I am Purple

Precipice

2011-10-12T10:56:00.000-04:00

When you’ve spent so much time so close to the edge that you forget how close you are, that the precipice almost feels normal, it really takes nothing to push you over. A gust of wind, the wrong step, a moment of distraction. But you don’t fall, you clutch to the outcroppings, your fingers bleeding with the effort. And nobody helps you because they think you are rock climbing. And you’ve forgotten how to cry out for help. Or you curse your fingers for not being strong enough to pull you to relative safety. Or you blame yourself for being so close to the edge. But you don’t let go. As effortless as that would be. Something keeps you clinging. A hint of a face, an aroma, a melody, a future. . .

25 Things I loved to do when I was little (*and still do)

2011-07-29T18:21:00.001-04:00

1. Mix up random stuff from the cupboard
2. Make up plays for friends and family
3. Eat peanut butter on a spoon
4. Play pirates, runaway and schoolhouse
5. Play with GI Joes
6. Pick Flowers*
7. Climb trees
8. Read*
9. Write Poetry*
10. Play in the snow*
11. Sleep outside*
12. Help Dad with projects
13. Eat Pizza and watch movies on Friday nights*
14. Eat cold pizza and rewatch the movies on Saturday morning
15. Make dollhouses out of cardboard boxes
16. Design houses*
17. Sing outloud*
18. Watch Cartoons
19. Daydream*
20. Swim*
21. Cook*
22. Play with buttons
23. Eat hot dogs
24. Slumber Parties*
25. Collect bunny rabbits

Alone

2011-07-07T20:15:00.000-04:00

I am alone on a lonely planet. The night sky surrounds me. Rays of light prick the shroud and beckon to me. Desolate and afraid, I turn from them. If only I would reach for them. If only my soul would drink from them and see the beauty surrounding me. I glimpse the beauty though the tiny holes and deem them unreachable. My broken body falls to the dust of the lonely planet and the stars forget me.

Gardening

2011-06-25T14:06:00.000-04:00

The warm sun on my back, the cool grass under my toes. Sweat dripping down my nose and onto the ground. Dirty fingers, tendrils of hair tickling my cheeks. My cat sprawled nearby. Butterflies lazily floating among the multitude of colors. A praying mantis leisurely crawling along a branch. Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars slowly munching on my parsley. Ants marching, marching, forever marching.

Doodles!!

2011-06-20T19:48:00.000-04:00

Asleep

2011-06-12T21:10:00.000-04:00

Shadowy images. Flashes of memory. Foggy, dreamlike, tendrils of thought. My childhood memories are a mixture of half remembered events, imagined stories and dreams. My dreams and fantasies and nightmares have always gotten tangled up in my reality. Have I spent my life half asleep? Smoky, shimmery, surreal, illusions. Mirage, hazy, gray.

Summer Storm

2011-06-10T21:29:00.002-04:00

She lies on her back, staring at the universe. Her long golden hair cascading onto the soft grass. A curious ladybug crawls across her toes. Slowly the clouds turn from white to pink to black. The fireflies dance above her head, blinking to each other their wishes. Their lights mingle with the stars and she is in the sky. A large drop of warm water caresses her cheek. The stars are gone. Lighting flashes. Thunder roars. She feels the water in tiny rivers across her body. Her hair clings to her naked shoulders. The grass tickles her toes. The lightning is far away. The sky is clear and bright. Her body is wet. Her mind is clear.

Infinity Hymn

2011-06-07T18:27:00.002-04:00

acrylics, cut paper, confetti, and photoshop

25 Things I’ve crossed of my Before-I-Die List (aka Bucket List)

2011-06-03T20:35:00.001-04:00

1. Ride an elephant
2. Skydiving
3. Stay in a Bed and Breakfast
4. Skate in Rockefeller Center
5. Belly Dancing
6. Cherry Blossoms in DC
7. Go to Hawaii
8. Knitting
9. Peace Corps
10. Mentoring
11. Community Theatre
12. Start my own business
13. Become a vegetarian
14. See John Denver in Concert
15. Learn another language
16. Design my own website
17. Fall in Love
18. Own my own home
19. Own a ferret
20. Go on a long road trip with friends
21. Have my picture in the newspaper
22. Kiss underwater like in the movies
23. Party all night long and see the sunrise
24. Visit a foreign country
25. See the Berlin Wall

The Universe Is Made of Notes

2011-06-01T20:11:00.003-04:00

This is a concept for a drawing that I had awile back. Maybe I'll work on it over the next week or two!

Infinity Hymn
-Stuart Davis

Forget "Creation", forget "Big Bang"
and the chance mutations of Darwin's gang
the Universe is made of notes
that only exist in someone's throat
mmm...

Half his life Mohammed heard
weird voices and wrote their words
it's also true but seldom said
this tune was always in his head
mmm...

Wherever life appears
it's separated by light years
but no two points can be remote
once they have heard these notes
mmm...

Every atom plays the hymn
every echo is from within
every eardrum makes a map
and it sounds like this when one hand claps
mmm...

I've seen this with a prophets mind
I've seen the future of mankind
which is not hell, which is not bliss
but all I can say is it looks like this

mmm...

Storyboard from AOL 25 for 25 Submission

2011-05-30T14:02:00.002-04:00

Storyboard

More PowerPoint presentations from Tina

Ahh, technology! I couldn't figure out how to embed the music into this post but here is the PowerPoint presentation I submitted to the AOL 25 for 25 contest last year. This is the complete PowerPoint without music but it was only part of the overall submission. When you view it in full screen mode you should be able to see the whole image. Let me know what you think!!

A tie-dyed sky

2010-10-18T20:41:00.001-04:00

A tie-dyed sky
A world of fantasy
The world I went to
To escape my life
My life of hell
My life of ecstasy
To leave the pain and pleasure behind
And just be me
And just be
Me.

New Blog!!

2010-08-29T18:56:00.000-04:00

I totally forgot to post here that I have a new blog! A blog all about fresh, organic, local, fair-trade, superfood recipes! I launched this blog with my good friend Shanna a few weeks ago. So check it out at http://www.getfreshinthekitchen.blogspot.com/!

Rainer Maria Rilke

2010-08-29T11:08:00.002-04:00

I beg you...to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foriegn language. Don't search for the answers, which could not be given you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday for in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it live your way into the answer...

Bird Sanctuary

2010-08-17T04:43:00.000-04:00

Found this sketch while I was going through some old drawings. It's from my time in Poland at a bird sanctuary. I designed an outdoor classroom for them and this was going to be one of the educational panels.

Inspiration

2010-08-03T14:46:00.002-04:00

“It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive. It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon. I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human. It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me is true. I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy. I want to know if you can see beauty even when it’s not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence. I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, “Yes!” It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have. I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children. It doesn’t interest me who you know or how you came to be here. I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me and not shrink back. It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied. I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away. I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.”

— Oriah Mountain Dreamer

Flower Girls

2010-07-14T19:37:00.002-04:00

My Personal Soundtrack

2010-07-03T20:25:00.001-04:00

If my life were a movie, this would be the soundtrack:

Starting with childhood:
House at Pooh Corner - Loggins and Messina
My Little Town - Simon and Garfunkel
Fall Awake - Stuart Davis

Preteen and Teen:
I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany
Some Enchanted Evening - Frank Sinatra

College:
I say a Little Prayer - from "My Best Friends Wedding," originally by Aretha Franklin
Ten Thousand Fists - Disturbed
On My Own - Les Miserables
Head over Feet - Alanis Morrisette

After College:
Animal I have Become - Three Days Grace
Lithium - Evanescence
Iowa - Dar Williams

Photography Class

2010-04-30T17:54:00.005-04:00

I don't know what I expected. . . well yes I do. . . I expected to take one photography class and suddenly be able to take GREAT photographs. Not that these are bad, but they certianly aren't 'Wow' quality. Practice, practice, practice. . . Now I've just got to get out there everyday and practice what I've learned.

Chocolate Bouquet

2010-04-29T16:30:00.001-04:00

May Day Party in a Basket

2010-04-24T19:27:00.002-04:00

May Day is my all time favorite holiday. Who wouldn't love a holiday celebrating the bounty of spring! And although money is tight this year, I couldn't pass up this adorable ladybug pick I found at a craft store. To save money though, I used seeds saved from my garden and made my own seed packets. I made a garland of twinkling flowers out of some old christmas lights and silk flowers. Then I used the stems and leaves from the flowers to make a bouquet of chocolate 'flowers'. I added a menu of flower recipes and for a finishing touch put in some potted flowering plants! A complete May Day Party in a basket!!

25 Books I want to read

2010-04-07T20:29:00.001-04:00

Some of these just sound really cool, some I should have read a long time ago, and some have been recommended by friends.

1. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
2. Empire of Plants
3. The Monkey Wrench Gang
4. One Hundred Years of Solitude
5. Love in the Time of Cholera
6. Anna Karenina
7. The Unbearable Lightness of Being
8. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
9. West with the Night
10. A Million Nightingales
11. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
12. Bold Spirit
13. Garden and Climate
14. Forest and Thicket
15. The Nature Handbook
16. The Power of One
17. An Unquiet Mind
18. Season of the Body
19. The Painted Bird
20. Handbook of Northeastern Indian medicinal Plants
21. In the Absence of the Sacred: The failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations
22. Encounters with the Archdruid
23. Confessions of an English Opium Eater
24. The Closing Circle
25. The Unsettling of America

Mushroom House

2010-03-14T16:02:00.002-04:00

Can't you just imagine a ladybug fairy living in one of these magical mushrooms?

acrylic, cut paper, ribbon, marker, wire and beads

Kris

2010-03-12T18:22:00.001-05:00

I am Red
I am fiery. I am playful, wild, irresistible. I am pure. I am Red. Sweet, tart cherry. Goofy, funny, clown nose. I am a ladybug, young and free. I am a redwood, tall and ancient. I am a graceful, delicate rose petal. I am a sunset, spectacular and ephemeral. I am warm, I am kind. I am Red.

25 Random Things

2010-03-07T19:19:00.000-05:00

1. Turk’s Cap, Dutchman’s Breeches, Ladies’ Slippers, Bachelors Buttons, and Queen Anne’s Lace are all varieties of flowers.
2. An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.
3. Elephants are the only animals that can’t jump.
4. Cats sleep 16-18 hours per day.
5. Iowa’s biggest exports are soybeans and hogs, not corn and cows.
6. Parsley is a host plant for the Black Swallowtail Butterfly.
7. Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Dewey Decimal category.
8. The producer of the original Battlestar Galactica took ideas for the show from the Book of Mormon.
9. Labrador Retrievers are prone to ear infections and seizures.
10. 99% of Poles are Catholic.
11. Hawaii is the only state to have had a monarchy.
12. Tyrian, or Royal, purple is made from a species of marine snail, Phyllonotus trunculus.
13. Ludwig Von Beethoven, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Vivien Leigh, Sir Isaac Newton, Mark Twain, Virginia Woolf, Robin Williams, Ted Turner, Buzz Aldrin, and Winston Churchill all had Bipolar Disorder.
14. China has more English speakers than the United States.
15. The parachute was invented by Leonardo da Vinci in 1515.
16. 1 in 3000 calico cats is male.
17. Lily of the Valley signifies a return to happiness.
18. There are many edible flowers. Some of the more interesting ones are daylily, lilac, carnations, peony, and tulip.
19. Mt. Everest, the world’s tallest peak is still growing by about ½ inch per year.
20. In Baltimore Maryland it is illegal to take a lion to the movies.
21. Vikings used the skulls of their enemies as drinking vessels.
22. The world's smallest mammal is the bumblebee bat of Thailand, weighing less than a penny.
23. May Day is Beltane, which means 'day of fire'. It is an ancient Pagan festival. Bel was the Celtic God of the sun.
24. 96% of a raw cucumber is water.
25. The California redwood - coast redwood and giant sequoia - are the tallest and largest living organism in the world.

Maintain Focus

2010-02-28T12:13:00.003-05:00

There are so many images that come to my mind when I think of the word focus. Camera, microscope, magnifying lens, crystals. The one I chose however was the telescope. Not only am I reminding myself to focus, but to focus on the big picture.

Photography II

2010-02-18T20:06:00.004-05:00

So I'm finally going to take a photography class!
Dave Gigliotti (http://www.shuttermonkey.net/) is teaching a class at the Estuary Center! I can't wait!

2010-02-10T20:56:00.003-05:00

I'm hoping to attend a mini artist retreat in PA this July. The women of the Mid-Atlantic Region of Creative Awakenings are organizing a retreat full of art, journaling, and fun! I created these Artist Trading Cards to exchange with the other women there. I'm so excited. I can't wait!!

Trillium

2010-01-16T19:50:00.005-05:00

Here are a couple sketches that I did for a Leonardo's Sister job recently.

Frost Fairy

2010-01-13T20:25:00.002-05:00

Acrylics, Pastels, Cut paper and images

Great Grandma

2010-01-05T19:20:00.003-05:00

This is a picture of Great Grandma Hazel when she was young. I'm not sure how young, but much younger than I remember her. This piece almost looks like a hat, not any hat that Great Grandma would have worn but still. I've taken some of the flowers that I made using her old jewelery and used them to frame this picture.

On the Right Track

2010-01-01T14:06:00.003-05:00

The quote in the engine reads, "So now you finally know, That you control where you go, You can steer." - Missy Higgins
I've been floundering for the last several months. My routine has fallen apart and many things have gone by the wayside. Including my weight, health, art, job hunting, and many other responsibilities. I've just been treading water, waiting for something to happen. Well it has happened. I've made the decision not to wait any longer for things to happen to me but to make my life happen. Going through the motions of life is not for me! I am a full participant and engineer of my train, no matter how much of a circus it can be at times.
So this is my art of intention for January 2010! Colored pencil and pencil.

Photography

2009-12-30T19:44:00.006-05:00

I thought it was about time to post some of the photographs that I've taken. I've been inspired by a great nature photographer that I met recently. This first one is taken at Ladew Topiary Gardens, Rose Garden. The second is taken at Virginia Beach.

Here is one of my favorite quotes:

"You can't help but wonder at just how sweet and sad and innocent all moments in life are rendered by the tripping of a camera's shutter, for at that point the future is still unknown and has yet to hurt us, and also for that brief moment our poses are accepted as honest."

- Generation X

Fruit Jellies

2009-12-20T20:53:00.008-05:00

I was going to post a picture of the fabulous fruit jellies that I made for Solstice this year, but unfortunately, they didn't turn out. I'm not sure what went wong except that I used liquid pectin instead of powdered. I did some research online to figure out how much of the liquid I needed, but maybe there was technique differeneces too.

So instead, I'm going to post about a book from my childhood. A story I used to think was about me. A story I have read aloud and recorded to send to my new niece for her first Christmas.

My name is Katrina Christine which is similar enough to a child to be Christina Katerina. Christina liked all sorts of things but she especially liked boxes. All sorts of boxes. One day Christina's mother gets a brand new refrigerator and gives Christina the box. The story chronicles the fun that Christina and her sometime friend Fats Watson have with the box.

When I was growing up I used boxes to make everything. Doll houses, boats for the backyard, cars for my 'barbies', bunkers for my GI Joes, castles, clubhouses. And I had a sometimes friend Frank that lived just down the street. So of course the story was about me!

I've read the story aloud along with several other favorites from my childhood. I know that my sister's little one will have her own favorite stories but at least this way she'll get to know my voice even though I live so far away.

Happy Holidays!!

Shhh... Don't tell!

2009-12-13T16:36:00.006-05:00

I've been making these adorable magnets and tacks out of my Great Grandmother's old jewelery and other found items. I'm going to give them as gifts, so don't tell. :) Great Grandma Hazel was quite a character. She lived through the Great Depression and nearly made it to the Great Recession (I've heard that is what our current economic situation is being called). No one really appreciated her, um, hoarding habits. Until now that is. Waste not, want not! Frugal was an understatement when it came to my Great Grandma. She 'collected' everything, found beauty in the strangest things, stashed money in every sock, film canister, and book. She took advantage of every bit of aid that was available. She's been gone 3 years this coming January and my mom is still going through all her stuff. You can see each generation's lives in her closets. Great Great Grandma's old dresses, Great Grandma's clothes from every decade, Grandma's baby clothes, and my mother and her siblings clothes from the 60's. I don't know if she ever had any of my clothes, but I wouldn't be surprised.
There are too many stories to retell here. Trips to South Dakota, her beautiful chaotic garden, all those chihuahuas, her house packed to the gills and overflowing with doll heads, pepper mills, peppermint schnapps, photos, pill bottles, cereal boxes, newspapers, clothes. . .
I guess this story could be any body's. Most people who survived the Great Depression have their coping mechanisms. But how many people knew their Great Grandma? There is a five generation picture of me with my mom, Grandma, Great Grandma and Great Great Grandma. I have no children, but my cousin Mindy does. Just before Great Grandma died, we got another five generation picture of Travis, Mindy, my mom's brother Jim, Grandma, and Great Grandma. It makes me wonder if another five generation picture is in store for Travis.
I don't know what Great Grandma would think of these magnets and tacks, but I'd like to think that she would find them beautiful. It is my way of connecting to generations past. Each member of my family will get a few as a remembrance of Great Grandma Hazel. Probably not this year, I'm not done yet!
Happy Holidays!!

25 Things I want to do before I die

2009-09-13T20:27:00.000-04:00

1. Travel (everywhere)
2. Scuba diving
3. Surfing
4. Swim with the Dolphins
5. Visit a volcano
6. Japanese Tea Ceremony
7. Write a book
8. Visit an ashram in India
9. Mardi Gras in New Orleans
10. Oktoberfest in Germany
11. Pyramids in Egypt
12. Stonehenge
13. Go skinnydipping
14. See the Northern Lights
15. Get Professionally Certified
16. Take a photography class
17. Go to school for Art, Herbal Medicine, or Cooking
18. Be interviewed on TV
19. Go to a retreat
20. Design and build my dream house
21. Learn to meditate
22. Learn French
23. Visit every state
24. Read all the books on my to-read list
25. Be successfully self-employed

2009-09-06T15:25:00.001-04:00

Check out Leonardo's Sister's Idea of the Month for September! www.leosister.com

Good Food

2009-09-01T19:42:00.005-04:00

Boy, I've been MIA for over a month! Sorry guys. Most of my creative energies have been put into cooking lately. Cold melon soup, lemonade blueberry popsicles, stuffed peppers, quinoa custard, cranberry almond scones. . .

I've also been developing my Powerhouse recipes. Recipes that have three or more so-called superfoods. Now there is no definitive guide as to what a superfood is. But there are sources all over the internet and here is what I've found: bananas, blackcurrants, goji berries, cacao, blueberries, raspberries, acai, yacon root, watercress, papaya, soy, flax seed, broccoli, alfalfa sprouts, oranges, spinach, tomatoes, walnuts, sea vegetables, avocado, salmon, green tea, beans, oats, turkey, pumpkin, yogurt, mangosteen, chia seeds, quinoa, and pomegranate. Some of these you've probably never heard of. But most are available at your natural food store. And I've been developing recipes, some with eight or more superfoods!

What makes it a superfood? Foods with an especially high phytonutrient content. So lots of antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and other properties that we may not even completely understand like disease fighting, fertility, and weightloss. For example, chia seeds are high in fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and studies show that it slows the conversion of carbohydrates into sugar in your body. That effectively lowers the Glycemic Index of any food that you eat with the chia seeds!

I have a couple ideas for art in the works, so hopefully I'll be posting something a little more visually stimulating soon!

You Can't Take It With You

2009-07-26T14:09:00.003-04:00

You Can't Take It With You

Caterpillar
Greedy
Eating, Munching, Chewing
Hoarding
Growing
Spinning
Sleeping
Flying

What the Caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a Butterfly.

2009-07-21T17:55:00.004-04:00

Cosmic Energy

2009-07-15T23:48:00.004-04:00

The birth of an idea in your mind and the birth of a celestial star in distant space, both arise from the same latent field of cosmic energy.

July Art of Intention - Let Go of Perfection

2009-07-03T18:27:00.001-04:00

25 Favorite Quotes

2009-07-01T19:35:00.000-04:00

25 Favorite Quotes
1. If you are a dreamer, come in. If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, a hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer. . . If you are a pretender, come sit by my fire. For we have some flax golden tales to spin. Come in! Come in! - Shel Silverstien
2. The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. – Albert Einstein
3. If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other it is the principle of free thought, not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought we hate. – Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes
4. Though I do not agree with what you say, I will defend to the death your right to say it. - Voltaire
5. Your friends will know you better in the first moment you meet than your acquaintances will know you in a thousand years. – Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
6. Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be true to yourself. Being true to anyone else or anything else is not only impossible but the mark of a fake messiah. – Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
7. . . . you can’t help but wonder at how sweet and sad and innocent all moments in life are rendered by the tripping of a camera’s shutter, for at that point the future is still unknown and has yet to hurt us, and also for that brief moment, our poses are accepted as honest. – Generation X
8. What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters, compared to what lies within us. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
9. At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities. – Jean Houston
10. The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. – C. G. Jung
11. And all the world will be your enemy . . . and whenever they catch you, they will kill you . . . but first they must catch you. – Watership Down
12. You will do foolish things, but do them with enthusiasm. – Colette
13. We have built a greenhouse – a human creation – where there once bloomed a sweet and wild garden. – Bill McKibben
14. “But it isn’t easy,” said Pooh. “Because Poetry and Hums aren’t things which you get, they are things which get you. And all you can do is to go where they can find you.” - The House at Pooh Corner
15. When you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it. - The House at Pooh Corner
16. To design with flowers. To paint with clouds. To write with water. To register the May wind, the fall of a leaf. To work for a storm. To anticipate a glacier. To bend the wind. To direct the water and the light. – Nils Udo
17. The truth will not penetrate a preoccupied mind. – Charles Darwin
18. The truth is that human beings are now the dominant species in all the world’s ecosystems and the most powerful geological force on Earth. From this perspective, we do not have environmental problems, the biosphere has a people problem. – William Rees
19. The true mission of religion is to help people manifest the power within themselves to overcome their difficulties and be happy.
20.The birth of an idea in your mind an the birth of a celestial star in distant space both arise from the same latent field of cosmic energy.
21. It is not our abilities which determine who we are. It is our choices. – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
22. In one of the stars I shall be living, in one of them I shall be laughing, and so it will be as if all the stars were laughing when you look at the sky at night. – The Little Prince
23. There are only three colors, ten digits, and seven notes; its what we do with them that’s important. – Ruth Ross
24.All of the most successful human being I’ve known were inwardly at war with themselves. Their turmoil was at least as great as our own, and sometimes greater. What distinguished thes leaders was not some inner peace but rather how they learned to organize their lives around a noble ambition and to focus on it. – Walter Anderson
25. The threshold between right and wrong is pain. – Dalai Lama

Inspire Me Thursday - Child Art

2009-06-16T18:59:00.005-04:00

I created this piece for a children's story I once heard, The Mighty Little Mouse. It is watercolor, colored pencil, ink, cut paper, and cotton (for the dandelion seeds!)

New Places

2009-06-12T18:27:00.002-04:00

Lonely
Scared
Shy
Happy
Open
Loud
Obnoxious
Hurt
Angry
Scared
Lonely

Art of Intention June

2009-06-01T19:07:00.003-04:00

25 Favorite Plants

2009-05-30T01:32:00.005-04:00

25 of My Favorite Plants
1. Katsuratree (Cercidiphyllum japonicum)
2. Sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
3. Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides)
4. American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)
5. Burr Oaks (Quercus macrocarpa)
6. Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)
7. Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
8. Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)
9. River Birch (Betula nigra)
10. Magnolia (Magnolia species)
11. Variegated Redtwig Dogwood (Cornus racemosa)
12. Lilac (Syringa vulgaris)
13. Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla)
14. Crapemyrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)
15. American Cranberrybush Viburnum (Viburnum trilobum)
16. Lily of the Valley
17. Peony
18. Bleeding Heart
19. Anemone
20 Daylily
21. Purple Coneflower
22. Ferns
23. Wild Ginger
24. Clematis
25. Spring Ephemerals

Random Acts of Creativity Friday - Creative Awakenings

2009-05-22T20:01:00.003-04:00

Healing Prayer from Eagle Woman

May our eyes remain open even in the face of tragedy.

May we not become disheartened.

May we find in the dissolution of our apathy and denial,the cup of the broken heart.

May we discover the gift of the fire burning in the inner chamber of our being--burning great and bright enough to transform any poison.

May we offer the power of our sorrow to the service of something greater than ourselves.

May our guilt not rise up to form yet another defensive wall.

May the suffering purify and not paralyze us.

May we realize the greatness of our sorrow and not run from its touch or flame.

May clarity be our ally and wisdom our support.

May our wrath be cleansing, cutting through the confusion of denial and greed.

May we not be afraid to see or speak our truth.

May the bleakness of the wasteland be dispelled.

May the soul's journey be revealed and the true hunger fed.

May we be forgiven for what we have forgotten and blessed with the remembrance of who we really are.

--Found on The Terma Collective site

Inspiration of the Month - May

2009-05-05T22:26:00.002-04:00

Sheri Gaynor is the featured artist for Leonardo's Sister's Inspiration of the Month for May. Check it out! http://www.leosister.com/

25 Favorite Songs

2009-04-27T17:57:00.001-04:00

In no particular order!
My 25 Favorite Songs
1. The Boxer – Simon and Garfunkel
2. Hands Clean – Alanis Morissette
3. Infinity Hymn – Stuart Davis
4. The Christians and the Pagans – Dar Williams
5. Lithium – Evanescence
6. On My Own – Les Miserables
7. Bring Me to Life – Evanescence
8. Head Over Feet – Alanis Morissette
9. If Everyone Cared – Nickleback
10. Bleed It Out – Linkin Park
11. Iowa – Dar Williams
12. House at Pooh Corner – Loggins and Messina
13. My Little Town – Simon and Garfunkle
14. Rhymes and Reasons – John Denver
15. Fidelity – Regina Spektor
16. If I had $1,000,000 – Barenaked Ladies
17. I Got a Name – Jim Croche
18. Enter Sandman – Metalica
19. I Still Believe – Miss Saigon
20. Amelie Soundtrack
21. Brown Eyed Girl
22. Could We Start Again, Please – JC Superstar
23. Starry Night – Don McLean
24. American Pie – Don McLean
25. Anything by Stuart Davis

Random Acts of Creativity Friday-Creative Awakenings

2009-04-20T17:44:00.005-04:00

Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies.
Somebody calls you,
you answer quite slowly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green,
Towering over your head.
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes,
And she's gone.
~The Beatles

Inspire Me Thursday: Spice

2009-04-10T18:57:00.003-04:00

For this week's Inspire Me Thursday: Spice: A spice rack that I designed and my sweetheart built for our kitchen.

Wildflowers and Weeds

2009-04-07T19:38:00.003-04:00

In my life
I have encountered
Beautiful Roses
And exotic buds
But so far
I think I have most enjoyed
The wildflowers
And the weeds.

25 Favorite Movies

2009-04-01T20:23:00.002-04:00

Here they are. In no particular order. My 25 Favorite Movies!

1. Matrix series
2. Mystery Men
3. Galaxy Quest
4. Lord of the Rings Trilogy
5. Harry Potter Movies
6. Star Wars Trilogy
7. Fiddler on the Roof
8. Schindler’s List
9. Grease
10. The Princess Bride
11. West Side Story
12. The Quiet Man
13. Breakfast at Tiffany’s
14. Like Water for Chocolate
15. Casablanca
16. Gone With the Wind
17. Miracle on 34th Street
18. Blade Runner
19. Highlander
20. The Wizard of Oz
21. The Sound of Music
22. African Queen
23. All About Eve
24. The Color Purple
25. Amelie

Leonardo's Sister

2009-03-20T20:37:00.007-04:00

I just sent out my first wave of brochures. I'm so excited (and nervous). The next wave will go out on Monday. Leonardo's Sister is finally off and running! (If you don't get a brochure and you want one, send me an email at kcpeek@leosister.com and I'll get one right out to you!) I've been working on this for the last several months and I feel like I'm finally ready. My website is up. http://www.leosister.com/ I have brochures and business cards. I've had a few customers. My life has been pushing me in this direction for a while now and I'm finally ready.

25 of My Favorite Things

2009-03-16T20:07:00.003-04:00

25 of My Favorite Things

1. The smell of snow
2. Strawberries picked fresh from my garden
3. Anything picked fresh
4. The prisms in my office window on a sunny day
5. The smell of warm pine woods and the soft pine needles under my feet
6. Holding hands
7. Art Journals
8. Coloring in my coloring books
9. Crown molding
10. Used bookstores
11. Ice Cream
12. Presents and surprises
13. Tales about fairies, sprites, nymphs, and all sorts of mythical beings
14. Trinkets, marbles, charms, things that fit in pockets
15. Handmade hats and scarves made especially for me
16. Violets with the morning dew still on them
17. The whole experience of chocolate
18. Wearing my pajamas all day
19. The china tea set my dad brought back from Okinawa
20. Sitting by the woodstove drinking mulled wine
21. The smell of overripe apples in the dappled sun under a beautiful apple tree
22. Clear dancing streams wandering through meadows of wildflowers
23. Warm sun on a chilly day
24. Dancing to the music in my head
25. Dreaming in the half awake state before I get out of bed

Creative Awakenings: Art of Intention for March

2009-03-09T18:22:00.004-04:00

Creative Awakenings Book and Website! Fabulous. So I'm going to do the year long Creative Awakenings plan. Creating an Art of Intention every month and putting it into my Book of Dreams. This is March's Art of Intention. My intention is to face my fear of failure when it comes to art. I have realized that I give up too easily when it comes to my creative endevours. The slightest negative comment, in my head or by someone else, throws me out of whack and I find it impossible to continue. So my intention is to fight for what I want. To not give up so easily. To continue to create. So on the first Monday of every month, or sometime soon thereafter, you can expect to see my Art of Intention posted here.

25 of My Favoirte Books

2009-03-05T20:15:00.002-05:00

The second installment of 25 lists of 25 things.
I'm sure I've overlooked some but here it is:

25 Favorite Books

1. Little Women – Louisa May Alcott
2. Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
3. Anything by Barbara Kingsolver
4. Clan of the Cave Bear series – Jean M. Auel
5. Dragonriders of Pern series – Anne McCaffery
6. Dune – Frank Herbert
7. Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
8. Watership Down – Richard Adams
9. Winnie-the-Pooh books – AA Milne
10. A Child’s Garden – Molly Dannenmaier
11. Night Noises and Other Moll and Troll Stories - Tony Johnston
12. The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron
13. The Vampire Chronicles – Anne Rice
14. The Chronicles of Narnia – C. S. Lewis
15. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass – Lewis Carroll
16. The Giving Tree and Where the Sidewalk Ends– Shel Silverstein
17. Grimm’s Fairy Tales – The Brothers Grimm
18. Isaac Asimov’s Short Stories
19. Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert
20. Christina Katerina and the Box – Patricia Lee Gauch
21. Illusions: Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah – Richard Bach
22. The Tao of Pooh – Benjamin Hoff
23. The Mists of Avalon – Marion Zimmer Bradley
24. A Wrinkle in Time – Madeleine L’Engle
25. Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D – Lizzie Simon

Creative Awakenings: Random Acts of Creativity

2009-03-02T17:57:00.005-05:00

I found this great website, Creative Awakenings. http://creativeawakenings.ning.com/ The Random Acts of Creativity prompt for last Friday was: Perhaps all the dragons of our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us once beautiful and brave. - Rainer Maria Rilke

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

2009-02-27T19:15:00.005-05:00

I'm not liking my desk job much lately. Feeling a little restless.

25 Random Things About Me

2009-02-25T18:30:00.004-05:00

I'm creating a list of 25 lists of 25. This was inspired by my facebook note 25 Random Things About Me. So this is my first list of 25:

25 Random Things about Me

1. I love to whistle to Cecilia by Simon and Garfunkel.
2. I drink 6-8 cups of herbal or green tea everyday.
3. I have seven brothers and sisters. Nine if you count step-siblings.
4. I was adopted by my dad and so were 4 of my siblings.
5. My favorite food is strawberries dipped in chocolate tofu mousse.
6. Some of my favorite childhood books were Christina Katerina and the Box, Night Noises and Other Mole and Troll Stories, and The Monster at the End of This Book. I thought Christina Katerina was about me. :)
7. Some of my favorite children’s books now are Click Clack Moo Cows That Type and Hey There Ant.
8. I used to practice making faces in the mirror as a child.
9. I still dream about living off the land, being self sufficient.
10. My secret dream is being famous.
11. I love coloring in my coloring books, wearing my pajamas all day, lying in the grass, warm rain in the autumn, rainbows, lying in bed at night and talking to my sweetheart, the sun shinning on the prisms in my office, the smell of snow, and the whole experience of chocolate
12. I have a bulletin board in my office that I fill with things that I want more of in my life. Pictures, magazine pages, cards, quotes, and any other images that inspire me to be who I want to be.
13. My favorites are purple, lily of the valley, lilac, gardening, rabbits, spring, and chocolate.
14. Sitting on my back stoop early in the morning eating breakfast is one of my great joys. I wish I did it more often.
15. In my life I have had rabbits, rats, mice, gerbils, hamsters, ferrets, cats, dogs, fish, sharks, newts, frogs, fiddler crabs, and crawfish.
16. The Metamorphosis of Narcissus is my favorite Salvador Dali piece.
17. I started writing poetry when I was very young. I kept it in a red faux suede book that my mom made for me.
18. When I was 13 my dad gave me a yellow rose for my birthday. He sent it to the house and I secretely wished he had sent it to school so I could gloat over the people I didn't like.
19. I have been with my sweetheart for almost 13 years.
20. Sometimes I wish I could turn my brain off.
21. Infinity Hymn is my favorite song by Stuart Davis.
22. I once made love during a solar eclipse.
23. I need 8-10 hours of sleep every night.
24. I only had three wisdom teeth.
25. I want to visit an ashram in India before I die. I want to meditate and do yoga. I want to have a yoga guru.

Coming Soon: 25 of My Favorite Books

Tea

2009-02-21T14:48:00.006-05:00

I was having a rough day the other day and my dearest friend suggested a cup of tea. She was so right! I love tea. Jasmine Green and Good Earth Original are my favorites. The warmth, the comfort. I created this collage to help me re-center myself. I think the quote says it all.

Inspire Me Thursday: Silver

2009-02-20T23:54:00.004-05:00

Silver has been represented by the symbol of the crescent Moon for centuries. Werewolves, or Lycanthopes, are noted for their vulnerability to silver weapons. And werewolves are closely tied to the phases of the moon. This is my interpretation of this week's inspiration: Silver. I created this in Photoshop. The quote is from The Wolf Man.

Inspire Me Thursday: Lace

2009-02-18T18:41:00.005-05:00

I just found a great blog, Inspire Me Thursday. This week's inspiration was Lace. This is my interpretation: Lace Cookies. I didn't have time to make any so I don't have a picture, but here is the recipe:

Classic Lace Cookies
1/2 cup almond meal
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup firmly-packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium saucepan over low heat, heat the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and corn syrup until the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, stirring often. Increase the heat to medium high and, stirring constantly, bring the mixture JUST to a boil. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour and salt until incorporated. Stir in the almond meal, vanilla extract, and almond extract if using.
Drop the batter by the teaspoon, 3 inches apart, on the prepared baking sheets Bake the cookies until evenly light brown, approximately 8 to 10 minutes until the cookies spread, become thin, and take on a deep golden color.
When you remove the cookies from the oven, allow them to cool for 30 seconds to 1 min. With a spatula, remove the cookies from the baking sheet and place on a rolling pin, glass, or other curved object. As the cookies cool, they will take on the curve of the rolling pin. If desired, once cool, dip the edges of the cookies in melted chocolate.

My Online Art Journal

2009-02-14T18:37:00.012-05:00

I am purple. I am many shades. Violet, lavender, periwinkle, amethyst, lilac, blue-violet. I am purple, variations, nuances, complexities. Red-violet, ultraviolet, purple-black, Crown chakra, blueberries. Ephemeral, dark, adaptation. I am all these things and more. I am purple.

I've been journaling off and on for my whole life. My first diaries were made from cutting that old striped green and white computer paper into blocks and stapleing them together. I wrote about my sister, the kids at school, my parents. During high school English class, it was a class assignment to journal for 10 min at the beginning of each class. I poured out all my teenage angst onto those pages. My first love, betrayed friendships, etc. Then during college, I did the Artist's Way as an independant study. As part of that book, you must write morning pages - three of them- every morning. I filled journal upon journal with insights, turmoil, experimentation, quotes, poetry, observations, stories, dreams. . .

Now I want to start a different kind of journal. A visual journal. To have an outlet for my overflowing creativity. So this is my online art journal.

I am Purple

2009-02-13T18:42:00.006-05:00

Once I wrote a poem for a get-in-touch-with-your-inner-artist book. The activity was to pick a color and write a few sentences describing yourself in the first person. This is the poem I wrote:
I am Royal. I am Elegant. I am fun, crazy, exciting. I am purple. Delicate fragile orchid. Strong, unrefined thistle. I am a violet, small and beautiful and prolific and useful. I am grapes, succulent and juicy. And wine, complex and warming. I am Mom's afghan, cozy and soft. I am the evening sky, like velvet, stunning, beautiful. I am purple.
A few years later in another attempt to get in touch with my inner artist, I created this poster.