merry christmas darling :)

MERRY HAPPY JOLLY CHRISTMAS WORLD! it's been another magical holiday in the twin cities, full of stories, gifts and of course, food food FOOD (i'm going to have to hit the gym hard core when i get home... yesss!) this year i decided to get creative and surprised my husband with the twelve days of christmas! each day he was greeted with a green and red packaged candy or movie or something of that sort! TODAY is the last day of christmas :( until next year anyways :) 

on the twelfth day of christmas my husband got from ME.... a painting! HA so it's not something that he will get much use of, but it's something that i MADE so it means more! because it's from the heart! right!? that's what they say anyways! 

my husband, dillon mariano winspear, is one of the greatest blessing in my life :) i am a lucky woman to have a man like him to come home to after a long day, to fall asleep with at night, and to wake up to in the morning! 

i met dillon when i was eighteen years old, SO full of dreams and excitement for life! he shared that same excitement and we hit it off INSTANTLY! we were best friends right from the get go and after a month of being "just friends", i won him over and talked him into being my BOYFRIEND! AH! :) what a saint! a couple of months later we were two crazy kids in love and went home to talk to our parents about getting MARRIED! OBVIOUSLY the parentals approved and dillon and i were married in august of 2010! 

this year has been the BEST of my entire life! everyday i learn something new and i grow that much closer to being the woman i pray to be someday! god placed dillon in my life for a reason! we are TRULY whole together! he's my other half in every way! he is my very BEST friend! he's honest and kind and DASHINGLY handsome and thoughtful and in-tune with the spirit and ambitious and determined and UNBELIEVABLY funny and he makes each day i'm with him the best day of my life! 

i love you babe :) MERRY MERRY christmas darling! you're the best gift i could have received! 

:) this is dillon and i living the dream with our homeboy santa HA

those that mean the most

a couple of weeks ago i received news from my father dear that my aunt margie had passed away. i was shocked! i had known that my aunt was a frail and feeble little woman that wasn't healthy in the least bit. everyone knew that her time was running short. but then all of a sudden she was actually gone! it was unreal, like a dream. 

my mother and aunt margie had a different kind of relationship. their friendship was like a roller coaster ride! one day they were best friends and the next they weren't speaking. typical of any sister-relationship i would guess! margie had been through troubled times, she'd endured pains that would have sent me running in the other direction. she was strong and had become somewhat hardened by her experiences. my heart breaks for the story of that woman. 

so, when i heard that she'd passed away, after a moment of mourning i found myself overwhelmingly happy for her! she now has escaped the pains and temptations and sorrows of this world! she can find peace now! she can receive the good word of the gospel and find rest in our Savior, Jesus Christ. she can be reunited with her family and ancestors that have previously passed. my aunt margie finally has the chance to be the incredible woman that she is and to feel JOY. 

especially around this time of year, i find myself feeling so very blessed and grateful for the atonement of our Savior. we celebrate his birth because he makes it possible for us to be with our families for ever. because of Him we can be forgiven and find solace in the growing and learning process. because of the birth and atonement of Jesus i have a constant friend and comforter. i am so happy to be alive and to have a knowledge of the gospel! what a blessing truly! i am grateful for our Savior and for this WONDERFUL christmas season! :) merry, merry, JOYFUL, happy, peaceful, lovely christmas!


this is a piece that i did of my aunt and mother! i tried to capture them in a moment that portrayed who they really were, best friends! happy and BEAUTIFUL people! it's a blessing to have these kind of women to set an example for me :) 

HEYYY look what i can do!

WOW the semester is officially OVER!!! it feels like just yesterday i was going to my first day and now fall semester 2011 is done and the new year is on its way! the last couple of weeks have been absolutely INSANE... between getting ready for christmas and spending time with my husband, to getting every homework assignment or project done and studying for finals, to packing for out trip to minnesota and fulfilling my church calling, there has been ZERO time for relaxation!... until NOW :)

i've finally been reunited with my second home away from home, the BEAUTIFUL minnesota! although there's no snow yet, it finally feels like christmas :) i love sitting in the guest bedroom with the heater on, cozily sitting in a pile of blankets, reading a good book. it only gets better, when i can look out the window and see the frozen icy lake down the hill, surrounded by the gnarled winter trees. it is lovely and perfect in every way :) i love having this time with my in-laws.

my last assignment for digital illustration class (which was my final studio class ever... ah!!!) was to do a piece that was based on one of the MANY themes we had decided upon in class! i had wanted to do a holocaust-children piece themed around "it's not my fault". however, i left class after the critique feeling a bit discouraged by the idea. SO i decided to do something COMPLETELY different!

in high school i LOVED to doodle... it's the only thing that got me through history and english classes :) i loved line work and making marks simply for design's sake. this semester i have tried SO VERY HARD to do pieces in a more painterly style, but it feels like it's never COMPLETELY clicked. it's time to go back to what comes naturally!

this piece was themed around the phrase "look what i can do". i decided to use some fun colors and subject matter that i enjoy! i believe it was a success :) 

it's not my fault

for digital illustration class, we were given NUMEROUS different topics and could decide upon which one we would like to paint! the one i decided to paint on is "it's not my fault". i debated doing a humorous comical piece, but then chose to do something completely different! 

recently, i studied the art of Anselm Kiefer. he's a german painter, sculptor, and photographer that does a lot of WWII subject matter. i decided that i would follow suit and do a holocaust piece.

Anselm said that growing up, nobody wanted to talk about what had happened there. the holocaust was a taboo subject. i think that the people of germany didn't want to face what had happened there. many of the nazi leaders committed suicide so that they weren't held accountable for what they had done. they didn't want to take the blame. they said, "it's not my fault." another take could be the little boy in the piece saying, "it's not my fault." this innocent child didn't do anything wrong and yet he had to pay for the mistakes of others. 

i know it's kind of a solemn subject... it's not my usual thing! i wanted to try something else though! i'm extremely fascinated by WWII in all of it's complexities! hopefully i can convey those complexities through this piece.

zzzzz

during critique i was told to "feminize" my character a bit more, to add in some more little marks (for the sake of variation) and to give the on-looker just a little bit more to SEE! i COMPLETELY agreed with these thoughts! i was happy with the piece, but i wanted MORE! 

my teacher and i discussed that a piece of art is never really "finished", the artist simply decides one day that it's done! i couldn't call this piece done, but after a little bit more work i feel that i can now call it "complete." 

i'm finding myself at a crossroads! i've done some very stylized, abstracted pieces that are more conceptual and i've tried to go down the path of realistic and detailed work! i enjoy them both! so, how am i supposed to develop a "style" if i love to do two completely different types of art!? i suppose it'll take some more mileage and discovery!

as for now, i am "finished" with the sleeping disorder editorial :)

the pain of a sleeping disorder

this week's assignment is complete as far as i can tell! we were to design an editorial image for sleeping disorders! i chose to paint about insomnia.

typically, i choose to paint very "light" subject matter. i prefer to do happy, cheery pieces! this piece i decided to take a completely different spin than i typically do! i wanted to do a very stylized piece that showed the darker side of having a sleeping disorder that impairs one's ability to receive a full night's sleep!  you can read below, on the initial blog post, to get my thought process behind this painting.