.thoughts.

So,

It has been quite a few months since I blogged. I felt like I had to blog tonight because my head is about to explode. I have been happily married for a whole month now and I am loving it :) I've known my husband, Jay for about 11 years now and he is the best husband a woman could ask for. Marriage brings so much to ones life. I know that I am still quite a newlywed, but it has drastically changed my life already! We are learning to sacrifice for one another and learn each others' needs.. which can be fun at time and also challenging; however, it is always rewarding.


I'm writing tonight because like I said before, I have a ton on my mind. During the past month, so many things have happened. Just recently in my community, two young men have passed away. They were both under 25 and passionately following after the Lord. I didn't know either one of them very well, but their lives have still impacted me. Death in general can cause you to think more about your own life. Whether it's losing a loved one like a grandparent or a parent or seeing someone your age pass away, there is always something to be learned from the situation. Life is so fragile. It's hard when you are young because you feel like you have your whole life ahead of you. If you're in your early twenties you have college to look forward to, then hopefully a career, and then your own family. In general, that's the pattern atleast... and in my mind that's always been the expectation. But what if that's not God's plan for us all? Maybe His plan for us is to skip the college route and just serve others either in the US or overseas. Maybe His plan for us is to go to college, get a great degree and use our skills to help others. Maybe He calls us to a life of singleness, or maybe He calls us to get married and live our lives raising a family of followers for Him. Who knows? He never told us that we were promised all these things, He just promises that He'll be with us through whatever comes our way.

I guess this has been on my mind a lot because I just don't want to waste my life. Both of the young people who passed away had great impact in their community or wherever they went. I'm sure they didn't plan on leaving their families behind so soon, but I think God is trying to wake up our community. We need to realize that we're not promised tomorrow. Another story that struck me was the interview on TV this past Sunday where Jaycee Dugard was interviewed for the first time on television. She was the young girl that was kidnapped at age 11 and was held captive for 18 years by her kidnapper. The morning of her abduction, she recalls that her mother rushed out the door because she was late for work and forgot to give her a kiss goodbye. Jaycee remembers thinking that she would just kiss her mother later that day when she got from school, but was kidnapped on her way to the bus stop. During the interview, Jaycee's mother said that she had put work before her children that day and the idea that she had forgotten to give Jaycee a kiss that morning haunted her for the 18 years they were separated. It wasn't just the physical kiss that mattered so much, is was what it symbolized. Do you want the last words out of your mouth to a loved one be a harsh word? Do you want to end a relationship with a fight? Do you want to hold hate and grudges and bitterness towards someone who means a lot in your life? We need to realize that we are not immortal. Whether you have a relationship with Christ or not, do you want to live your life without purpose? Do you want to live a life of selfishness and self-focus? We should take something from these stories. There is a world out there full of hurting people who need love and healing. Don't think twice when a friend who is hurting cries out in need. Help and touch everyone that you can while you are here. Have free time? Go work at a shelter or help out at a youth center and mentor a teenager or something! There is so much to be done!

Okay, I think I'm done. This has just been weighing so heavily on me. I can't hold it in anymore and I figured since I have a blog, why not use it :)

It's been a long time comin'

Hi friends!

I'm stuck inside, sick on a rain day. What better to do than blog? Life has been super busy due to the fact that I am now engaged and getting married in a couple of months :) If you don't know me personally, I have known my fiance for over 9 years now and we've been together almost 3 years. He surprised me with a proposal back in November when I went to the airport to pick him up from a visit with his parents. He surprised me with all of my friends there... needless to say, it was perfect and I was shocked! Here's a picture of my lovely ring!

Anyhoo! I thought I would blog to help my creativity... I've been so busy with wedding planning, finishing up my classes (I graduate with my Bachelor's degree at the beginning of May!) and so many more things. I have a show coming up at the beginning of May and I need to start cranking out some new pieces. I've been working on an every day superheroes... I know that this has been a common theme in other work.. I've been putting my own spin on it. I've been working on pieces that talk about this new stage of life that I am going in to. All in a matter of a couple of months I will be graduating from college, getting a full-time job, getting married, learning how to be a wife and run a household, and so many other things! I've been trying to use this series to kind of work through all of my feelings about change. I'm not one that looks for change and I have a hard time dealing with it. So, I've been using images of women who are in these roles that I look up to in my work. 

I recently made a print of my mother and I that I will have to post soon (I have yet to document it). I am also working on some collagraph plates to go within this series. I want to use some clothing and cloth in my prints and found a new artist that I LOVE. Her name is Jean Shin and she is from South Korea. She uses clothing in a lot of her work in installations and prints. She uses her own clothing as a way to riff off of the usual self portrait. Here are some of her works:

With this series called Pressed, Jean literally took her own clothing, adhered it to plates, inked the plates and ran them through a press. This series makes up a kind of self-portrait and refers to pressing, laundering, and dry cleaning processes.

In the work, Jean made a wall mural using clothing from the museum staff at the MoMA. She used the flat panels of the clothing and also the seams to make this installation. This wall has clothing from people ranging from the Museum director of the museum all the way down to the janitor. To me this piece has a very unifying quality to it.

This work is called Penumbra and is made of broken umbrellas sewn together and suspended between trees. I won't get too far into this work, I just love the idea of sewing and handmade things. I also love how this artist re-purposes these items. 

Each of the pieces of fabric she uses has a sort of history and previous purpose and she takes these objects, breaks them apart and sort of re-purposes them. I believe that re-purposing to bring about new ideas is an artists' main job. Of course, artists have many jobs and goals, but I do believe this is very important. 

If you have time, take a look at her stuff for yourself: http://www.jeanshin.com/

Well, hopefully I will have some images for you soon of my new works. 

Happy Tuesday!