TLC Mizzles 2015

Every year our school does a school-wide fundraiser for TLC (True Lasting Connections), which is a non-profit organization that provides a variety of health and medical services for families in the community who are in need of help.  This organization runs solely on donations and grants. It is a great organization and it feels great to participate in this fundraiser knowing the money will be going towards helping my students and their families.

A few years ago, I began auctioning my Mizzles to help raise money for this organization.  Each year, the Mizzles have become more elaborate in size, shape, and costume.  Last year, I created a superhero series.  They were fun characters who had useless superpowers.  This year the Mizzles are impersonating historical figures.

From left to right: Amelia Earhart Mizzle, Mahatma Gandhi Mizzle, Adolf Hitler Mizzle, Albert Einstein Mizzle, Abraham Lincoln Mizzle, Cleopatra Mizzle, and Queen Elizabeth I Mizzle.

Each Mizzle and their costume was sewn by hand.  They were a lot of work, but so much fun to make.

Finding Strength

I love it when conversations happen with different people at different times and a theme emerges.  I think these themes become apparent during times when we need them most.  This week the theme of strength has become a popular topic.

The obvious strength conversation has been with my best friend Lydia, who has been working out with me at the gym.  I've been doing the weightlifting program since May... I think. And it has been amazing to find out what I am capable of doing.  Lydia has begun doing the dumb bell classes with me, where she, too, has discovered her own strength.  We have both enjoyed watching our bodies transform and become stronger.  We get so excited when we see muscle developing and we talk about our favorite trainer, Anthony, all of the time.  We love the other trainers, too.  We just seem to spend more time with Anthony, and he always pushes us.  Some mornings, when I'm feeling overwhelmed by the amount of weight or the amount of reps per set, he will tell me "I believe in you, Nadia, even if you don't believe in you."  I like hearing that because it reminds me that a lot of the time we are stronger than we think.  And he is always right about how much weight I can handle during the workout!  I have had to learn to trust my trainers, but they have also had to learn to trust me in knowing how my body feels.









To think that this was me a year ago! (I'm on the far left)

             
And now I do this! And it completely blows my mind that I do these things!

But I love it because I feel so badass when I lift the heavy weights... especially doing the hip-thrusts.  A few days ago, I hip-thrusted my heaviest weight, which was 295lbs!!!  Craziness I tell you!
It is a great feeling to feel physically strong.

I've been thinking about some of the other exercise adventures I've had and one that I loved the most was yoga.  I miss it, but don't really have the time for it. Two years ago, Lydia and I went to a yoga retreat where we did some really cool partner yoga.

I wonder how much easier would it be for us now that we are stronger???  We might have to try to recreate this photo!

The other strength conversation I found myself having this week with another friend was about emotional strength.  We were talking about how frustrated I am with life... more like how impatient I've been.  I feel like I've had some pretty big challenges or obstacles in life that were not or have not been easy to deal with.  Losing my dad continues to be this surreal experience.  There are good days, but mostly there are *huge sigh* alright days.  I don't quite feel like myself and just feel very blah. And it is frustrating to feel sensitive and vulnerable constantly.  The impatient part of me wants the grieving to be done with already, but I know it isn't that easy.  Most people have told me that I most likely won't feel normal for about a year, and even after that, when I'm feeling good, they said I'll randomly be hit with sadness.  I'm not looking forward to it.  I just want to be happy. It just makes me wonder what exactly do the higher powers to be have in store for me where I need to be emotionally strong?  But in my conversation of emotional strength I did point out that perhaps this whole experience was to teach me how to allow others take care of me and to allow my vulnerability to be seen while holding on to my independence... or it's to re-teach me patience.

Strength is an interesting concept to think about.  Everyone is strong in some way or another.  I've always hated when people tell me that I'll be fine because I'm a strong person.  The worst time was a year ago when a person who knew me from high school told me that it was ridiculous that I was depressed when we received news about my dad's tumors. He told me that I have always been such a strong person that I shouldn't allow this to bother me.  I think that is when I began to realize that true strength isn't necessarily dealing with problems by yourself, but true strength was allowing yourself to open up to being vulnerable.   It takes more strength to reveal the truth than it does to shield yourself.

Frida-like self-portrait

In January, my best friends and I went to see The Complete Frida Kahlo exhibit in San Diego (which is now extended to June 8th!)  It is an exhibit which shows 123 replicas of her work in the exact sizes and style.  I have to warn you.  It is a lot of art to look at.  I spent almost 4 hours there.  I love Frida Kahlo's work because she freely and openly told the world about her life and pain through her art.  Her portraits hold so much meaning and heart.  I left there absolutely overwhelmed and inspired.  But I didn't know how to take what I saw and incorporate it into my own art.  That is when my best friend, Lydia, gave me the idea to do a series of self-portraits in the same style and poses of Frida, and replace her pets with my Mizzles.  I loved this idea.

It kind of worked out for me that my Intermediate/ Advanced Students were about to begin a colored pencil self-portrait.  This was the perfect opportunity for me to create this artwork while creating an example for my students.  It has been a few years since I've created anything in colored pencil.  I forgot how much I love to blend and burnish. 

 I took it to my Huntington Beach Art League meeting and entered it into the drawing category.  I am happy to report that it received an Honorable Mention.

 

Instead of posting all of the progression photos I took, I thought it might be nice to watch them in a video slide show.  The song is called Beautiful Things by Gungor.  It is one of my favorite songs at the moment.

 

This has definitely been one of my most favorite projects.  I already have an idea of my next portrait, but it will have to wait a bit.  I have to get back to working on my book.

Owls...New Mizzle Friends

As an artist it is really important to showcase your work as often as possible.  For the past 2 years, I've been showing my work at one night events every few months.  Last December, I displayed my work at the Santa Ana Art walk with Orange County Creatives.  I never know what to expect.  Each event is so different from the other because of various factors like weather, combination of artists showing, the personalities of the friends and family who come to show their support for those artists, etc.  This last event was not my best one, but it was still beneficial.  A woman had seen my work at this art walk and loved my mixed media work.  She has commissioned me to create a mixed media piece for her that included a forest, my characters, and owls. 

I immediately began researching images of various owls trying to find "the right one" to become friends with the Mizzles.  But I ran into a problem... I loved them all.  As I began doing various sketches of owls, I began wondering why I haven't drawn owls before.  I mean, my mom absolutely loves owls and for some reason I have never created any owl themed art work for her. That is about to change.  2013 welcomed the Mermizzles.  2014 looks like it is going to be year of the owl, although, it might still be too early to determine this year's theme.

Here are a few of the sketches I did of owls:

So, back to the commission...  I fell in love with a few of the owls I drew and decided to include them into the mixed media piece. I've had a lot of fun putting this together.  Here are a few pictures of it in progress.  Usually, when I begin a mixed media pieces I create a background first with layers of scrapbooking paper.  At this point, I don't usually have a plan.  I like the feeling I have as I allow the art work to happen and grow on its own.  The downside to this "organic" way of creating is that all of the scenes always have a simple horizon line; there is no linear perspective.  Once my background is ready, I lay tracing paper over it and being drawing in my characters. The characters are then transferred to a watercolor paper, where I begin to paint them. Sometimes I wait until they are glued to the art work before I paint them, but I tend to run into the problem of glue drying on the surface and creating these white spots as I paint.  I always think I'm being extra careful, but I always manage to get the glue on the surface.

Here is the final result:



I took it to the Huntington Beach Art League meeting last week and entered it into the mixed media category.  It won an honorable mention. 



I loved working on this painting that I began working on a second version before this one was complete.  I'll be talking about the process of the new painting in my next post.

2013 coloring contest

It's that time of year again!
I'm holding my 2nd All Ages Coloring Contest!

This year there is only one image to color. Take a photo of your coloring page and email entries to MIZZLEADVENTURES@GMAIL.COM. One entry per person, please. In the email, include the name and age of the artist. All entries must be received by Friday, December 13th, 2013. Only one entry per person!


Winners will be notified by email and  announced on my blog, www.mizzleadventures.blogspot.com by December 17, 2013th.

Award categories:
Ages 4 and under
Ages 5-11
Ages 12-17
Ages 18 and older

Winners of each category will win a Mizzle doll or a Mizzle print!

There is a link at www.mizzleadventures.com/contests.html You should be able to right click and save the images to your computer. If you want the document, email me at MIZZLEADVENTURES@GMAIL.COM and I will reply to you with the image.

Happy coloring!

Happy Valentine's Day

Just a quick drawing for today!  Happy Valentine's Day from all of the Mizzle to you!!!!

2013 Making my own light

When the shootings began happening this holiday season, it broke my heart there were so many innocent people being hurt.  People on Facebook were posting quotes about light in the darkness.  Here were a few that stuck with me:

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” 

Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

"It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light."

Aristotle Onassis

"Give light and people will find the way."

Ella Baker

"There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."

Leonard Cohen

They made me think.  It is so true that no matter how dark the situation is, there is always a ray of light.  There is always a bit of hope for us to find and hold onto.  It is when that light is found the darkness doesn't seem to be quite as dark as it originally was.  I began creating a Mizzle painting to illustrate it, but it was put on hold due to other projects.  I figured I could paint and sew while spending the evening with my family.  I wasn't sure if I would actually have time to work on anything, but I took it with me anyways. My night consisted of sitting on the couch next to my little sister surfing the web, laughing with my mom and dad, and answering my dad's cell phone, which seemed to go off all night with calls from family members upset or concerned about his current situation, and playing with all 5 of their cats.  Soon I was sitting on the floor painting while my mom worked on her knitting. It seems appropriate that this ended up being my final painting for 2012.  My dad seemed to enjoy watching me work on it and watching its progress.  Every once in a while my mom would ask me a question about the painting because it wasn't making too much sense.  I kept laughing and telling her "Just wait and trust me.  It will make sense soon. (Pause, a sigh, and a confused look on my face) I hope."  She just laughed.  At some point, I was a little afraid myself that I had ruined it.

This past week seemed to be the darkest.  To be honest, I haven't quite found the light, but I have decided I would create it. I ended 2012 laughing with my family and I woke up calm, centered, and hopeful for what 2013 may bring my way.

Be Stronger

I have been meaning to update this blog on a more regular basis.  I have been considering returning to my daily posts and daily drawings and see how long I can keep it going this year. But it has been very difficult to find things to be positive about right now.  I know life could always be worse and that our nature is to view the grass is greener on the other side. I find this scenario strange.  I've never had difficulty seeing others in difficult heartbreaking situations. I feel for them and can maintain an objective point of view where their hardships never took a toll on my own emotions. But to see my parents so vulnerable has taken such a toll on me.  I experienced this a little 2-3 years ago, when both parents lost their moms. I saw them in a completely different way.  I have always known my parents to be strong and unbreakable.  Losing their parents revealed the cracks.  Right now, those cracks are huge holes. They are both unbelievably strong, but now I see the fear in their eyes and hear the sad tone in their voices.  It is hard to see and hear the truth they worked so hard to keep from us.  I think I'm doing as well as I can be in this exhausting situation, but I'm tired of people's words of comfort "stay strong," or "be the strong Nadia I've always known you to be." What they don't understand is that I'm always the strong one.  I'm always the one people rely on.  I'm tired of "being strong."  For once, I would love for it to be okay for me to be fragile. This is where my art comes in.  My art, along with my cats, seem to understand my need for vulnerability. It is in my art I'm allowed to be whoever and however I want to be.  Art does not have an opinion.  It listens and it heals.
 
I began by creating a new drawing for my dad. For the past year, I have been creating charcoal drawings of old Native American photos. This is the 3rd of an on-going series.

I also made a painting for my best friend.  I wasn't sure what to create for her, so I just let the painting take control.  It turned out well and she loved it!  I found it interesting the words she used to describe it.  She said it made her feel hopeful, calm, and uplifted.  I also found it interesting her view of the fairy v. an angel.  She said an angel made her think of death, but a fairy made her feel hopeful. I kind of agree because fairies hold a child-like innocence.  I can't think of an instance where fairies are feared.  Angels on the other hand can be thought of as miracles, but can also be associated with death. 

I enjoyed the freedom I felt in creating the painting for my best friend that I decided to start another one.  Here is another, but it is still in progress.

I have this desire to work on specific projects, but I just can't seem to get myself to work on them.  I find myself looking for distractions or other projects to fulfill my need to create, but not the ones I should be working on.  I have just finished creating 3 new Mizzles and have a few more in progress.

Reflection

I have noticed that every once in a while a theme(s) appears in my life.  Sometimes they are very subtle and I don't realize it existed until it has passed.  Then there are times, like now, where they are blatantly obvious.  This month's theme is "reflection."  It is time for me to sit down and look at where my path has taken me this year.  This last half of the year has definitely taken me a little off course. 

First of all, I'm unbelievably grateful for the life I have.  It is not perfect, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love the challenges life throws at me and the people who come across my path.  I love the friends and family, who have strengthened me by showing me how much they believe in me.  I know my life would not be as colorful as it is without all of their wonderful personalities!

This year began on a positive note.  I began this blog and started my "well-intentioned," but not entirely realistic drawing a day.  I am proud to say that I lasted a lot longer than I had truly anticipated.  I figured I'd putter out around February, but it was around May that the daily drawings came to a halt.  The drawing became more difficult to complete daily because it was around that time things at work began to change.  My department chair announced his retirement and decisions had to be made.  I then took on the challenge of becoming department chair, teaching AP studio art, and I moved to a different classroom.

Changes didn't end there.  Some changes were not so good, but there were a lot that have been great.  The not so good news was my dad had a tumor in his liver.  He's doing well, but it looks like this is going to be on-going issue.  The great news began with my first nephew, Noah, being born on Friday the 13th!  He is an absolute cutie and is going to be extremely spoiled!  Then the unexpected happened.  As I prepared to attend the SCBWI summer children's conference, I was contacted by a representative from RawArtists.  They had found my ETSY shop and wanted me to participate in one of their shows.  To be honest, I was hesitant. I wasn't sure if my work was strong enough.  Also, they really loved my Mizzle dolls, and wanted them to be displayed in the showcase.  After talking to a friend, I decided that in participating in showcase I really had nothing to lose.  This led to a second show and being nominated as one of their Semi-finalists for their annual RAWards.  Although, Mizzle Adventures did not win at the competition, it was a great experience.  It showed me a few things.  One, how much I finally believe in myself and my artwork; Two, what I'm truly capable of achieving; and lastly, it made me realize I didn't have any idea of what kind of outcome I wanted from showcasing my work.  Originally, I just wanted allow the journey to take its own course and see where it would take me.  As much fun as that has been, I think it's time to make some more choices, but about my career as an artist.  What is it that I truly want to achieve as an artist?  And where do I want to see it take me?

The interesting part is that my school qualified to apply for distinguished schools. In addition, this means we are able to apply for another award, which is an Exemplary Arts Program.  For the past few weeks, my department and I have been putting together information about our department to apply for it. I didn't think writing this document would be as difficult as it has been.  I know we are a strong Visual and Performing Arts program, but it has made me notice that we don't have any particular goals for our department.  We don't have a true vision of where we want to go.  I think we have all shared ideas with one another about things we think would be great, but we have never put anything into effect.  I think we all have ideas of what we would like to see happen in our department, but we have never sat down together and verbalized it out loud. When this process is said and done, whether we win this award or not, it has been a great opportunity for us to reflect on the state of our department.  Now we can have a real conversation about short and long term goals for our department.

With 2012 coming to an end and 2013 peeking at us from the horizon, it is a good time for reflection.  It is the perfect time to look at our flaws with complete honest and to take the time to figure out what we need to do to make ourselves and our world better. It's a good time to be thankful and appreciative for what we have and the people in our lives.  And it is the time to make choices about our future.

Coloring Contest Winners

 For our first coloring contest, I am going to call it a success.  It was fun seeing all of the entries come in.  I am hoping to hold another ALL AGES coloring contest either for Valentine's or Easter.  So, stay tuned for updates!

Now for what everyone has been waiting for!  Here are the winners!

It was a difficult choice for my judge.  All of the entries were great! We didn't have any entries for the age category of 4 and under, so I transferred those prizes to the ages 5-11.

For Ages 18+ our winners are:
 

John, age 23

Jessica, Age 18

For Ages 12-17, the winners are:

Jeanine, Age 16

Geovanna, Age 17

Lastly, the winners for Ages 5-11 are:

Diego, Age 7

Logan, Age 7

Tais de, Age 11

Ryder, Age 8

Coloring Contest Prizes

This is the last week to get your entries in for the Mizzle Adventures coloring contest.  You can either scan or take a photo of your entry and email it to mizzleadventures@gmail.com.  I'm looking forward to seeing all of the entries.  I thought I'd share with you some of the possible prizes for the coloring contest.

Possible Prints to choose from:

Mizzle Prizes:

Meet Fable. He is bee whisperer; listening to the cares and concerns of all bees. He loves to eat honey with lemon juice. In his spare time, he loves drawing lines in sand.

Meet Miss Lava. She is a Mizzle beauty pageant winner. Her personality resembles that of a Stepford house wife...perfect in every way. But secretly, she loves to play in mud.

Meet Lady Dragonfly.  She is a sophisticated Mizzle, who enjoys all of the finer things in life.  She folds napkins into cranes, lines her tea cup settings with doilies, and irons her curtains.  But when no one is looking, she loves to grab a hairbrush and sing to heavy metal songs in front of a mirror.

Meet Otis. He is an energetic Mizzle, who loves to cut silhouette portraits of people using extremely sharp scissors. He is faster than Edward Scissor Hands, and way cuter. In his free time, he enjoys taking long bubble baths and making bubble sculptures.

Meet Jamina. She loves to make up songs, which detail her daily activities. In her spare time, she enjoys helping bees collect honey.

Coloring Contest Update

I am beginning to get entries for the coloring contest. I am going to wait to post them, but I promise I will post all entries and the winners on this blog.  I am loving these entries!  I can't wait to see what else people have for me!

Just a reminder, you can download the images from http://www.mizzleadventures.com/contests.html

The last day to submit your entry is December 14th!

Good Luck!

Maggie Mizzle and her sidekick Hubbert

As a teacher, I am "supposed" to be neutral and not have favorites.  Well, I have completely failed at this because there are too many great kids, so I have favorites.  To those of you who have been one of my favorites in the past, no worries, you still hold a special place in my teaching world.  But, I do have an ultimate favorite at the moment.  Her name is Kimberly Vance.  She is one talented and ambitious kid. She is my art club president and is in my Intermediate Art class.  She has taken animation on our campus for 4 years.  Like every artist, she doubts her drawings and paintings, but continues to keep making art.  She has an open mind and is willing to give something a shot knowing that it is okay to fail. 

Knowing she is in love with animation, I had asked her if it was at all possible to create a simple animation of Larry Mizzle dancing a bit.  I didn't want color because I knew it would take longer.  She loved the idea and began working on it.  In 2 weeks, she created this cute 4 second animation of my character.  I am so in love with it!  I had it playing on my computer all day when she gave it to me.  I took her animation and added music.  He seemed to move so well to The Black Keys as he danced.  I had discovered something about Larry I had never knew before. He loves The Black Keys, but who doesn't, right?

In return I created a special Mizzle just for her.  She loves pigs!  I found socks with flying super pigs on them.  With them, I create Maggie Mizzle.


By Day, she is a farmer.  She mainly grows carrots, squash, corn, and acorns.  She loves pigs so much; she had pig faces tattooed onto her wings!  Her favorite hobbies are singing at tea parties, playing hide and seek with Hubbert, and teaching snails how to draw.

Hubbert is her pet pig that was rescued from being slaughtered, which is why he doesn't have ears or a tail.  But he is a happy little pig, who enjoys sleeping under the acorn tree, nibbling on corn, and discovering cures for diseases.



By night, Maggie becomes Super Pig and Hubbert become Sidekick Pig!  They are a duo super hero team who rescue pigs around the world from any type of harm.

Life Size Mizzle

I have had this idea in my head for about a year now.  It seemed a bit ridiculous because after I accomplish such a task what the heck would I do with the end result?  I have always thought it would be amazing to create a life size version of one of my original Mizzles.  Crazy, I know, but I've always imagined a room with a few life size dolls so kids can sit and read story books.  I never thought I'd actually find the time or motivation to attempt it.  But then I was announced as a semi-finalist for the RAWards.  I thought "this is it"!  This is where I go big!  So, I began by consulting with my best friend, who had made my Halloween costume.  I had questions.  Some were logistic and others were just questions of doubt.  I needed the reassurance that I could finish this in time. 

It all started with a doll and some fabric.  I realize that I should not pretend to know what I'm doing.  I don't know very much about sewing machines and found trouble at the beginning of my adventure.  I thought I couldn't go wrong with sewing stripes together, but I was wrong.  Bunching occurred and it took talking to many people and "googling" to fix the problem. 

Once I got the hang of it, things really began to pick up and taking form.  My excitement began to grow as each stripe added to the form.  But then at some point, it didn't look right.  It looked short and pudgy.  I had realized I mixed up my measurements.  Never debate between a 2" and a 2 1/2" strip.  I had multiplied some measurements differently, so he wasn't as proportionate.  It really helped stuffing him to see where I had gone wrong.  I had to take him in a few places to get his shape. 

The stuffing came from a failed art club project.  It had been sitting in our storage for over 4 years.  We wanted to use it up so rats wouldn't make it a home.  I wasn't quite sure if there would be enough to fill him up.  I actually had a little extra.












Creating his mouth was the most challenging part of the whole project.  My needles were too small and had to find a really long one.  Also adding the arms were a little difficult having to hand-stitch them on.



The buttons were created with air dry polymer clay.  They were fun to create and paint.

I think the best part of the process was watching my students' reactions each time they came into my classroom to find him put together a little more.  Unfortunately, they never did get to see the final product, but they were eager to hear about him.



Here is Life-size Larry chillin' on the couch with original Larry and Calico.

My mom and Life-size Larry at the Semi-finals Art Show!

Regardless of the struggles I had in creating this oversized Mizzle, I find myself eager to make another one.  I'm thinking Stargazer would make for a fun life-size adventure!

WHAT?