School and The Leopard

I haven't blogged in a week because there has been very little to blog about! Things are slow right now and I am adjusting to a more normal, after the holidays schedule. I went back to work on January 5th and it is good to get back to some kind of routine again.

I am getting ready to go back to school January 2oth. My first class is Art Education Methods for Elementary School at Boise State University.

I had another Vocational Rehab appointment this week. They are going to pay for most of the tuition for my class and my parking permit! Yay! I have to pay for about $300.00 of tuition, but that it great considering that the total bill is about $1,100.00! And that is just for one class! Wow! College is expensive! For the next semester, I am hoping to take two classes per semester and it would be great to squeeze in one summer school class, but I don't know if that will work out. Another option that I have is I may take some courses from the new Idaho community college that recently opened up. It is much more affordable. I just have to make sure that the classes I take at the community college are transferrable credits for BSU.

I have been able to fit in some time for artwork now that holiday madness it over! I am still working on the leopard in the tree. It is turning out to be quite challenging, but I think it will be a good piece when it is done. When you are painting/drawing an animal with a spotted pattern like this one, it is a challenge to make it look 3-D and realistic instead of just looking like a flat graphic art piece. But that is why I wanted to do it. This piece is a good learning experience for me.

Abandoning The Old; Starting On The New--2009 Here I Come!

Holidays are officially over and I have even taken down most of my Christmas decorations. As to be expected, there has not been much time for art work because I have been preparing for parties, shopping after Christmas sales, cleaning & organizing my house, and getting my file drawers ready for 2009.

December 31st was the last day of my art exhibit at Dawson's, a downtown coffee shop. So I drove down there and took down my paintings.

I did a little work on a piece I was doing that is suppose to be an illustration for part of Isaiah 43:2, but I abandoned it because I wasn't happy with the composition and there were too many artistic problems that I couldn't solve. This illustration has to due with lots of water and being able to get through the water without it sweeping you away. I just haven't come up with something that works yet. I usually find that when I put something aside and go back to it several weeks (or months) later, I come up with a solution to my problem.

Since I have this week off from work, I decided to get a head start on painting rock animals. My next art show is in March, when have a art display booth at the Cat Show. I think I am going to focus on preparing for this show early so when March comes, I don't feel so pressured.

I also started a new piece. I am doing a leopard in a tree. I am intrigued with drawing and painting the big cats that have those lovely patterns on them (tigers and leopards). I think this is going to be a really good piece.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I have posted my 2008 Christmas card that I designed and created. The two cats on my card are my cats, Maynard, the beautiful Maine Coon (left) and Bonzai Pete, the Birman (right).

If I had a Christmas list, I think it would be to go to school full time and forget having to deal with a part-time job!

Because of the holidays, I will probably not be blogging much until after December 27th. So to everyone out there, I wish you a very Merry Christmas! May God bless you and give you a time of holiday fun, peace, and love with your families!

Follow My Heart????

Have you ever had a week where someone is demanding too much of your time, attention and focus, and you really aren't interested anymore, but you have no choice in complying? Well such is the case with me and my job situation. I am burnt out doing custodial work. I am burnt out physically and emotionally. The job that started out as a mellow, low-stress job is turning into something a little more intense than I want it to be, mostly due to change of management.

My heart's focus right now is on spending time with my family and friends during Christmas, enjoying the wonderful music and the message of giving to others and celebrating Christ's birth. This is where my heart is at. Instead, I am having to force myself to focus on new ways to vacuum, new ways to clean, etc., etc., etc., because management says that some of the old ways just aren't working and they are probably right, but my heart just is not in it and I just don't care that much.

I find that my heart is longing for teaching art and creating art, but I am forced to spend more and more of my emotional and mental focus on cleaning--something that I really don't consider that important in life. It is dull and it is unfulfilling. I want more from life than this! I have to pretend to care about and be motivated towards something that I do not really care about. When what I REALLY care about and am motivated to do (art and teaching art) gets ignored because I'm too tired or limited in time.

This is NOT ME! I am seriously going to consider moving towards something else--possibly being a teacher's aid. That way I can get a chance to help with class art projects from time to time and it would at least be more in line with my career goals. But first I need to research this and make sure it would be the right step for me. I have to make sure that I will not be moving from the frying pan into the fire! I talked to Vocational Rehab about this and they said they may be able to assist me in finding something that is better suited to me physically and is less wear and tear on my neck and back. I think I am coming to the realization that I may not be able to do custodial work for as long as I thought I would--like all the way through college and until I graduate. (At least that was my original plan.) I am asking myself, "Do you really think you can do custodial work for that long?" Eventually, I am going to have to find something else.

I Got Funds For College!

This week has been very, very intense and crazy and I have not been able to do any blogging until now. This week has been a bit of a roller coaster ride. Things have gotten rather crazy at work and I feel totally burnt out. Thank God my last day at work is Thursday and then I have a two week vacation and don't have to come back until January 5th! Yay!

There hasn't been any time for doing any artwork and I am in need of some "art therapy" right now! Most of my spare time has been spent with Christmas preparations of decorating, getting presents, sending out cards, etc.

Today I got some really great news! I am going to receive money from Vocational Rehab for college next year (in Spring)! And I will get the money in time for the payment deadline of January 15th. I will get enough money to take at least one class, maybe two. I am taking a class on Art Education methods for elementary school. I wanted to also take an English Literature class, but I'm not sure about that one. The classes are all closed and I can't find any that don't conflict with my work schedule.

Today I feel that I have moved one step closer towards my dream of becoming an art teacher. It has been slow and frustrating, but at least now I am seeing some results!

BSU New Student Orientation

Last Friday I went to the Boise State University Orientation for new students. Above is a photo of my official Boise State Bronco Card. Is this cool or what?! This is just one more step in my quest to become a certified art teacher.

I enjoyed the orientation and found it very helpful. However, it was a bit like a puzzle or a mystery maze that I had to figure out. Several of my classes from previous colleges did not get transferred over and accepted as credit towards my degree. This made it difficult for me to be able to decide which classes I needed to register for. The biggest problem I ran into is when I tried to register for classes, most all the classes were filled or I couldn't find any that were open and that did not interfere with my afternoon part-time job at Hillcrest Elementary School. New students have to wait until they go through orientation to register for classes. Returning students can all register early, leaving next to nothing 0pen for us newbies. It was frustrating to be so close to getting into school at last and yet so far!

Anyway, I got a terrible headache trying to figure everything out and felt sick, so I just went home without being able to register for any classes. I took the advice of another advisor at BSU and called the BSU advisor that handles Art Education degree students and made an appointment with her this week to try and straighten out some of the confusion about the classes that did not show up as being transferrable for credit. I only want one (maybe two)classes in the Spring, but I may have to show up at a class without having registered and attend class until someone drops it and then I can be put in. Trying to find an opening into a class is like trying to get to the best sales on Black Friday. I hope I don't get trampled on like some people at Wal-Mart did!

The other piece of the puzzle that has to fall into place soon is getting the funds for college from Vocational Rehab. I have an appointment December 17th. I was told that this appointment will help to facilitate the funds that I will need, but I don't know exactly when they will come. Do you think I will get lucky and get the funds by January 15th (when college classes have to be paid for)?

Oh well.....The saga continues. If there is one thing I have learned is that rarely does anything come easy that is worth while and you have to be persistent and keep trying. My heart is worth fighting for!

Festival Of Trees Photos

Above are some photos from the St. Al's Festival of Trees that I went to last Saturday. I posted some of my favorite Christmas trees and decorations along with a photo of the group of friends that went with me to this event. (I'm the third one to the right with the glasses.) This exhibit was like an art exhibit and I loved seeing the artistic and creative decorations that other people had thought of. The fish in the photo above were actually made from cut up plastic water bottles that were painted. Not only was this event a blast to go to, it also helped me grow as an artist. Maybe I will use some of these ideas for some of my classes at BSU.