The Joys and Sorrows of a New Car

So, I got a new car last weekend and I am totally in love with it. It's a Mazda 5, which is what I fondly refer to as a Micro Minivan. It's about the size of my old Toyota Matrix, but the back doors slide open like a van and it has a 3rd row seat the folds flat. The gas mileage is awesome, I've been averaging close to 30mpg. Needless to say, since it is small and not heavy like my old van, it has some pick up and I don't tend to notice that I'm speeding, so I've already managed to get pulled over by the police. I was on my way to the DMV to renew my license and then planned on going to the bank to finalize the sales paperwork on the car when I was caught speeding. Luckily the cop was really kind and didn't give me a speeding ticket. Unfortunately, my license had been expired for a few months, so he gave me a ticket for the expired license. I was so close to the DMV office, that I could see them - I could've walked there in less than 5 minutes. Anyway, now I have a court date for next month and hopefully the DA will be kind enough to dismiss the ticket. The vultures have already come out in droves, though. I've already managed to get a ton of solicitations from lawyers. The two below are only a small sampling of what I've gotten.

Frustration has set in. This is the third time I've gone over this painting with white. I just don't know what direction I want to take it. I keep mixing dark tones and just don't like the feeling it evokes after painting it. So, once again, another coat of white.

Art Class - Creating Depth

So, I started my second set of art classes and this past week was learning about creating depth. Our teacher has a ton of magazine pics and photocopies for us to go through for ideas and inspiration or just to copy - I chose a grove of trees. I liked the picture because of the light that was coming in from behind the trees. I chose to do it in shades of blue and kept it simple. It's funny, when I finished it, I didn't care for it much and didn't think it looked right, but after it dried and I had time to contemplate it, I have to say, it turned out ok. I had tons of leftover paint and since I hate to just throw it away, I grabbed another canvas and painted over a picture that I had painted that I didn't care for anyway.

trees (depth study)


leftover paint

Autumn Changes

I so love the Fall season. It's full of so many changes. It is the one time of the year when I think you truly see natures beauty. Alas, my Fall is full of changes this year too. Just in case you haven't figured it out from cryptic post, I am now a single mother, not by choice. My husband has made his choice to move on without me and I have to follow. I have so many regrets now (waiting to go to school until he finished, putting my career on hold for the kids) and now it will be more difficult for me to fulfill my dreams. But, I will not stop these changes for preventing me from doing the things I wanted to do, from achieving my dreams, and from finding the happiness that true love can bring. I didn't let him leave without telling him that I still loved him and wanted him to stay, I didn't want to regret not letting him know, but it wasn't enough. There is no one to blame but ourselves as we really allowed ourselves to drift so far apart that we were no longer on the same page. Hopefully, things will continue to be amicable, although I'm sure I haven't made things easy. I am amazed at how much anger I have inside right now mixed at the same time with a sense of relief. I guess I feel relief because I felt it coming for a long time. My focus is now directed at my two babies, 5 years old and 21 months old. I think I'm the saddest of all for them. My youngest will never really know his father the way the oldest does and my oldest knows how her father is and is missing him terribly, not that he is an absent father just that she is used to having him around all the time. Anyway, this will be the last time that I mention this as I cannot move forward when I am looking back.

I Will Survive

My one lonely daisy still surviving as the others have all faded to brown or wilted away. I feel a strange affinity to this one flower. You got to love a survivor.

Something to Make Your Skin Crawl

Just wanted to share my beautiful creepy, crawly that has invaded my garden - hence why my flower bed is now infested with weeds.

Reflected Light

In progress. This started out taller than wider, but once I painted it, I felt it looked better displayed sideways.