Inside The Magnolia

"Inside The Magnolia" - Enhanced Digital Photo

This is the subject photo for the manipulated one above:

"Magnolia Pistil"

I hope you don't think that I'm saying that one is better than the other; they're just a different look at the same subject matter.

Tangy Zoodle #110

Tangy Zoodle #110

Playing with a purple Micron pen! And, of course, some new tangle designs.

Tangy Zoodle #109

Tangy Zoodle #109

Why I Love Children At Weddings

It seems to me that one of the biggest debates among brides and mothers of the bride is whether or not to invite children to a wedding; and the debate covers all the obvious reasons. If anyone were to ask my opinion (very few do) I always vote FOR having children at a wedding. For one thing, I view a wedding as a family event and there's nothing that says family more or is a better representation of what a marriage is all about than to have as many generations present as possible.

But more importantly, children create comic relief.

Of all the weddings I've attended, my greatest memories are of the children who were present and their wonderful antics, some consciously enacted, others not .One of my best memories is of the flower girl who wore the tennies that light up when you walk under her floor length dress. During the reception, out on the dance floor, her little feet created sparks of light under the hem of her dress. On the occasion of weddings, children are dressed in their best clothes, often an imitation of what the grown-ups are wearing and you see them trying on their best manners; but of course, after a certain point in time it becomes a little more than they can bear.  

Most recently, at my niece Olivia's wedding, her eight year old cousin, who was also the ring bearer was the source of amusement (to me) at her reception. The bride obviously did not appreciate it at the moment, but hopefully she'll remember it as funny in years to come.

Every bride has a vision in her head of how her wedding day should look. Here are Olivia and John leaving the reception hall dressed for their Hawaiian honeymoon while well wishers blow bubbles in their path. Note the well dressed little boy on the right. We'll call him Jack (because that's his name).

Olivia and John are obviously feeling happy about their nuptials and the gathering of their loved ones.

Suddenly, Jack appears in front of them. Notice the position of his left hand. Just as Olivia turned to look at him, he blew a wand full of bubbles right into her face.

The happy bride, looking not quite so happy now as she points a chastising finger at her little cousin.

And HORRORS! as she realizes she now has a mouth full of soap!

Olivia needs a moment to get that bitter taste out of her mouth. Everyone else is carrying on as though nothing has happened.

Seeing my camera pointed in her direction, Olivia fights valiantly to regain her composure.

With one last word of admonishment aimed at Jack (whom she truly adores) the bride and groom make their way to the waiting limo.

No harm, no foul. The day was not ruined. But this is why I think children should always be invited to weddings; to provide entertainment for crazy old aunts like me! :D

Seashell Series

 Probably about a year ago, I acquired a weathered, white, 3-window picture frame from my mother that I always knew I wanted to use for some future artwork. I recently decided it would be a good picture frame for my upcoming photography show and I decided I wanted to feature photos of seashells.

Also, about a year ago, I purchased seashells from a local gift shop with the idea of using them in artwork (which I haven't) and I laid these shells out on some brown bark paper which I have in my paper arsenal.

Then I photographed a dozen or more photos of these shells and worked with them in photoshop in order to come up with three designs to use in the frame.

Here are the results of that exercise.

April Newsletter

Here's a link to my newsletter for April. You might want to don some shades first. It's pretty bright!

April Newsletter

Health Insurance & Easter Candy

"Malted Milk Easter Eggs" - enhanced digital photo

Now I suppose you're wondering what one has to do with the other. Well, they both make me very happy.

Seriously, I've been battling the system trying my hardest to obtain a health insurance policy which I can afford since the beginning of the year. I would think that I had the system beat only to have it turn around and beat me. Finally, yesterday, the struggle was over and I received confirmation of the coverage that I wanted and some proof of insurance with which to file a claim.

This morning, I made my twice monthly trip to Walgreens to get one of my prescriptions filled. I love Walgreens because they have been working with me every step of the way. While I didn't have any health insurance, they enrolled me in their prescription plan so that I was only paying about 60% of what my scrips cost.

Both the pharmacist and I held our breath while she entered the numbers from my plan into the system and voila! I had a successful claim! I saved enough on my prescription to purchase a half gallon of milk, my favorite Easter candy and a very reasonably priced big bottle of cabernet sauvignon and still have $25 left over out of my scrip budget. 

Woohoo! Life is good! At least, for today. :D

Just Me, By Myself

"Orange" - Enhanced Digital Photo
I guess you can see that I'm peeling myself open like an orange.

I've begun a new chapter in my life. It's thrilling. But not everyone in my life is thrilled for me. And not all of my blog followers will be thrilled, either. Although this blog has primarily been about my art, I call it "a crabulous life" because it was always my intention to write about other aspects of my life, as well.

Ending a marriage, especially a long one, is never easy. It's easy to point fingers and the desire to blame is great. But . . . everyone has their demons. Ours just did not play well together.

Life goes on and new chapters are always being written. Remember that old Carly Simon song, "That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be"? There's a phrase from that song which has long haunted me. It goes, "I'll never learn to be just me first, by myself."

That line is significant. That is an important step in life for all people. It's nearly impossible to contribute to a relationship when you don't even know who you are independently of another human being. It's a step that I missed in my life and as I learned more and more about myself during my marriage, we pretty much discovered that I was not the woman my ex hoped I would be.

So now I'm on a quest to be "just me, by myself," and I feel a need to share it with the world. Don't worry. There will still be art. Art and creativity is all a very big part of me. But, there'll be other things as well.

~Kristeena