Recycle and Reuse

We went garage saling this morning with Tim's parents in Colorado. We ended up at a elementary school that had an entire gym filled with people...and stuff.

I like buying frames at garage sales because usually with a little TLC they can be reused to frame artwork. Also, it's tons cheaper than buying a frame from a store or getting a custom frame made.
I had some great luck today because I got several frames, some for photos and some for artwork. I got two for $9 that even had canvases in them that I can paint over and reuse. Pretty sweet!

The only problem is that it's hard for me to see art in garage sales, thrift stores and other discount places. Someone put themselves into creating something, something they felt good enough about to sell or give as a gift and then years later it becomes "junk." People don't want it anymore. It's not valued. That makes me sad.


I thought it was fitting to post the paintings I bought today so that even though I'm going to use the canvases for myself, the artist's work can still be documented and remembered somewhere by someone.

Here's to you H '87 and Walters, wherever you are.

 

Not much to report

Well, there isn't too much to report since my last post.
I finished reading My Name is Asher Lev this week. It is definitely in my "top reads" list. Very inspiring and emotional.

Also, my husband and I are getting ready to embark on a journey to Colorado for a week! We are both very excited.
Last Sunday I purchased some small-ish canvases to take with us so that I can do some plein air painting while we are there. Tim likes to bike, so I figured while he is off mountain biking I can sit and paint.
I worked this week to get my canvases ready to go. Here's a photo of all the ones that are in progress right now:

There's a lot of potential here!

I have never done plein air ("painting outside from life" for those of you who haven't heard that term before) painting before and I am excited to try it! I believe a lot of impressionist painters did this so that they would capture a specific light in a landscape. It will be interesting to try something new and see how it turns out.
I will post photos of my attempt, so stay tuned!

I'm not really a reader, but.....

One of the things that is great about not being in college anymore is that I actually have leisure time. I come home from work and then I can do pretty much whatever I want...with the exception of going to the grocery store when there's nothing in the refrigerator. I don't always want to go to the store, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do if you want to eat.

When I'm not at the grocery store, I spend a lot of time painting, and recently I have spent time (even during my lunch hour) reading.

I've always wanted to be a reader, but I've never had a really good attention span. That makes reading for pages and pages and pages kind of difficult.

I recently finished the Matched trilogy by Ally Condie (shout out to Layne and Lara for recommending it!), and now I'm on to My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. I'm seriously obsessed with this book.

It was recommended to me by another friend a couple weeks ago. A few days later I checked it out from the library (that's a crazy story in and of itself--library cards aren't as easy to come by as they make it seem...) and then a week later I was about half way through the 369-page book.

Those of you who are on the "serious-to-professional reading level" may not be impressed by this, but seriously y'all this is a super accomplishment for me...and also a testament to how amazing this book is.

It's about a young Jewish boy who has the gift of drawing. His life is very tumultuous considering his father makes reference to his art being from "sitra achra" (evil or the "Other Side") and his mother has a nervous breakdown after her brother dies. For some reason Asher can't help drawing. Sometimes he looks up and realizes that he was drawing in a textbook and doesn't remember doing it. We aren't talking the typical doodling either. His work was straight up amazing apparently.

I can't say that I can identify with Asher 100% because for one thing, I know I'm no prodigy. I also have been very fortunate to be surrounded by people who support me.

There was passage that was particularly striking to me though:

"That was the night I began to realize that something was happening to my eyes. I looked at my father and saw lines and planes I had never seen before. I could feel with my eyes...I could feel lines and points and planes. I could feel texture and color...I felt myself flooded with the shapes and textures of the world around me." (pg 108)

I wish I could feel things the way Asher does here. I have no doubt that there are really some people who have senses like that. In some small part, I am able to identify because when you study something for so long it becomes part of you. After I did all those portraits for my show, I noticed that I am very sensitive to people's noses now. I find myself looking very seriously at them. You're thinking I'm strange. But I'm really not. A nose is a very important part of making a person look the way they do. If one tiny thing is off, the person no longer looks like themselves. In this way, I am forever changed. When I look at people, I trace their noses with my eyes and try to notice every angle and nuance about it. That is how I know "that something was happening to my eyes."

I highly recommend My Name is Asher Lev to artists and even non-artists. It's a very powerful book that has probably earned a spot in my all-time favorites. I just hope that the second half is as good as the first.....

What books are you reading? Any suggestions for what to read next?