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Monday, January 31

One World One Heart 2011


Hi, I'm Erin. Welcome to my blog.
I'm a mixed media collage artist by night.
My blog is an extention of my artistic journey
with a little bit of real life thrown in.

I love to create. I love texture, color, detail,
 learning new techniques, connecting with other artists,
discovering my artistic style, the roller coaster of this artistic journey.

I love how my art parallels my life, my heart,
my story andreveals stuff that I don't know about myself.
As I take risks with my art,
 I find myself able to take risks in other areas in my life.
As I learn and grow through my creations,
 I find myself wanting to learn and grow in other areas.
As I find freedom in taking my art a new direction,
I find my freedom in life, in my relationships.
 And when I'm unable to create I get grouchy,
 feel stifled and totally out of balance.

Other things you might want to know about me:

I live in San Marcos, California (just north of San Diego)
I am married to a very good guy & we have a two and a half year old.
I'm 5 months pregnant.
I teach kindergarten. Best job in the world, besides being a mama.
I love God. Lots. I honestly don't know how I'd do this life without him.
I lived & taught in Hong Kong for 2 years. I loved every minute of it.


I love to travel. Any time, anywhere.
I teach Sunday School to 2 year olds.
It's kinda hilarious, and really fun.
I love Young Life.
I was a Young Life kid & a leader for 14 years.
I'm stuckon this color palette right now. Love it.
I have no training in art. I'm totally self-taught.
All through my 20s I totally thought I missed the art boat.
I didn't start experimenting with mixed media
 until 3 years ago, when I was pregnant with our son.
I love Henri Nouwen, Richard Foster, John Piper, & Philip Yancey.
I dream of living on a farm, except in my dream
someone else is doing all that farm work.
I just get fresh eggs every morning.
I love coffee. The toughest part of being pregnant
 is limiting my coffee intake.
I dream of riding down the Grand Canyon on a mule
with my family & going on a safari in Africa.

I love jeopardy & alex trebeck.
I am working on "surrender" in all areas of my life.
I am learning daily that dreams really do come true.
Sound cheesy, but I don't care, it's totally true for me.
All of my art dreams are coming true. Every day.
And I find myself having to dream bigger dreams.
 It's scary and exhilerating and wonderful and scary.
do i dare disturb the universe?
yep, i think i might actually dare.


Lastly... my giveaways!
I will pick 3 winners.
I'll give you a choice of any of the following 6 prints in this post.
 On February 17th, when One World, One Heart ends
I'll pick a winner & send you the goods.


Thank you so much for stopping by.
Thank you for comments. They mean the world to me.
I can't wait to meet you & visit you in your corner of the world.

Sunday, January 30

Pack your bags & come with me!

Logo2011

Shelly inspired me to join in the blogging party over at
One World One Heart,
and I think you should come with me.
We'll be sharing our blogs and visiting the blogs of people
from all over the world.
So cool.
And since real live, physical travel will
extremely limited for me for next few years,
I'm packing my bags on jumping
on the blogging wagon.

I'll be back tomorrow to post my give away and introduce myself.
 Thanks for the heads up, Shelly...

Saturday, January 29

Big news in my art world...


I won a commission of 12 paintings for Sharp Hospital.
I really can't believe it. I've been working so hard on completing it,
that I kind of forgot what a big deal it is for me.

12 big mixed media collage paintings
And they're big.
Really big.
Like 3 feet x 3 feet big.
This is the biggest painting
I've ever created.
And I love it.


I've been waiting and waiting until I finished them all
to post because I hate showing unfinished work.
I know what the finished piece looks like in my brain,
but no one else does.
So it feels a little naked.


But finishing 12 enormous paintings
takes longer than one thinks it would.
It feels like it's taking me forever.
Step by step.


So here you have it.
Here are my works in progress.
I used my photos from the
Washington coast at
Artfest last spring.


And it just reminds me
that one thing leads to another.
you know?
every single experience,
the good and the bad,
contributes to our story.
and are a piece of who we are.

and one thing leads us to the next thing.
which enables us to do the next thing.


one small act of courage
gives us courage
to move forward and
take the next risk,
which leads to the next thing...


starting a blog,
opening an etsy shop.
signing up for a booth at an art fair.
creating a proposal to teach.
all of it counts.


I'm finally digging up my last bit of energy
to finish this project
and deliver it
and move on.





Tuesday, January 18

Expectations & Surrender

My word for the year is surrender.

Honey Boo (I love this shop!)

And it's painful.
I didn't pick it.
It' picked me.

But I'm finding,
as a good friend pointed out,
that I'm having a tough time loving the life I have
because all of these expectations keep getting in the way.


So even though I have really great stuff,
it's not the stuff in my head.
it's different.

and I'm finding that my biggest struggle
is letting go of the expectations
I've clung to for so long
so that I can
embrace
and love
and fully enjoy
reality.


(Oh my. Check out this shop. Love her.)
not some made up version of life
that doesn't exist...


dhunting

and it's hitting me from all sides.
everywhere I turn I find it's a
letting go.
laying down.
surrender.
lovelysweetwilliam

and as painful as it is
there is freedom in it.




Sunday, January 9

35 Things


I finally finished my list for the year.


As you can see I chose the word surrender.


Not because I wanted to,
but because it keeps coming up


over and over.
In all areas of life.


Art. 
Work.
Parenting.
Marriage.
Everywhere.


So I thought I should listen.


I love making these lists.


I love new beginnings.


Even though life can get so busy and rushed.
I can go through the year without really doing what I want to do.
Without living how I want to live.


Just making this list
reminds me to live with intention.


It reminds me of who I am and how I want to live.
Even when life gets busy.


I know that I won't get every little thing crossed off.
That's not the point.
The point is to remember to have fun.
And to live the life I really want to live.

35 Things in 2011
1. Have a baby.

2. Download music I love.

3 Video Jack’s Johnny Cash routine.

4 Hike with my boys.

5 Make photo books for Jack.

6 Make art with fabric & paint & my sewing machine.

7.A weekend away with my husband.

8 Serve & give in some way.

9. Cut a stamp.

10. Sleep in a tent with Jack

11. Make art: cloth flowers on wood

12. Make an advent calendar

13. Make Christmas ornaments

14. Teach adults

15. Make a new studio

16. Make caramel apples.

17. Host a craft night with friends.

18. Go apple picking with Jack.

19. Participate in an artist swap.

20. Complete a 10k

21. Take a photoshop class

22. Watch a documentary on an artist.

23. Go on a retreat.

24. See a play.

25. Update blog/logo/button/banner, etc.

26. Memorize favorite verses

27. Go to the Rose Bowl Flea Market

28. Make a banner for the house.

29.. Give something to our neighbors.

30. Start/work on. Complete an Art Journal

31. Make art: heart series.

32. Get art into a gallery.

33. Make scrabble pendants.

34. Be a good friend.

35. Reread Life of the Beloved.





Saturday, January 1

Goodbye 2010


Last year my word was acceptance.
(Ali Edwards has some great ideas about this.)
I put my list up in my studio, and I had kind of forgotten about it,
so I was surprised when I returned to it yesterday to find that
I had actually done some of them.

2010: Acceptance
1. Fill my house with pictures.
 I filled a book shelf with pictures. I still need to fill the empty frames on the wall.

2. Go on a one week family vacation.
A week in Big Bear this summer & time in the snow this winter.

3. Write letters to Compassion kids.

4. Concert in the park.
Pirate Band in June, a Motown Band in July, and acoustic guitar group in August.

5. Art journal in a pretty place.

6. Take an art class online.
Carla Sonheim's silly drawing class.

7. Camp.

8. Listen to live music.
See # 4.

9. Send cards to people I love.

10. Make healthy lunches.

11. Take more home videos.
I got a Flip and posted my first video on You Tube.
 Worth every penny.

12. Make breakfast at least once a week.
13. Go kayaking.

14. Get published. Here in May & here in December. Highlight of my year.
15. Make ice cream.

16. Live within our means. I went back to work full time in August to pay off some bills so we can make it with me part time next year & forever.

17. Go to church. We have found a home church. That doen't mean we always go, but now we have a church to go to when we go.
18. See a play outside.

19. Laugh hard.

20. Serve God with my family.

21. See a movie outside.
22. Go away with Darryl two times.

23. Lose 30 pounds forever. Ummm... got pregnant instead.

24. Celebrate birthdays well. I can't really figure out what this really means.

25. Get out of credit card debt. See # 16. We are half way there...

26. Get into a small group. This is nothing short of a miracle with our schedules. One of the best things that happened to our marriage this year. It is the hardest thing in the world to get there every single week, but so worth it. 
27. Eat dinner with people we love.

28. Move for 30 minutes every day.

29. Make my studio cute.

2010 was full of unexpected joys & challenges:
 
 
 
 
* In March my art dream came true. Honestly, I can't even think up something that I needed or wanted more. I won a scholarship to Artfest  in Port Townsend, near Seattle.  I met amazing people. I made art. I am determined to make (or find, or win, or borrow, or steal) enough money to go again. It is that important.
 
*Last spring we made the really tough decision for me to back to work full time for one year.
Honestly, it's really hard.  really. hard. I'm half way thorough now.We are paying off our
credit card so that I can go part time again when the baby is born. 
 
*This summer my husband and I took an intense marriage class called Dynamic Marriage.
To say it was good, or even great, is an understatement. It changed us, how we see & relate & care for & understand each other. It's for everyone: young, old, newly married, oldly married, strong marriages, marriages on the brink of disaster. Everyone benefits. I can't even explain it. I'm just thankful.
 
* In July Jack & I played to our hearts content & I discovered this life-changing salsa.
(Almost as life-changing as the marriage class. Seriously.)
I've made it about 73 times since.
 
*In August my baby turned two
and I went back to work full time.
It was a busy month.
 
*In September we got our best news of the year:
We are thrilled.
 
I was reminded of why we need get away together.