Poet Nancy Wood

I was talking to a former student a few weeks ago.  Somehow we got onto the subject of my paintings in college.  One was a fabric collage with paint and dream catchers attached.  It was based on one of my favorite poems by Nancy Wood.  It is called The Four Sisters of Everlasting Beauty.

But I have another poem of hers that is my absolute favorite.

Why the Great Spirit Made Hands

The Great Spirit made hands before he made
     eyes or feet, so people could learn to hold
     one another. Hands were useful for touching
     the hard ribs of trees or the soft tongues of flower petals.
     Hands discovered the dry uncertainty of snakes, the
     slipperiness of fish, the mystery of feather. Hands found
Other hands and clasped together to embrace the oncoming world,
     unafraid. Two pairs of hands, burned by fire and cooled
     by water, felt their way along unfamiliar paths and then
     reached out and found they needed one another
     to make a home in the wilderness of their minds.

Recharged

I had been extremely exhausted lately. Life has overwhelmed me this year with choices, and responsibilities that have helped me to get over things that have always made me uncomfortable or have even feared. I've had more honest and open conversations with my mom and dad about family stuff that has bothered me. I've become more comfortable in allowing myself to be more vulnerable and to ask for help(I'm still taking baby steps, but its happening a bit more). And I've come to realize and accept some of my flaws that I never wanted to see before. But the journey of all of this and the process has been draining. It's like an emotional roller coaster that gives you no breaks from the ups and downs. The small changes that I thought would be easy to handle and adapt to had more of an impact than I could have ever imagined. As a result, I have felt drained of all the happy magic that makes me feel whole. I desperately needed to not be home. So I packed up and flew out to see my best friend in Chicago. Our other best friend was able to join us and we had a brief, but wonderful girls weekend. Laughing, talking about some real issues and digging a little deep into ourselves, and walking, walking, and walking was the agenda for this weekend. It feels like there is a lot of enthusiam, hope, and new starts that are happening or are about to happen.

As I'm sitting on the plane flying home, looking out the window at the beautiful world below me. I find myself thinking how much this activity used to terrify me. I used to hate flying, especially the take-offs and landings. I especially had difficulty sitting near the window and looking down. But I'm sitting here absolutely LOVING IT! I even requested the seat to begin with. I'm also wondering at what point did I stop being so afraid of this. I'm starting to realize that there are many things that I've "feared" and have allowed other things in life to become excuses for me. And I know I have to stop doing that. My body is itching for me to make changes. This trip was just the start. I'm feeling recharged and ready to start running down the path I was originally mapping out for myself. I've fallen a bit behind and need to get caught up.

I've attached a few photos of Kelen Mermizzle and Larry Mizzle, who went with me. Unfortunately, they didn't get to see that much of Chicago. And a photo from my flight home. I haven't done an email post, so I'm not sure if all of the photos will post. I guess we'll find out soon enough. Almost home :)

Inspired by life

I like how certain things in my personal life inspire my latest creations.  I feel like it helps me honor or show my appreciation for the things and people I have in my life.

I have been going to Fit Body Bootcamp in Brea since October.  I love it!  The workouts consist of 1-2 exercises per section and we rotate.  I enjoy the workouts because they can easily be tailored to your needs.  Everyone there is extremely encouraging and supportive.  It's like having an exercise family.  Well, we had this one workout a few weeks ago and I was just motivated to draw it.  It became one of my daily sketches.   The sketch was fun to create, but it didn't look right to me.  It felt really scrunched together. 

I thought it would be fun to do a color version.  I rearranged some of the characters and added a few more. 

I am working with Derwent Inktense Pencils. 

 

 

 

Another piece I've been working on is a painting for my mom.  A few weeks ago, she was telling one of her co-workers that she has my artwork hanging in every room in the house, except the bathroom.  I was telling my students about the conversation, when one of them mentioned that I should make a painting for her bathroom.  Another student laughed and said the painting should be of a squirrel sitting on the toilet.  I laughed really hard and then I saw the image in my head... the squirrel sitting on the toilet, and a line of Mizzles doing the potty dance waiting for their turn. 

  I am working in acrylic, so this painting is taking longer than I had hoped. But that is because it is not really a portable painting, where I can just work on it at any time or location. 

 

 

 



Radio Silence

I've been quiet lately.  Part of it is that it is that time of the school year when life gets crazy with AP testing, state testing, award ceremonies, trying to finish murals, trying to help those students who are failing get a passing grade, dealing with changes within my department, and helping out with family stuff.  It amazes me how a few small changes has a huge impact on your life. I've been pretty exhausted lately.  I've been in this state of not wanting to think or have to make decisions, which is never good.  Laziness has been my enemy lately, but I feel like I'm putting up a good fight.

In the midst of my busy schedule, I participated in my 4th RAWartists showcase.  This time it was located in Costa Mesa at the Shark Club.  The venue was much larger than the previous locations.

Photo by Alex Gomez

To be honest, I was a bit disappointed with this showcase, but I guess those details really don't matter considering this was my most profitable show. It seemed like the whole night I was making a sale. I sold mostly prints and dolls, but a few originals went to good homes. I like doing these shows because I enjoy meeting other artists...or realizing how small the world is and running into familiar faces.  I like hearing the stories of other artists and their journey.

Mom's paper weight on her desk

As for my art journey, I've been creating a lot of small pieces.  Carpooling with my mom a few days a week means having to kill time waiting for her to get out of work.  So, I've been working small, so that it is portable and I have something to do while I wait.  

Some of the drawings were done on her post-it note pads because I was really bored and forgot to bring something with me.

 Most of the other drawings were done in my sketchbook.  Here are a few of the sketchbook drawings:

The sketches I like the most, I would redraw them onto mixed media paper and begin making color versions. A lot of them are incomplete, but they keep me busy as I wait.  By the way, I'm in love with my Derwent Inktense pencils!  The color is so vibrant!  It doesn't work well for large areas, but I'm figuring out ways to work around that.

TLC Mermizzle Auction

Every year, the school I work at does a fundraiser.  Actually, we do many fundraisers and are considered one of the top 5 schools in the nation for fundraising.  This time of year we fundraise money for a non-profit organization called TLC, True Lasting Connections, who provide health care, dental, vision, clothes, etc. to students in our community.  To know that we are helping our own students, and to see our students care so much about doing something great is quite a sight.  To contribute, I make about 13-15 Mizzles and auction them off for a week.  They each are given fun names and stories.  It is fun to see my students and co-workers compete over who will win their favorite Mizzle. 

Here are the Mizzles who have found great homes and provided close to $300 for TLC:

Name: Ula-la

 

Bio:        Ula-la has the super ability to become a disco ball at will.  This makes her very popular at all of the parties!  Unfortunately, it takes 13 hours before she can return to her normal self.  When she is in disco ball form, she loves to use cheesy pick-up lines on nearby lamps…the good looking ones, of course!

               In her past time, she loves to throw sprinkles at other Mermizzles and yell “DEVIL BE GONE!” then turns into a disco ball and rolls away.

Name: Domuz Igpay

 

Bio:  Her name is literally Pig in Turkish and Pig Latin.  Domuz spends most of her time wondering what the weird creatures are on her body because she has never seen land animals before.  She loves to practice acupuncture on puffer fish to help them with their anxiety.  Her favorite food is sushi even though it is highly frown upon in Mermizzle society.  She has the secret super power to turn into a glow in the dark pig. 

Name: Gidget

 

Bio:        She is a curious little one, who loves to take things apart to see how they work and carefully puts them back together.  She loves to study the development and movements of bugs, which she translates into interpretive dance.  In her free time, she loves to melt crayons.

 

 

 

Name: Snow Pea

 

Bio:        Snow Pea is a special little creature, who has one real eye, but wears a fake one to fit it with the other Mizzles.  Whenever someone stands on her left, she thinks they have the super power to become invisible, but really they are just standing in her blind spot.  She loves to show off her ability to shoot hairballs on command. She spends most of her day picking hair off of animals one by one until she has enough to make a scarf.  Her favorite word is “kerplunk.”

 

 

Name: Cotovatre

 

Bio:        Cotovatre thinks he is a suave Mermizzle.  He loves cheesy pick-up lines and tests them out on sea cucumbers.  His favorite line is “Are you Swedish? Because you’re the Swedish fish in the sea.”  He can invert his stripes on command.  He leads his posse of clown fish around the ocean and play connect-the-dots on any spotted fish.

 

 

Name: Nixie

Bio:        She is a mischievous one, who loves to rearrange things to confuse others.  No one ever suspects her because she has mastered the look of confusion. Her partner in crime is Pooford, a funny looking sea creature.  They enjoy stealing anything that begins with the letter “R.”  She has the ability to shed hair on command. In her spare time, she throws tea parties for sea snails.

 

Name: Morgan

 

Bio:        He is the Arnold Schwarzenegger of the Mermizzles.  He is a body builder, who loves to be the center of attention.  His favorite hobby is to make rainbows with skittles, but he considers it his super power.  He lives his life as if he were in a music video, so he’ll randomly sing and dance. 

 

 

 

Name: Corwyn and Chenai

Bio:  Twins, who love to claim to be related to the playing cards in Alice in Wonderland.  Corwyn is older and loves to boss his sister around.  He thinks he is the greatest Mermizzle alive.  Chenai lets her brother think he is her boss, but always does things her way when he isn’t looking.  Together they share a telepathic link, but whenever they think the word “you” they confuse it for the words “me” or “I”.  This leads to many confusing conversations amongst the two.

 

 

Name: Windex

Bio:        His parents named him after the first thing they saw.  Ironically, he’s good at cleaning. He can shoot windex from his left tail-fin-thingy. Sometimes it leaks when he gets nervous.  He enjoys breaking and entering into homes to clean their windows and mirrors.

 

Name: Tyrone

Bio:        His hobby is tap dancing.  His tail doesn’t move very fast so he wears a cape.  He thinks it makes him swim faster, but he always gets caught on everything.  He has the ability to communicate with Sea Monkeys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name: Voltara

 

Bio:        She’s a runway model since she has long legs.  She likes to sneak into stores and change the mannequin’s clothes because she thinks they look tacky.  But her colorblindness doesn’t help either.

 

 

 

 

 

Name: Razziel

Bio:        Every time he sneezes the temperature goes up a degree.  His only mirror is a funhouse mirror, so he thinks he is short and kind of oddly shaped.  He’s known as the limbo king, since he can limbo ON SKATES!!!  He enjoys staying up late to watch infomercials.  He can never resist buying the hair care products even though he doesn’t have hair.  He’s an “As seen on TV” addict, but will never admit it.

 

Name: Corliss

Bio:  She is good hearted and carefree.  She enjoys making bubbles while pretending to be an airplane.  Her antennae can detect when somebody is close by, but it only works within a fin radius (note: one fin = one foot).  She spends her free time braiding twizzlers.

All of the characters found wonderful homes.  Thank you to all of the students and staff who participated in the auction!  And a special thanks to my storytellers: Kimberly Vance, Geovanna Torres, and Joanna Lee, who helped give them additional life.

 

Keeping Sane?

This month has been crazy with preparations for state visits at our school.  It has been quite stressful, actually.  My usual methods of keeping sane haven't been working.  I have resorted to fixating on one thing each day that makes me happy.  Lately, it has been spending time in our garden at school and discovering the new growth. One of the Aides, who works with a special needs student, has been talking to me about the Zentangle books. 

 It has made me think about how stressed out I used to be about 4 or 5 years ago and how my randomness series of lines, dots, and swirls allowed me a way to escape. I kind of missed the feeling of numbness that doodling creates.  The rhythm of the pen moving on the paper creates a calm and peaceful trance where the mind allows itself to become quiet.  All of your problems and stress seem to disappear.  Last Wednesday, the stress seemed to escalate, so I decided to begin doodling.  I added Stargazer to the drawing. 

The more I added to the drawing, the more controlled and detailed it became.  After an hour, I looked at it and realized I must have been more stressed than I thought.  

I only draw in such small details when I am extremely stressed.  The drawing is not complete, but since it is my therapy piece, I guess it doesn't matter.

I'm not entirely sure how much this drawing has helped with my stress.  I think it has helped a bit, but it hasn't given me what it once has done in the past. 

Roldan's Haven

A little over a year ago, my 2 co-workers, our students, and myself create a native plant garden on our campus. It was many months of many long hours, but today it was totally worth it.  This month has been very stressful.  It seems to never end, and it continues to become more stressful as our visitations arrive.  Spending time in our garden has been one of my happy places this week.  It is amazing!  Everyday something new has bloomed.  And there are ladybugs EVERYWHERE!!!!  I have finally caved in and signed up for instagram (mizzleadventures).  As I have been taking photos and posting them, I had decided to tag the location "Roldan's Haven."  It is a wonderful place to be. Here are a bunch of photos I've taken these past few days: