Happy Palm Snowday!

So it's been a few weeks since my last blog post, sorry folks, I've been boggled with a lot of freelance lately which is a good thing!! I'm saving up for this long list of home improvements that I plan to make this spring and summer. My house has a lot of space but I feel like I'm not using it to the fullest, I've been in my house for three years and I've only managed to hang a mirror and a Tron poster. I have so much art that I need to frame. And I can't wait to get rolling on redoing my basement, I have a rather rad 80s toy collection that is screaming to be displayed (and played with ha ha).

Since my last post we got a POPE! I went to the symphony, ate free pie, saw a production of Footloose, celebrated my dad's birthday and laughed a lot with great people.

On a weather side note, yesterday people were in shorts and it was 50 degrees outside, today's forecast?  About 5 inches of snow, welcome to Illinois. Well, Holy Week has commenced, I've got my fresh palm branch and time to delve into some meditation and prayer this week. Where is your favorite place to find peace and quiet?

Room to think and grow

I've been delving into painting more recently, this is one that is currently in the works. I'm inspired by the fluid lines of art nouveau design as well as the subtlety of realism and surrealism. My subject matter runs the gamut, but I find figures and landscapes most fascinating. While at my day job, sometimes it's all I can do to keep myself focused on my work when images like these are fluttering through my waking brain, tapping on my forehead just begging to be set free. Turning off the TV these past few weeks has forced me to fill my need for visual stimuli in other manners. This Painting is only 10''x10'', I think I'm finally ready to go bigger and experiment with plein air techniques.

March in with a Mask

So, has anyone seen February, I just had it then I looked away for one minute and it was gone. It's been a busy month, and a fruitful Lent thus far as well. One of my non-Catholic friends asked me how long Lent was and I said 40 days. His response, "Yikes!" I look forward to Lent though I've grown out of giving up candy and ice cream, I've decided to evaluate the bad habits that are holding me back from being productive and focusing the necessary time for a healthy spiritual life. Distractions are a part of life but they grow on us like a warm blanket and we end up inviting even more in if we don't police it carefully. Thus I gave up Facebook, cut back on TV during weekdays, and invoked a 12pm curfew. And I must say the house is so quiet without the TV, I can hear myself think a lot louder and have been catching up on projects and visiting with friends. Recently I've been designing iphone covers for an online company as well as logos for a photographer and lawyer. I've been painting a lot more lately too, I go in spurts, and I'm going to embrace this batch of creativity while I can!

On a side note, I went with some friends to the downtown cathedral where Bishop Jenky held a prayer service for our now former Pope Benedict XVI, and we offered up our prayers for the new Pope to come. It was a gorgeous service and quite crowded. But the really cool thing that happened afterward, is Fr. Joe took my friend Jody and I to the reliquary chapel in the back of the cathedral - what people don't realize is that there are bone fragments in cases of dozens of the bodies of the saints. It's a little creepy, I agree, and odd to think of your body being split into a million tiny pieces when you die, but is was also really cool. They are very tiny but in beautiful little ornate cases and ornaments, even the hairs of Mother Theresa!