When I started this project, I truly thought I’d be able to find the time to do something creative each day, no matter how small that thing was. This task has proven more difficult than I imagined. I either need to recommit myself and try harder or accept the fact that it may only be a weekly thing. With that said, I am leaning toward the former.
This week’s theme is masquerade. Go, create. Come back here and share with a link.
My creative endeavor for the day was to play around with my good friend Susan’s photograph of her three lovable dogs. The composition and lighting of her photograph really made me want to make it look more like an oil painting. It has great triangular composition and reminds me of a de Chirico painting. So, here’s my best try using the tools at hand i.e. Photoshop.
Today’s theme is “home” or “messages from home” or “home is where…” As always, write, draw, paint, etc. and if you feel like sharing a link to your work, post it below in the comments section.
Last week’s theme was “real life.” Here is a l ink to my friend’s contribution, as well as my own.
Any mama knows that as much as we want to encourage each one of our babes to fly the nest and pursue their passions as they become adults, we also mourn the loss of the day to day interaction experienced when living together. Today I was granted a rare chance to savor the last few moments of my eldest baby’s transition between child and adult. He decided to come back home to live temporarily until he firms up his plans to possibly move to California. God please grant me the wisdom to use these next few hours, days, months wisely and not to waste them.
What you see is what you get. I think this image speaks for itself. Life is not fair. You can work out 4-5 times per week for months on end, you can run for miles, you can watch what you eat (and f it up, too) but you can’t change everything. What do people who do not know me see when they look at me? A fat girl. What do I see when I look in the mirror? 8 times out of 10, a fat girl. 2 times out of 10 I might see all of the hard work I’ve put into reshaping this worn out body, this worn out womb. I might see this holder of five children as something to accept. I doubt I will ever see it as something beautiful. It’s not. But, maybe one day when it’s 6 sizes smaller, I’ll be more at peace with myself and the pendulum will shift.
This is my “Soulful Saturday” theme contribution for the week.
This week’s theme is “real life”. Write about it. Draw, paint, photograph… do something and post a link here, if you like.
I haven’t finished my piece for last week’s theme of fire, but will do so at some point.
A friend of mine’s daughter did this lovely drawing on her computer. She used a similar drawing as her inspiration. I am awed by how much detail in the fur she could attain at her young age and using only a mouse. Looking at the drawing has made me really think about what is and what isn’t art. When I was in art school, the debate was always about whether the crafts: photography, ceramics, fibers, etc… were art or only craft. Now, I sit and look at a drawing made using a computer and wonder how creating art on the computer using a mouse fits into this picture. I wonder what the medium for artist’s will be in a hundred years.
Here is a link to my friend’s daughter’s drawing: http://meorow.deviantart.com/art/Blue-Light-351728399
The body, the flesh part of this journey of mine, has been making me crazy lately. Three times a week I weigh myself and take a picture of the scale to send to my trainer. For the past 3 months, I’ve been gaining and losing the same eight pounds. Overall, I’ve lost about 55 pounds with most of them coming off when starting a food plan with my trainer on June 22, 2012. Most weeks I do zumba, run, lift weights or do boot camp at least 4-5 times per week and sometimes more than once per day. I’m becoming weary. I’ve been really angry about food for the past month, at least. I’ve been struggling to limit my carb and sugar intake. Seeing that number on the scale at the beginning of the day can dictate the rest of my day. Lower number, happier me which leads to the ability to make better choices. Higher number, pissy me which leads to less motivation and will power. I am at this odd halfway mark stuck in my own personal temporal loop. Why can’t my body comply to shedding a few more pounds without having to limit my food as much? Why do I have to workout so much just to maintain what I have already lost? All that to say, I saw this image and quote from Muhammed Ali this week on Facebook resonated with my soul. I feel that way. I have something in common with Muhammed Ali.
Wednesday… day of gratitude for the sharing of knowledge from strangers. Yet again, the men on the nepacrossroads.com coal website answered my questions about my coal stoker.
Creatively speaking, I have ideas brewing but nothing coming to fruition. I need to go out and buy oil pastels.
Today is my birthday. Much of my journey of the past year has been focused on my physical body and trying fervently to rid myself of the extra baggage it has acquired over the past twenty three years. This year I am continuing to focus on the physical but added this blog in as a way to return to focusing on my soul and creativity… perhaps to shed the baggage of accumulated negative waste in my head. I shot this photo during my birthday run on my favorite trail. As a January baby, I tend toward the thread of melancholy that weaves it way in and out of the winter months. I love how silent snow reflects the moonlight, cold yet inviting.
Memories to savor from my birthday:
– running through the brisk air at a faster than usual pace.
– realizing that despite our immaturity as young parents and our weaknesses in general, we have raised a well-balanced, loving adult son. I treasure his visit for my celebration, the dancing to Just Dance 4, and the conversation about emotions we had.
– time around the diningroom table with 4 out of my 5 kids, my hubby, my Mom, and one of my sisters… of special note was the very odd sounding rendition of “Happy Birthday” sung in varying accents.
– a delicious flourless chocolate cake with fresh raspberries, blueberries, bananas and peanut granola lovingly prepared by my husband.
And, another pic from my run…
sentient marrow 