. Unless you’re already bald, chances are good that you’re shedding pretty heavily on a daily basis. Your hair loss will vary in accordance with the season (growing faster in summer than in winter and fast by day than night), pregnancy, illness, diet and age.

3. Women’s hair is about half the diameter of men’s hair. While it might sound strange, it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that men’s hair should be coarser than that of women. Hair diameter also varies on average between races, making hair plugs on some men look especially obvious.

4. One human hair can support 3.5 ounces. That’s about the weight of two full size candy bars, and with hundreds of thousands of hairs on the human head, makes the tale of Rapunzel much more plausible.

5. There are as many hairs per square inch on your body as a chimpanzee. Humans are not quite the naked apes that we’re made out to be. We have lots of hair, but on most of us it’s not obvious as a majority of the hairs are too fine or light to be seen.

6. The lifespan of a human hair is 3 to 7 years on average. While you lose a few hairs each day, your hairs actually have a pretty long life providing they aren’t subject to any trauma. Your hairs will likely get to see several different haircuts, styles, and even possibly decades before they fall out on their own.

7. You must lose over 50% of your scalp hairs before it is apparent to anyone. You lose hundreds of hairs a day but you’ll have to lose a lot more before you or anyone else will notice. Half of the hairs on your pretty little head will have to disappear before your impending baldness will become obvious to all those around you.

8. Pulling out 1 grey hair does NOT cause 7 to grow back. What it will do however is cause damage to the root preventing any other hairs to grow back.

Now it's your turn, tell me what you love about yourself. :)


Most info gotten from 10 Cool facts to know about Hair/Nails

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Deb Original Gouache Painting

First off, my apologies for not posting in far too long!  Life has been a bit insane and still not quite back to normal.  My roommate is moving out so I've been searching, searching and searching some more for a new one.  Which surprisingly has inspired me to a new type of blog post and way of expressing my art... But that is a future post hopefully soon to come!  Until then here is my newest gouache painting from my Dancer Series!
This image was a lot of fun to do, I enjoyed the simplicity of it but also that it has those little details that keep it from seeming to plain.  Purple is also one of my favorite color.  This is one of my favorite women, she inspires me in so many ways.  She is a dancer as well as an artist, so got just a few things in common.  She has reached her goals and then some, she is an amazing dancer and instructor as well as a talented artist.  I only hope to do as well as she is some day.
This is the original lovely Deb!  Deb being the amazing woman that she is was chosen to be a Lululemon ambassador.  Every Lululemon ambassador has a special photo shoot coordinated by the company so their image can be displayed at the Lulu store and online, this is one of those photos.  Deb was selected for her wonderful talent for dance, instructing as well as her outgoing, positive and welcomingly sweet personality.  Deb is the kind of person you can't help but smile around.

Check out Deb at Elven Grove: http://www.etsy.com/listing/76782055/deb-original-dance-gouache-painting
Want to know more about Deb?  Check out her fan page here:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deb-Heyrana-Lets-Dance/117554931614810?ref=ts

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Heather Original Gouache Painting

I'm so excited!  Why?  Because I've finally started my new series that has been bouncing around in my brain for who knows how long now.  It's kind of a spin off from my belly dance series in that I'm using a similar style and gouache paint.  What's different is I'm branching out to different styles of dance and making the images either much more simple or much more complicated.  First up is Heather!
Inspiration comes in many different forms, mine is in those I know personally and find strength, beauty and good energy.  In the image above is just one of those special ladies, Heather.  I met Heather through the dance studio I work at, she is one amazing dancer and instructor.  Heather often wears flowers in her hair which I feel fits her personality perfectly.  Outside of class she is a calm and serene presence, like a flower bud, it's closed but still just as lovely in it's simplicity.  In class Heather explodes with energy, she looks like she's having the time of her life you can't help but smile and laugh with her, in this moment she is in bloom showing off all her color and vibrancy.  This is why I chose such a bright color, dancing she pops like the red of a rose.
Above is the image I used to create my gouache painting.  I love how graceful, energetic and powerful this image is.  Heather is one strong mamacita!  If you'd like to know more about Heather check out her website here: http://createyourownbeautiful.com/

Heather Original Gouache Painting at Elven Grove: http://www.etsy.com/listing/76254521/heather-orignial-dance-gouache-painting

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Water Goddess Watercolor Print

My brain is tired and thinking... is... difficult.  Yet I decide to write a blog now, how odd I am.  Oh well, when the mood comes to write it cannot be stopped even if the brain doesn't want to cooperate.  Next up in the batters box:
Like my previous post I created this image from a photo of one of my best friends.  I love this image because I put love into it when I made it, which was a Christmas gift to the lovely woman portrayed in this image.  She completes the trilogy of my tattoo sisters and her name is Amanda.  I decided to make her a water Goddess because Amanda adores water, it is her element and the flowers surrounding her are her favorites.  Check out Water Goddess in Elven Grove: http://www.etsy.com/listing/74726389/water-goddess-watercolor-print
This is the image I used to create Water Goddess, isn't she lovely?  I have known Amanda for a very long time, I'm not even sure exactly how long at this point but we began as school yard friends and our friendship soon grew to a life long one.  Though she lives so far from me now that I need a plane to see her, partly because I don't have a car, we still keep our friendship strong.  Amanda is one of the most caring and giving people I know and loves immensely.  She's also intelligently hilarious in a goofy sort of way which is why I love her so.  At the moment she is going to school to become a teacher which is perfect for her, with Amanda's giving and caring personality kids can't help but adore her.

In my previous post I mentioned some new ideas which are now becoming more solid in my, at the moment, mushy brain.  I'm getting excited to start some new projects and to share them on here...  But I'm getting ahead of myself, obviously I'm having difficultly focusing on one thing, this post took way to long to write but I got the writing bug out and I am happy.

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Goddess Watercolor Print

I got through all of my Belly Dance paintings, what?!  This means I'll need to get working and create some more, though at the moment I have some other ideas growing in my mind... So many ideas so little time!  So now for a change of pass, some watercolor prints.
Above is an image that means quite a bit to me.  I created this image from of photo, which you can see below, of one of my long time friends and tattoo sister Briana.  I created this watercolor for her as a Christmas present, the wording below is in Gaelic and translates to "Froever Friends".  I chose Gaelic because we, including our third tattoo sister (in a future post to come), all have a bit-o-Irish running through our veins and share a love for everything Irish.  I always enjoy creating paintings of those that I care about, makes the process meaningful and fun and always hoping they'll enjoy it as much as I do.  Goddess Watercolor Print at Elven Grove: http://www.etsy.com/listing/65259871/goddess-watercolor-print
Above is the image I used as reference of my lovely friend Briana.  I have known Briana for, goodness, I want to say 15 years now... Could be a little more a little less.  No matter where we are in our lives I will always love her and call her friend.  Briana is also a very talented artist, I have seen her photography talents grow over time and she only keeps improving.  She's talented, driven and one awesome person, recipe for success!  If you'd like to check out some of Briana's photography take a look at her etsy shop The Dizzy Pixie: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheDizzyPixie

Monday, May 23, 2011

A favorite etsy shop: Imagine Studio

Imagine Studio's creates art though photomontage, photo fusion and painted photographs.  I love this shop, the colors are vibrant and each piece brings out a different emotion.  The creator of this shop definitely doesn't hold back on letting the creativity flow.
The image above is titled "Fall's Awakening".  The reds, oranges and yellows not only remind me of the vibrant colors of the leaves in fall but also of the passions of romance.  At least that's where my imagination goes with this piece.  I wonder who she is looking at, perhaps she is on stage and her eyes fall on a tall man towards the back that she feels she knows from a distant past.
The image above titled "Metomorphous" gives a completely different emotion.  In this image I see escape, freedom.  It is a dark image so I get the feeling that she is in the moment of transition.  She was in a dark place, someplace she felt trapped but now she is moving on.  Escaping from this dark place to something better.  She explodes into flight to a place of light.  As you can see my imagination goes wild with the images of this shop.


If you'd like to see more from Imagine Studio's check it out here: www.imaginestudio.etsy.com