The Huntington Library

Spent a beautiful afternoon at the Huntington today. Inspirational. Memories. Bittersweet. Calm. Reflective.

Five years ago today my mom died.

This time of year is a mix of thoughts and emotions. There's the cheer and nostalgia and beauty of Christmas...and there's the painful end of my mom's battle with cancer. She didn't see either of my two older brothers get married. She didn't see my son come into being and grow. She didn't get to see my career as an artist moving forward from student. There's so much I miss her being a part of.

The first few years after she was gone had their own, special pain. Walking around the busy shops made me feel the emptiness she left. Of course strangers are oblivious, but somehow that was just as hard on me as the people who were aware of my loss. I was in my own little orphan bubble, floating around a sea of family.

Its gotten easier. Time is soothing. I still get off kilter this time of year though. Its hard to do things. I'm tired. I want to do more than I can. I'm forgetful. Then I quiet down and remember her. Its good.

Ravens

I saw these two hanging out on a walk the other day. Snapped a picture.

Earrings

I made these earrings. Tiny slices of branches and tiny leaf drawings burned in. Those are about the size of a dime. The other ones (with the Celtic knot) are even smaller. I like small things. Maybe its part of being an introvert?

A Handcrafted Christmas

Some photos from the most recent mini show/sale: "A Handcrafted Christmas." A great time was had by all, Sue and I did some fiddling as well.

Just finished a batch of drawings for a wedding invite I'm commissioned for. Ink drawings depicting scenes of San Fransisco. So fun! Did the Palace of Fine Arts, a skyline, and a harbor view. Next is the Golden Gate Bridge...

Just finished a new acrylic today...Japanese Maple. Sooo pretty! It happens to be very autumnal as well. Will post a picture soonish.

Arts in the AV

Happy to announce our second issue of "Saturation" - the hot new Arts publication for the Antelope Valley. Did I mention I'm one of the editors? Yup, I'm officially the Fine Arts Editor. So please, send me anything you'd like to submit! We're looking for more...images of your paintings, photographs, sculpture, reviews, etc. as well as poetry, short stories, music reviews or articles, pretty much anything creative.

http://antelopevalleyarts.wordpress.com/jumping-off-points/

We're trying to publish quarterly, but if there's tremendous contributions and subscriptions, we'll gladly switch to a more frequent output.

Also of note, awesome artist & teacher Frank Dixon http://www.frankrobertdixon.com/ is putting on a couple workshops in Quartz Hill. I'm signed up for his Portraits class on the 2nd of July (I think it's already full). He also has a kid's workshop the last week of June. Really worth it!