Christmas Day

We had such a great time with our family on Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day, Chuk woke me up early wanting me to check out my stocking. Here we are grandparents and wanting to surprise each other still! I received a very special gift from him and will show each of you when I see you next!

Bryan and Claire, you should have seen all the guys working to make your gift spin. Ernest finally got it to whistle and wow, it was fun to see them go! Sandra and Ernest, Evy, Christian, and Grandma Shui were all here ;ast night, as well as Jeannie, Charlie, Jocelyn, Reagan, and Ivy. We all ate too much but enjoyed every minute together. Today we all just rested up at home. We spent the afternoon and evening at Sandra's watching movies, cracking jokes, and playing games.

Here are pictures of a pop-up book that Charlie and Jeannie gave me. It is so intricate and beautiful...these pictures do not give the pages justice but I so love this book!

Christmas Eve

Our Nativity reading with the grandkids.

Here is the drawing I gave Jeannie for Christmas. It is titled "A Mother's Love."

It's Beginning to Look alot Like.....

Christmas! Everywhere we go...in our house, there are christmas trees; little ones, big ones,, and snowmen, mixed among all our candles and Nativity scenes. We really love Christmas time! The sights, the smells and the music! We use our Christmas drinking glasses all year long to remind us that the gift of Christmas, His Son, is with us all year long!

We are drinking hot chocolate every night and watching all the old Christmas movies, crying with Bob Cratchet and Tiny Tim, watching Clarence earn his wings, and remembering that in spite of all our challenges, we too have a wonderful life........all this nostalgia will lead us to Christmas Eve where we will gather with our family to share a family meal and then share in a spiritual feast; dressing up the grandkids and each other to present a Christmas pageant that will rival anything at Jones Hall, sharing our feelings about Christ and each other, and then choosing the gift we will give Him this coming year, privately, individually...........it is a moment that centers us on our Savior and our gratitude for Him.

Christmas day will find us all relaxing and enjoying the company of friends and family and silently pondering the great blessings that are ours. And in spite of all that swirls around us in the world, we are reminded that He is in charge, guiding us, loving us, keeping us, succoring us. Christmas has become for us a day of rejoicing and gratitude for the life and the light that He has given us.
Above all things this year we desire all our friends and family to have peace in their hearts! Merry Christmas and God Bless Us Everyone!!!!

It's Snowing!

You cannot believe how excited people are around here tonight! Sandra and I took off for Church with the Evy and Christian to practice for an upcoming concert (yes, we are playing violin and flute for a Christmas concert), and everyone we talked to is just ecstatic about the snow coming down.












Christian was so excited that he started singing Jingle Bells in the car. I hurried home just to get a few pictures because, well, this is Texas, and by morning it may be gone.

Yep, we all needed something to get that twinkle back in our eyes. It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas around here. Snow, hot chocolate, smells of cookies, the warmth of good friends and family. And my favorite.............

Christmas music and feelings of good will toward everyone! We so need more of this in our world!

Here You Go Cathy!

You wanted a look at our new dining set so here it is! This table has a drop down leaf that when pulled up gives us room for 6. Our old antique draftsman table is now our art project table in the family room. Finally tall chairs and tables for all us tall folks!

Designing Logos

Here are pictures of logos I created in my Design Communications class. We are going to try to register two of them.

I bet you knew the one below is our favorite!

Remnants from November

Here are some of my drawings from the past two weeks.

This 18 x 24 drawing was done in charcoal on the last day of class, my first time to draw an animal. This is a small dog (showing some of it's wolf ancestry) behind a chain link fence.


Okay, so this 18x 24 piece is one I did at home. It is very emotionally symbolic of my Christmas day when we lost our little granddaughter Natalie a few short years ago. Done is Charcoal and Pastel.


This charcoal and pastel 9 x 12 drawing is called "Miracles." On the day I drew this a meteorite hit Canada and I was attending the Temple and pondering on the miracles that are all around us that sometimes we miss.

This 9 x 12 drawing is titled "Bacon" and is a quick piece I drew in class in response to a website our professor showed us. Francis Bacon is an artist that distorts faces, etc. I used collage on this one with a piece of phone book and circled the name Bacon. That is me, looking up to the screen with a faceless profile and realizing that the face on the screen is me and the struggle I have had changing to understand myself as an artist.

So here is a self portrait (9x12) from my 15 day drawing journal done in charcoal, collage, and pastel.


This is another 9 x 12 drawing from my 15 day drawing journal entitled, "The Morning Stars Sang Together." I had read an article about the discovery of a new galaxy that is spinning out new stars at a phenominal rate. The galaxy itself is red, with tiny points of light. I collaged the song "Joseph, Guard Him," and then placed a bright star above the galaxy. Very symbolic to me!

This 18 x 24 drawing was done in class and is another landscape in charcoal and pastel.

Okay, so this is me at the Texas Art Alliance Center standing in front of the two drawings that were accepted in the Winter Open Exhibit. They are titled, "Peak," and "Tuesday."

TAACCL Juried Open Exhibit

Today was so exciting for me.....well....actually not until this afternoon. This morning I was somewhat nervous about our critique for our 15 journal drawings. But, everything went fine I also turned in my final project for my Design Comm class and will post that sometime this week. It has been a long semester for me. Probably the most work I have ever produced in such a short period of time, but I have learned alot. Though things were stressful and sometimes disheartening, I have gained a greater appreciation for life and light.

Saturday I submitted 3 of my drawings to the Texas Art Alliance Center in Clear Lake and found out today that two have been accepted to the exhibit. I am so excited! It is really a nice ending to this years work. There is an opening reception for artists and the exhibit on December 4th (A week from Thursday) from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Both drawings that were accepted by the Jurist are small landscapes that I did for a 4 Drawing series.

Thank you all for your encouragement.....I know I am blessed to have so many supportive family members, friends, and mentors!!

Musings and a Picture

Today I am officially exhausted. Both myself and my house are covered in charcoal dust.....sigh....

So I went shopping. I mean, what else do you do when you need a pick me up? It was strange to go to Target and not see very many people out there doing holiday buying.....very disturbing, or not depending on how you look at it. This morning I was emailed a list of store closures for January 2009 and if this list if authentic, things do not look good for a lot of retailers or consumers. We live in strange times.

My shopping trip just turned into a walk for exercise as I ended up not buying much other than food items and gifts for our grandkids. I think that stuff is so over rated.....I haven't felt the need to buy anything new since "IKE"........It just somehow seems wrong to spend money on new or nice things when so many are doing without or using hand-me-downs. Well....I suppose with all that is going on in the economy and the market it is good to be frugal!

Well here is my drawing from class today. Poetry in motion for the word "love." Enjoy your weekend!

More Art

These are not the best pictures I've ever taken, but I am just so swamped with projects and extra assignments. My 15 days of drawing are almost done! I am so looking forward to THANKSGIVING and CHRISTMAS!!

This piece was inspired by Lehi and Nephi's vision of the tree of life and our orchid tree, which we almost lost in the Hurricane this year.

I titled this piece, "White Fruit."

This last piece was inspired by our Sacrament Hymn from this past Sunday, Hymn 192.

Look Who's 39!

Yep, it's our Ernest.....love this picture!

Here we all are waiting for the burgers that Jeannie brought over for

Ernest to grill on his Weber!

After the festivities Charlie and Jeannie's girls tease their Grandma! That's Ivy, Reagan, and Jocelyn. Must be Reagan's new thing because she gave me this "face" when she first came over!

She is so fun!

Hmmmm.......

Not sure how this turned out but here are a few more of my 15 days of drawings. Below is a landscape with a subtle intro of a WWII Japanese bomber....well, this was a reminder to me of our visit to the valley in Hawaii where the Japanese flew through before hitting Pearl Harbour.

This is a drawing done from the thought, "an eye single to the glory of God," again a subtle intro of a figure in the dark charcoal.

I happened to be looking up one night this week and the moon was full and those wonderful clouds were highlighted. Not sure what to make of the grid but I call this one "Full Moon".

Okay, don't freak out about this one, but this was an 18 x 24 charcoal with color done in class yesterday. We were to combine a serpent and Adam and Eve into a composition together.

All in all, I am learning alot through drawing everyday but I know I have a long way to go. I am REALLY looking forward to having my days back!

This is So Right On and What WE are About!

I found this on a friend's blog today (Thanks Angela!) This is why we make movies and perform puppet shows!

Phil Vischer , the creater of Veggie Tales and Jelly Telly , said this today:

The problem with kids media today isn't that it is evil, it is that it is vapid. Empty. Pointless. It is empty calories. Frosting. Creme filling. Glaze. It has nothing to say to our kids about life on this earth or the God that made them special and loves them very much. And our kids consume it endlessly, on average, three hours per day.

We can do better.

Kids media can inform and shape while it entertains. Heck, Sesame Street figured that out. Mr. Rogers figured that out. But that was forty years ago. Kids media today lacks the will to teach kids anything. Yes, the shows on Nick and Disney are racially diverse. The characters recycle. But beyond that, they are mute.

We can do better. We can show kids the real world - a world where God exists and has something to say to us, if we will just stop and listen. A world where amazing people commit their lives to the work of the church and the benefit of others. A world where celebrity pales in comparison to generosity.

Go here and read more about why he does what he does. I appreciate it.

"Descent"

Here is my drawing for yesterday......I titled it "Descent." I wish I could express in words what this drawing means to me...it is deeply personal. I can only say that I am truly grateful for his light in a world of darkness!

Forging On!

Okay, so I am going crazy trying to get a drawing done a day for my final outside project in drawing 2. Basically I am supposed to "draw" something in less than 15 minutes about my day. I don't know about you but to draw something in less than 15 minutes is a feat for me. I am in the practice stage but as of yesterday I began my 15 day drawing spree (15 days!!! .....I have an excedrin headache!)

Here are my first two attempts at creating a mood with something about my day. Each of these drawings is done in Charcoal in a 9x12 format.

From Saturday I drew the temple spire with the angel Moroni. I just felt I needed to share my feelings about our weekly service and the blessings of the temple...I call it "Out of the Darkness."

This next one is a piece inspired by the Lord's visit to the Nephites and my feelings about my granddaughter, Ivy. I call it "Behold Your Little Ones."

Here's More Art!

Okay, so not everything we draw in class is my favorite so I am sometimes changing the composition to fit what I like. Here is a Marilyn likeness that I did in pencil today. I only really rendered the mouth to create a focus.

This piece is the view out of my art class window, done in charcoal....



I suppose this is an "Ike" disaster tree.....done in charcoal and worked off a picture my professor brought in to class.


Well...I didn't like the still that was brought into class (two dolls hanging by a wire) so I created a piece with Gepeto and Pinnochio.

This is a piece I reworked from the beginning of the year....done in charcoal.

Greater Houston Puppetry Festival

This past Saturday we held the annual Greater Houston Puppetry Festival. We had people from all over come and participate in workshops and performances. Chuk and I taught a class on Shadow Puppetry and I decorated all the tables for the luncheon. Here are pictures of some of the puppets we made to show educators that

you can make puppets out of anything!

Below are pictures of a girl scout group that we had in our workshop

and the shadow puppets they made!