2013 March for Life Pilgrimage

My apologies for my absence over the last few days, I've been in DC. I volunteered to be a chaperone on our Diocese March for Life trip. It was a spiritually reaffirming trip, full of lively souls and quiet prayerful moments. It was surreal to be surrounded by 500,000 people all of different cultures and religions, standing up for a single cause - LIFE. Every life matters, and in the words of Dr. Seuss "A person's a person, no matter how small." No matter how a person was conceived, they are a person, worthy of respect and love. Some of my friends are pro-choice and I love them to death though we disagree. They argue that it's better for women to have abortions because our social services and foster care systems are appalling, well I'm sorry but something is seriously wrong with a country where it's better to be dead than be in the system. I also learned that children are a gift, not an entitlement. There were several parents of adopted children in attendance (a few in our group alone) and though they were not able to naturally conceive, they were called to adopt and it changed their lives. Everyone is wanted by someone. Change is coming and I'm proud to be a part of it. We also got to experience a taste of DC, I'd never been there and I already want to go back. The museums are absolutely amazing and we were literally speedwalking through, I about died at the Gemstones exhibit, I LOVE ROCKS! They were so pretty I wanted to spend all day there. I also got to know the youth of our parish a bit better, they are hilarious and creative and they give me hope for our future :)

Fringe is Forever...White Tulip

Tonight concludes one of the best television series to ever grace the set...FRINGE. There will truly never be another show like it-- It is a miracle that the show lasted 5 seasons given that it goes against what is popular. It mixed science, with wit and cinema quality handling--but at it's core it was a family drama in dire circumstances. There is Walter, the broken genius who tore the very fabric of the universe to save a son that wasn't his and spent the rest of his days paying the price. Peter, his estranged conman son, who never has had roots to tie himself down, nor anyone he could really be close too, a tetherless soul. And Olivia, a driven FBI agent, betrayed by her partner and lover, mentally and physically abused as a child, she has spent her life building an impervious exterior to not let fear and connection keep her from doing her job. Three seemingly disparate people find that they form a unique family unit that will last through the worst of circumstances. This show taught me many things, a lot has happened in their lives over the last 5 years and a lot has happened in mine. These characters and unusual phenomena have taught me the value of perception and seeing things from both points of view, the lengths that parents will go for the love of their children, the importance of sacrifice, that doing what is right at all costs is more important that being the best or winning, and that we all have a purpose and we can't even begin to know how much the choices we make affect the lives of those around us.

This show also handled faith in a way that I had never seen done, they handled it with respect. Walter, after being humbled by all of his life's betrayals knew he had betrayed God, by trying to be God and write the universe as he saw fit and defying the laws of nature to save a son that wasn't his. He asked for forgiveness, from his son who had been fed a house of lies and God. He asked for a sign, a white tulip. The last scene ended with a white tulip, a symbol of redemption.

I will miss them, I will miss Walter's latest food obsessions, Astrid's frustration that Walter never gets her name right, Peter's dry humor, Olivia's kindness to Ella and Etta, Nina's latest fashion choice, Broyles' gruffness, and all of the alternate universe characters especially Lincoln Lee, you tall drink of water you. I will miss the way the show made me think, it didn't force me to turn my brain off, it forced me to solve problems and invest my time into fully developed characters.

My night ended sharing a pack of Red Vines with my dad, and it made me so grateful for my parents and all that they sacrificed for me over the years, I owe them far more than I can ever repay. Thank you Fringe for helping me to realize that.

Rainy days

Above is an illustration I made for an upcoming publication, we've had a lot of rain the past few days, but there is a chance of snow this weekend which makes me giddy at heart!! I love the fresh fallen snow and the beautiful quality it has in making the rest of the world fall silent. There is much to look forward to this weekend, tomorrow is painting day with artist extraordinaire Becky and Downton Abbey 101 with Carrie from Swanky Lady Vintage.

And now, back to art

It's. About. Time. I consider myself an artist, I was born to make things and interpret the world through whatever materials I could get my hands on. But ever since college, my painting and drawing has slowed to a crawl and it was starting to gnaw at me. Granted the past few years I've been exploring different and exciting art outlets, i.e. writing, photography, design, letterpress, but it was time to get back to getting my hands dirty before I let the motivation slip from my fingers. The last few paintings that I've made were for gifts or charity events, and it occurred to me that I've never produced a cohesive body of work that could be assembled as a show so now that is one of my goals this year: create show-worthy work, work that means something to those who see it and and myself.

Inspiration from abroad

Last April I took my first trip to Europe and it was spectacular, I'm itching to back but need to save up some funds and find a justifiable reason to be there besides just having a fun trip. I was a bit under the weather by the time we reached Brussels so I didn't get to experience nearly as much as I wanted to but I did do the main things - like visit the Victor Horta House (in which I died and went to Art Nouveau Heaven!!!) And I went to the Bozar arts store: a fabulous museum gift shop with everything cool under the sun. They even had the movie Electroma by Daft Punk, which I've seen twice and was so very tempted to purchase it because you simply don't see that kind of thing in central Illinois, let alone in the states, but went for something a bit more useful: a design book entitled Echoes of the Future. A wealth of vintage inspired design abounds, and today I got it out and used it. I needed inspiration for an illustration and this is what fell out of my brain on onto the computer screen. Let me know what you think!

A New Year, a new chance

It's been an amazing year, one of the best of my life. I look back and smile on all of the wonderful people I'm blessed to know and all of the experiences I've been privileged to have. It has been a year of growth. We have hills and valleys and plateaus in our lives and this year was a hill. I started in a low place, questioning myself, my life choices, feeling inadequate and falling behind. Then I chose to rise above the negativity for comparison is the thief of joy. It doesn't matter what others think of me, for if I follow the path that God wants for me, arguments to steer me from that path are rendered moot. When others criticize my life, I listen, for they may have a point or perspective that I had not considered, but part of me smiles inside for if I'm criticized by worldly forces for doing good, then that means I must be doing something right. Life is too short for worry and fear, it's just long enough to be a bright spark in the darkness. I dare to make 2013 even more amazing than 2012, and I dare you to do the same.