School

Well as part of the New Year, I have chosen to return to college and give it another try. I'm excited but scared to be taking a drawing class. I've never been good at drawing really. I have always been good about coloring and the use of color but not actually drawing figures, still life and such. I think of myself as more an abstract artist when it comes to drawing and painting. Not only have I registered for a drawing class but I also am taking a Black & White 35mm photography class. I hope to do my best and both and have passing grades at the end of the semester. It's rather important to me to do well in school. Especially the Art classes seeing how I am looking to obtain an Associates Degree in Fine Arts which I will then use to transfer to a four year college and seek an ASL Interpreting degree combined with a teaching degree and license.

Yes, I am aware the amount of school work that is waiting for me and look forward to tackling that pile of paper one sheet at a time. I figure since I have no funds or time to travel and need a better education to start a career, not to mention no real social life per se, school is the best thing for me at this point in my life. I look forward to the challenge.

A New Year for New Art

I was pleasantly surprised when I stopped by the local liquor store last night. The manager was in and said he'd be delighted to allow me to collect the empty wine bottles from their wine tastings for me to use in my collages. I also recently found a local tobacco shop willing to give me their empty cigar boxes. I look forward to a new year and many items to play and create with. Happiest of New Years to all.

Here is the completed piece. Since the gift was a Christmas present for my mom, I can't help but feel she was a bit biased in her opinion on how it turned out.

Here is the wine bottle I found. The wine is actually decent and can be purchased at your local Trader Joe's.

Inspired

I was looking online for some images to use one day and I came across this site http://karenswhimsy.com/ and became inspired. She has on her site these Altered Art Books she has created. My favorite is her Dia de Los Muertos piece. I found myself more and more interested in wanting to try my hand at an Alter Art Book piece. It's been two months since I stumbled across her site and now have finally gathered the materials and limited knowledge I need to create one.

I was thinking of making a piece for my mom for Christmas however my mind just kept going blank. Here it is at 4am on Christmas Eve and I can't for the life of me bring pieces of paper to life. As I was heading to grab a glass of water I noticed sitting on my mom's counter an empty frosted wine bottle from the wine she was drinking earlier. I rinsed out the bottle and got to work.

There was a beautiful golden image of a lady on the original wine label. I decided to keep her face in my piece but create around it. After several strips of paper, plenty of sticky fingers from the PPA adhesive and ribbons for accent I was amazed at what I had transformed the soon to be recycled bottle in to.

I have gathered a couple of empty wine bottles from the recent Holiday with my mom and look forward to creating more altered wine bottle pieces.

A New Start...........

Well I have no idea what I am doing here. The more I think about creating this blog the more I confirm in my head I've done lost my mind. Even knowing that I am drawn at the idea of just being able to place random thoughts down and that there actually might be a single person or more who may find this of interest. With that said here I go.....

My name is kept private however you may call me Kali. I am a 33 year old single mom who is looking to start fresh in life in many ways. I recently lost my job of 6 years and was widowed 3 years ago. I have now found myself at a bit of a crossroads in my life. Without a job I could look at finally going back to school and actually get my four year degree. On the other hand there is the practical side of life and I should be looking for a job as we speak and not writing a blog. After looking back on my life, I saw I had stepped off my original path and got side tracked and involved in a lifestyle that rubs against the grain of who I was and of who I am now rediscovering. I know, I know, I'm only 33 and I imagine those that may read this will think I'm a bit young/naive to think of life this way. I will say that I'm aware I have many years of life ahead of me to live and a lifetime yet to look back at reflect on the past since my past is still young. At the same time though I feel as though I have enough self-awareness to know that I'd rather start fresh now than in another 10-15 years.