Thursday, September 29, 2011

Rediscovering Passion

That's right.... I've rediscovered my passion for painting. Although I've done mostly abstract pieces, I've just finished a portrait and it felt amazing. And I used watercolors... which I haven't used since high school. Yea... just a little long. But paying close attention to the details and getting back into using them was a great feeling. It's a day early, but he doesn't read this often enough for me to worry. :P So... here's Travis' 15 month anniversary gift....

This is my favorite picture of him. It's from when we went to Florida for Spring Break last year. 

And my version.
The eyes ended up a little bit off to me... but not too bad. :D I hope he likes it. ^_^

I guess I don't hate watercolors as much as I thought... Maybe it was just using them for landscapes that I didn't like... Or just one specific landscape in high school that I did that ended up looking like green mush. :P Thinking I'll have to use them a little more often. Especially if I'm (hopefully) going to go back to school for painting. 

So... other updates... There's another painting that I've finished recently. 

"Summer Dance"
Now that I've looked at it for a while... It looks like someone dancing in water... You know, I typically wait until I've finished a painting before naming it, but this time I had the idea and name all planned out before I even had the materials to do these paintings!

I feel so great right now! I have a feeling that all these blank canvases aren't going to be blank for much longer!



Stay Tuned!


Tuesday, September 13, 2011

New Things

Alrighty.... it's been a long time. Too long. I'm trying to get better at this posting thing... and since I have a new blog for MelJean Designs I really need to get better at it. So... I'm going to try and make it a goal to post every day.... (Notice *try*...)

So yea... Let's see... Okay, so it's been since the end of July since I posted. :( Or at least the last thing I talked about was the vacation to Iowa. Alright, major catching up to do. Let's get started....

First thing... I officially started my job at Things Remembered about 3 weeks ago. It's going really well so far. I've only worked about 4-5 training shifts, but I've absorbed a lot. Or it seems that way, anyway. My manager, Nicole, started me on engraving last week. That was fun! I hope I'm on the engravers during the holiday season. I have some plates and stuff that I practiced on!

Different kinds of plates using different techniques with the machine. YAY! :P
So yea... those are just a few. More to come later... OH, wait! I did do some glass last time!

Isn't it puuuurty?! ^_^

So yes, I am excited to be working at this place. Granted, I was a little shakey at first, but it's awesome. It's a nice change of pace from Wal*Mart. Of course, I haven't experienced the holiday season with either place... We'll see how that goes. :P Nicole called a "meeting" tomorrow night for all of us. We're meeting at Chevy's. Never been there and I haven't met everyone yet, so it should be fun! :D

Second.... I've started painting more now. I finished two paintings in one weekend a few weeks ago... have another painting in my head. Well, actually it's three... three canvases put together to make one painting. Just have to get some stretcher boards and possibly more canvas. I have three blank, white canvases, but I really wanted to have the background of the natural canvas showing through... Yay for clear gesso. :P I can't wait to start it! I have it all planned out in my sketch book. I usually don't do that, but I was half awake a couple of mornings ago and just had to sketch it out or else I would have forgotten it. Thursday, aka payday, needs to get here quick. 

Third.... I think my website is getting there. I haven't talked with Chad in a while, but I just checked it and there's a start to a website there. haha (Mental note: I need to send off my check to him....)

Fourth.... Um.... What else is new? OH! Britney asked me to be the Maid Of Honor in her wedding next summer! She had one and I was just a bridesmaid, but the other person wasn't doing so well, so I got promoted! haha I'm really excited! This will be my first shot at being an actual Maid of Honor. I have been before, but I wasn't able to actually perform any of my duties. Only held the title. Therefore, I have started a notebook for the "job" and jotting down notes and what not. ^_^ She and I are actually going to Sioux Falls together tomorrow. I'm excited!

Fifth.... Travis and I update. We are doing well. Still going strong at almost 15 months (Sept 30 will be 15 month anniversary). I think living together has turned out to be a great thing for us. I think it's somewhat helpful that we're on different schedules because the time we do get to spend together is more precious. However, there are times, like this weekend, where it gets a little frustrating. For instance, we both stayed the weekend in Sioux Falls at his aunt's place to save on gas. Well, we didn't see each other except for maybe 2-3 hours total all weekend. It sucked.... However, we both have tomorrow and Friday off! Last week we called that this Friday was our "date day." The plan is to do some fun things, but not to spend money. Course, that will be another payday for me, so it won't be horrible if we do... just limited spending. I love him so much. ^_^

And finally.... I think I'm going to head to bed now. I will (hopefully) be back tomorrow... Just not sure what else I'll be updating on... Ooo, maybe show you those new paintings! 



Stay Tuned!