Personal Stuff

Personal thoughts and ramblings that have nothing to do with other content.

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A seed of my creative roots

Have you ever run across  something from your childhood that strikes a long forgotten emotional cord? That is what happened today when I came across these 2 paintings tucked among my stashed art resources such as frames and canvases.

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As I stared at them I felt nostalgia, puzzlement, as well as deep pleasure of a found treasure. At the same time I was thinking, “What in the world did I save paint-by-numbers for?” Then I saw the initials.

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No – that is not e.e.cummings, but these are the initials of my beloved uncle who introduced me to his writings!

Then the memories came flooding back of these hanging on my grandmother’s wall all my growing up years, painted by her son when he was still a young sprite battling polio in the 1950s or early 60s.

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My uncle was one of the major influences in my very early artistic endeavors. What a precious find.

So what if they are paint-by-number; there is such a funky charm, as well as deep connected-ness to sweet memories and tender relationships held within these youthful, exploratory strokes. What a treasure.

I will hang them in my new art studio.

“We do not believe in ourselves until someone reveals that deep inside us something is valuable, worth listening to, worthy of our trust, sacred to our touch. Once we believe in ourselves we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”
― E.E. Cummings

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22 Illustrators

5 Things I love:

  1. Creating books
  2. Making things people love
  3. Giving thoughtful gifts that strengthen relationships
  4. Teaching kids how to have giving hearts
  5. And especially involving others in the joy of doing something creative (because I believe EVERY person is creative!)

These loves coalesced a month before Mother’s Day this year when I saw this book sitting tucked away in a little store. It was like fireworks went off!

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In April of this year my mother had 22 (in June #23 arrived) grandchildren ranging in ages of 17 to a year. 14 of them are under the age of 12, so this was perfect. It even had 22 blank pages!

With a little logistics work, it happened and I got it back in time to present one of my favorite Mother’s Day gifts of all time — from all of them! (This, another book, is now my second favorite – I believe this one tops it.)

Here are some delightful excerpts:

Simeon gave grandma a colorful superhero cape – it was fun to see some of the kids use that same concept on their pages. Kids are so creative!

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Lizzy knows Grandma loves her hummingbirds so she drew one and pasted it in. Several of the older kids wrote notes on their pages.

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August Update

Hummingbird Moth / Bee

Ever since graduating in June, I have been questioning whether to dismantle this blog.

These past months I have continued as a full time Communications Specialist in the consulting project I accepted in February. The project has evolved into a lot of technical IT writing and not so much designing. The break from intense creativity after graduation has been good… but I am ready to begin adding more creative projects back into my schedule.

In the meantime, it is a Canon Rebel camera and the butterfly bush in the back yard that are providing me with the greatest pleasure this summer.

There is a possibility my love of photography may drive a new creative blog. I am knocking around some topic ideas and contemplating next steps, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, visit my new website and enjoy a taste of my current photography via the photos below:

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

Buckeye

Painted Lady

Variegated Fritillary

Mourning Cloak

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A new and exciting job!

At the end of February Artisan  , a creative staffing firm I had been trying to meet up with, sent me (sight unseen) to an interview with one of their clients. The next day I was offered a job! This was after hitting the job hunting trail for the previous 4-6 weeks and, while I spoke to a lot of consulting and staffing firms, nothing had happened. So needless to say, my head was spinning at how fast life can change.

Since I am reporting this 4 weeks later, I can say that I am thoroughly enjoying the job. It is challenging, the project is huge, and it landed on the top of 2 online design classes and 2 ground. That made it super challenging.

In addition, our group is introducing a new way of presenting the information technology group’s activities to the entire organization, and also a new way of doing business to over 10,000 employees across the US, Canada, and Mexico.

Those of you who know me know that my two favorite things are communicating and organizing. Next, I absolutely love startups or newly forming companies or groups. This company is huge and has multiple companies within it; yet it mimics a newly forming company since they are beginning to pull these silo groups under the umbrella holding company and introducing a more corporate attitude to how they do business.

I was hired by a newly formed information technology group to work as a coordinator with the marketing department to brand the group and create the communications portion of their projects. The first initiative is a rollout of Office 2007 to their entire organization. The second is a 2 year rollout of brand new computers (as well as the attending peripherals such as printers, scanners, etc.) across the organization. That is 10k computers to locations all across the US, Canada, and Mexico. It is a huge initiative. I find it exciting.

Change. I thrive on change. And while the older I get the more I question that concept (and almost long for at least some routine),  I find I still love the thrill. Also, if any of you remember, it was the fear of routine that sent me on this wild college ride in the first place!

So… yes, I thrive on change. Although I seriously thought it was going to kill me with 2 online design courses and 2 ground classes going on at the same time as a new and very challenging consulting job, somehow I survived and am now looking forward to being able to concentrate on the job.

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A break in the action

The first 5.5 weeks of the quarter gave me my first break in over 2 years. I have 2 ground classes (Illustration and a basic Business class) and one easy online (Biology). They all kept me busy but the intense creative pressure was eased.

This sudden relief was like opening the floodgates to my life that had been sucked out of me and it came rushing in like a tsunami, overwhelmingly and consuming! The next thing I knew I could not get enough of job hunting activities, reading business books, and cooking! Yes, cooking! And I am loving it.

I discovered a gluten free blogger (The Gluten-Free Goddess) who has the most delightful way of combining flavors and making every meal feel delectably adventurous and exotic. Charlotte joined my foray into this foreign land and together we were cooking up 2-3 new recipes a week. Suddenly gluten free has become the most enjoyable eating experience I have ever known.

Add to that my love of photography and of adventure sharing and I have had a very active Facebook photobook! Is this my new blog topic once school is over? Maybe.

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Family Calendar

Every year I create a family calendar.

This year I changed it up and utilized photos I took of the kids (all 19 of them) over the past year and a half. Normally I use old photos of our extended family and share family history.

This was a very fun and joyful project and it relaxed me as I started into the Winter quarter in January.

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Doomsday in 3D: Followup

Over the holiday break I took my layout to the family farm and the kids had a blast playing with it.

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Jelly Belly Photo Shoot

Our 3rd project in Advertising was chocolate. And not just any chocolate… our favorite chocolate!

Anyone who knows me or is following my blog will know that I can not eat chocolate for health reasons *insert sad face here*.

Assignment: 25 points – Buy your favorite chocolate candy and spend some time with it. Really experience it, then bring it in to share.  Write a creative brief and begin developing a campaign surrounding this wonderful candy.

This posed a problem for me. I had been craving chocolate for weeks and knew for certain that I would not be able  to immerse myself in it for 3 weeks without tasting it! After some consultation with the teacher she agreed to allow me to use jelly beans (some are chocolate- so that should count, right?) Jelly beans are no threat, but I could give them to my nieces and nephews and live vicariously through their experience! (By the end, I was having a hard time resisting their temptation, though!)

Thus… the Great Jelly Belly Event was scheduled! One Sunday afternoon I turned the kids loose on a bowl of the Cold Stone Creamery Jelly Bellys while I held the camera. It was chaotic and quite entertaining. Maybe not the most scientific photo shoot, but very immersing.

Call it research, call it a photo shoot, call it “Aunt Sheri is the bestest Aunt ever”… I called it fun and then titled it “homework”!

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Summer 2011 Break

How to take a summer break:

  • Interview during finals week and accept a job (to be an internship) to start in one week
  • Next have a major tooth extraction
  • Add a very sweet new niece, Shalome!
  • Work frantically on a client project
  • Start a new job
  • Try to get an insane amount of things caught up during the days not working
  • Go on a 4 day vacation to the Keys before school starts again… oh yeah!

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