Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

Keep your eyes peeled. The Christmas spirit shows up in some of the most unlikeliest of places.
Happy Holidays everyone! - I only have three and a half more days of work this week until my holiday break begins. I can't wait for my workshop to get into gear. I'm looking forward to wrapping a few presents, listening to some holiday music, drinking some hot cocao and maybe even going to look at some lights.
Cheers! -Misty

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

I don't have anything to post today... no time. I just wanted to say Happy Birthday to me. LOL!

Tired

Wow, I sure looked tired yesterday. Even the way I was drawing looks tired, all droopy and stretched out... and SCARY circles going on. After a good night's sleep I look much brighter today. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and spending a little time with family. Hope everyone has a great one!
Misty

Just sayin'...

Thursday

found sketch

I found this sketch from last year in my classroom. I think its kind of fun. (Kind of weird, but fun) haha...

On second thought... haha

I found out today that a student of mine was diagnosed with some pretty serious cancer. So here's me grabbing that hope back for him, and for me too.

Muses

I have these three muses I made a while back that I keep on my refrigerator. I took them with me to share on the inspiration night/workshop follow-up that I had this past Thursday night. Several people told me that I could sell them, and to maybe make some generic versions without faces. If anyone has any thoughts on this, I'd love to hear them. Thanks!

hope

This is an illustration I did today. I couldn't seem to think of better imagery for what I wanted than the balloons. Oh well... :-) **My very observant sister pointed out that the middle balloon string should have been straight cause its still tied and hanging on... she's right. oh well...lol

Inspiration

I had a rough day yesterday. I couldn't say it was one thing, cause it was a lot of little things that added up. I had a follow-up acting workshop ( for the Leadership Mastery that I took a year and a half ago) to attend that was meant to start at 6pm. I was running late, but I was going to be no more than half an hour late. Unfortunately, I forgot the location had changed and I then had to think on my feet, or wheels since I was driving, and get the new address somehow. I got really stressed out. Well, long story short, I got a hold of a friend of mine and he got the address for me. Turned out I had been parked just a few feet away for probably 30 minutes. **Here's how I know I'm growing as a person. I was having a really stressful day, hell, I've been having a really stressful couple of months, but I was able to let it go and join the class. I was just ready to be there. I got to spend an evening with a group of some of the most driven and creatively talented people in Austin, maybe anywhere. I got to listen to them share what inspired them, and I got to share what inspires me. It was so great. I still get startled when people come up to me lately and tell me how happy I look, and what wonderful energy I have. Its not something I've always heard from people, and its exciting. Over the past few months some amazing things came into my life, and I had some major disappointments; but because of them I have a different perspective on life now. I know what I'm capable of, really great things. I know how much I am worth, and its a lot. I know who my friends are, and they have my back. I know that I have a huge capacity to love, and I'm capable of unconditional love. I know what I need in life, and its not a bunch of possessions. So... even with a bad day here and there, my life is awesome. I wish some things were different but, I'm in a wonderful place, and that is pretty inspiring to me.

Senorita Misteriosa

My first year teaching art with AISD, I got this little "action figure", if you will, from one of the veteran art teachers. She was giving it away. I still don't know what in the world she is for, but I love her. HAHA! According to her box, she is an 'accoutrement for mystery'. I love the questions at the bottom on the back: Who is she? Why is she here? And who does her hair? Indeed! ;-P {Sorry about the bad scanning job. :-( }

A little peek

Here's a little peek at the other painting that I plan to hang down at the Hideout on the first of November. When I say little, I mean it. The painting is 24 by 24 and my scanner is 8.5 by 15... so its kinda hard to see... I added several things to it, because it didn't feel finished to me. Also its wierd seeing myself the way I looked last winter. My face is a lot fuller in the painting than it is now. I think I really like the pinkish read waves that I added going across the canvas, but I change my mind daily, so who knows about tomorrow. ;-)

Just curious...

Here's a little sketch I did today. I have been feeling a little curious lately, wondering and thinking about some things and people. It wasn't planned, but I think this little drawing came out looking a little curious too. :-)

Detail from one of the paintings...

This is a detail from one of the paintings that I am entering into the AISD teacher art show this year. It is titled 'Inspiration'. I painted it last spring.
Happy Tuesday,
Misty

Just so you know...

Ahhh... still sketching. Hope this one isn't too corny. LOL!
Have a great weekend everyone.
-Misty

Two Little Thursday Drawings

Hi again. Here are two little drawings from today. They are 4 inches by 6 inches. I just added some watercolors to brighten them up. Just something to do. :-) Tomorrow is Friday, yay!
PS- People always say, "What doesn't kill you, just makes you stronger...". I'm thinking at this point, I should look like a crazy strong steriod-using lady or something. LOL!

Creativity Overload

With all of this painting that I've been doing, I decided to enter two paintings in the Teacher Art Show that will be hung at the Hideout on Congress Next month. I put a couple of paintings in the show the year before last and it was really well done. I have some paintings that I did last winter/spring that I am going to put in. Who knows, maybe I can even sell one.

Tonight I have the showcase for the acting class that I take on Tuesday nights. I had been trying to find a scene for it for what seemed like forever, and then a fellow classmate just literally dropped one in my lap that worked great. I hope it goes over well. It's nice to actually get to perform in front of people that have not been watching the scene in progress. To top it off, the material in the scene (which is from Clerks) was actually uncomfortable to Mona. LOL! I'd never seen her shocked before, so that was funny, but she still likes the scene, so yay us!

I think I've gotten all of the "images" out of my head. I always worry that by painting them, it might offend some people, but it's just my way of moving past things, and getting them off of my mind, and onto paper instead. I'm looking forward to happier times, and new inspiration for my paintings and other creative outlets. I mean, it's fall for goodness sakes! There's just WAY too much fun to be had this time of year.

Laters,
Misty

PS- I'll post images of the paintings I will be hanging later, on a less crazy busy day.

Friday again...

My classes have been making some Glue Creatures as well as the pumpkins. Here are some examples. Have a good weekend, whoever you are that reads this blog. LOL!

Another Painting

Man, I think I'm gonna' have to buy a bigger scanner for my classroom or something. It's way too small. Anyway, here is a painting I did today. I really love it. It's called "You Sang To Me". It's cropped a bit off the bottom, but most of it's here. Have a nice Thursday, I'm trying hard to.

Happy October!!!

October is one of my favorite months. I think Fall is my favorite season. There's just something to that crisp cool air, and well all that good food. Yum! ;-) Here is what my second and first grade students are making in class right now. They're made by drawing with chalk on black paper, tracing the lines with glue, letting it dry, and then coloring in the shapes with drawing chalk. Festive aren't they?

A Doodle

I probably shouldn't even post anything today. I didn't have any down time in my classroom today. So... here's some doodling I did during a meeting after school. Maybe something more interesting will come along soon. :-)

The sketch-fest continues...

Well, here are a couple of sketches from today. I guess these will keep coming for a little while. It feels good to get the images out of my head, even if they are very rough. Hope your week is off to a good start.

I am good.

I missed my drawing a day yesterday, because I was not at work. So... here is my drawing for today. Have a great weekend. I'm gonna' try to. I'm good.

Today is a tiny day

I didn't have much time today to sketch, so I did a tiny little drawing of a little friend in my classroom. This little guy is two by two inches. Hey, it still counts as a drawing a day. :-)

My Day Job

I never blog about my day job, so I thought I would post a few of my tropical bird examples. I have been teaching 4th and 5th graders to draw them. Aren't they silly? Fun! Fun!

Almost A Week

Maybe I'll just do a drawing a day for a while. I seem to be in the zone. This one is called "Almost A Week".

A couple of monochromatic paintings

Here are a couple of monochromatic paintings that I started a few weeks ago. The pink one is called "Awake", and the grey one is called "With You". Both are bigger than they look, the whole painting won't fit on my scanner.

The first one, and thoughts

Ok, so in the extra time that I have recently had. I have been doing some drawing and painting. Here is one, and it is still somewhat rough. I mean, I painted it out of my head, so some of the features are probably way off. In fact, I know they are, but oh well... Anyway, what I wanted to share was what happened in a fifth grade class yesterday. I had a student who always finishes early come talk to me. He wanted to see my painting, he really liked it and started sharing his thoughts about it. (Wow, it always amazes me how intuitive and smart kids are.) He understood all the symbolism and made suggestions. I was impressed. But, the last thing he said is what struck me the most. He asked me if I was almost finished, and I said yes, then he asked "so... you're gonna' let the man win?" All, I could do is stare at him in disbelief and then think to myself. "No! I'm not." I still have more images to work out but I have a new perspective now, and I'm grateful for that.

Second one, and thoughts

Ok, this is the second image (drawing). It is VERY rough... haven't even tried to look at a photo or anything to make proportions and features correct. Even so, the feelings that I was trying to get out are all there. This image is cropped, there is more at the top and on the right-hand side. I think it has a lot of potential. I call it " Don't worry, I'll give it back." heh. Anyway... here it is.

Well, I'm painting again...

Guess I will be posting some new paintings soon. They are not really the subject I had hoped for, but I think the images will still be beautiful in their own way. I have been working through some 'things' on canvas and paper, and hopefully I will have some images to post soon. Stay tuned, this should be interesting...

My Poor Little Garden

My little garden was very neglected this summer. I'm actually surprised that I had so many plants survive. I think I watered less than five times all summer and it was HOT. I spent some time nursing it back to health this morning. I sure can't wait until it starts cooling off and I can get some fall color in it. This morning I got a new white Salvia Greggii and some pale coral verbenas to put in it for now. Tiger approved. She likes the yard much better when it's not as tall as she is. ;-)

Goodbye Summer, Hello Teaching Again

I had a really great summer this year. Maybe the best ever. I spent my summer hanging out with friends, watching movies and tv shows, acting, and going to the gym. I wasn't really ready to go back to work this morning, but I had a great day at work too. Everything just seemed to go perfectly. A girl could get used to all this happy. I leave you with one pic. It pretty much sums up my last weekend of summer break, tired but really happy.

PS- sorry if this post makes you want to gag. LOL!

Summer Butterflies

I've had a little extra time on my hands, so I made a few butterfly brooches. I'm really happy with how they came out. I especially love the yellow one. I'll be posting them on Etsy today or tomorrow.

Reflections

My life would be much simpler but I guess much less exciting if I could stick to one idea at a time. Here are some pics I took from my cell phone recently. I was heading out to the gym, and I just thought these reflection puddles on the ground after the rain from the night before were just amazing. Here are a couple of the images.

More Super Heroes

Here is another Super Hero themed painting. I call it "I Know... But What If It Was Real?" Let me know what you think. I'm planning on adding it to Etsy this coming week. I'll post another RSH themed painting soon.

Have a great week!
Misty