I'm an Artist...Suzi says so!

Hey everyone, check out this awesome video of the amazing Suzi Blu and a fantastic giveaway too!! Keeping my fingers crossed that I win, and wishing good luck to everyone too! Now go! Go look and enter too!

http://suziblu.typepad.com/a_lovely_dream/2011/04/the-poodle-and-the-baby-head.html

Great Giveaway!

Being disabled, my income is very limited.. So often I simply can not afford to take all of the available and wonderful online classes that are out there. But you don't have to be disabled to have limited resources,times are tough for everyone. The recent recession has hit many people hard.. But don't let that stop you from dreaming or making art! Lost Luggage Studios is offering a fantastic giveaway! A chance to win FREE online art classes for LIFE! Yup! You read that correctly, FREE FOR LIFE! So hop on over and enter your chance to win too!

President Obama Signs Law Repealing "Don't Ask Don't Tell" - 12/22/10

Bravo Obama!

It's about time! And I know that sadly there will be some backlash because of this..and even more sadly I fear some homosexual people will suffer from that backlash..But now no longer will a person who is willing to serve this country, fight for this country, and even DIE for this country, be turned away simply because of their personal sexual orientation! Nor will they have to hide and worry that if  'found out' they will then be kicked out of the military,stripped of medals and benefits, regardless of how many years of service or sacrifices they have made for OUR FREEDOM! For me personally this is not about gay rights, it's about EQUAL RIGHTS FOR ALL! And I don't have to be homosexual to know in my heart that equal rights is the RIGHT THING. So BRAVO Obama for taking another step towards equal rights for all...

The wall of Inspiration and hope..and a leap of faith..

I've never been very good at asking for help, so this is a huge leap of faith for me. As well as a lesson in reaching out and simply asking for help... As some of you may or may not know, I was born with a rare metabolic disease, which is considered to be incurable and progressive. This disease causes havoc on my body and immune system. It mainly effects my bones and muscles, but it also weakens my immune system and will eventually take it's toll on my major organs as well. That being said, I struggle with a lot of pain and muscle weakness every day. Tho some days are better then others, I honestly can't remember what a day without any pain or weakness feels like anymore. And lately it seems to have progressed or at the very least been flaring up quite a bit over these last few months. So of course with that comes a host of emotions to contend with as well. Such as frustration, hopelessness, depression, guilt, embarressment, etc. etc. With that all being said, (I don't want this post to turn into a self pity party) I have thought of a wonderful idea to help me stay hopeful, inspired, and motivated to never give up. To turn to my love and passion for art for help. And that is where all of you come in..I have decided to dedicate an entire wall of my art room, into what I will call my wall of hope and inspiration! A very special wall full of love, support, hope, and inspiration that I can look too whenever I feel alone or feel like giving up. So I am putting a call out to all my lovely and amazing art friends who may be interested in sharing a very special place on my wall of hope, as well as in my heart.
All you need to do is make a small piece of art about the size of a 4x6 photo, post card size,or 5x7 the largest, that you'd be willing to send me to be added to the wall. If anyone is interested please leave me a comment here with contact info or on facebook, so that I can give you my address and answer any questions or details with you.. I will be posting and featuring any art that I receive as well here on my blog too. Thank you for all your love and support...always Kelley

Digging deeper...

There's been a storm of thoughts and emotions, going on inside of me for the past few years now. I've kept it mostly hidden, locked away, unable to even clarify for myself, what the meaning or message in this storm has been all about. It started as a quiet unrest, a whisper, that has grown steadily louder to almost a scream.. I've been trying to sort thru it, understand it, name it even. And even now after all this time, I still have only begun to scratch at the surface. But the tide of emotions inside me keep rising, and I don't think I can hold closed the flood gates any longer.
So if your looking for or expecting just another upbeat, inspiring, creative, juicy, life is just great, kind of blog ? Then this isn't the blog for you. If that is what your looking for, then there seems to be an almost over abundance of them going around to choose from. (And before I get some stones thrown at me.) Let me just say, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the super upbeat, happily creating, life is grand, kinda blogs. We need them too. We all sometimes need upbeat happy blogs, filled with happy art. I have a few favorites I subscribe to myself.
But with that being said, I guess I've just been feeling a strong need to dig deeper, get realer, more raw with my art and my writing. I don't know? Maybe I need to purge all the sadness, frustrations, pain, doubts, struggles out of my system? Maybe the answer lies in finding a better balance between the upbeat and positive, and life's struggles and challenges? All I know for certain, is that I want to express thru my art and my writings what I am 'really' feeling at the time. I want to dig deep, I want to share my joys and my sorrows in my blog. I want to paint from my heart and soul. I want to express on canvas my broken heart, my fears, my pain. But also my biggest dreams, joys, and triumphs too.. I want my art journal to be less about 'pretty pages' and backgrounds with just an inspiring word like Believe on it. And more about my words, the real me, my story, my life. I want to express it all, the good and the bad. And maybe even the boring routine things that make up daily living too. I am not anywhere even near perfect, my life is far from anything even remotely perfect. In alot of ways I am broken, and so is my life. Yes I do have many talents or gifts, and my life has it's fair share of blessings too. And yes it is important to do the best one can to remain positive and optimistic. But at the same time I feel it is equally important, at least for me, to share and express those less then perfect moments or aspects of ourselves as well. To give a voice to our sorrows,our shortcomings, our pain, our frustrations, our regrets, and challenges too. I guess for me, I sometimes just can't relate to happy pretty girl art and happy blogs filled with good news, and wonderful artfilled adventures. I save those for my cheerier days..Maybe I am alone in feeling this? I don't know? I can only speak for myself. So for me, I am going to begin digging deeper, giving a voice to all aspects of myself, my life, not just the happier positive side, but all sides of life's moments and emotions. And expressing that voice in my art and my writing..And if by chance, I am not the only one feeling this way, then join in and dig deeper too..

Life without speaking...

As some of you may already know I need to go in for surgery soon. And the recovery time will be a couple of months. At first I was really bummed out to have to do this, but I've decided to look at things from a different and hopefully more positive perspective. Like most women and mom's, I have always tended towards putting myself last on the priority list. I've neglected my own needs and my health for a while now. So this will actually be a good thing. A chance to focus on my life, my health, my art, my goals, etc. And this surgery will clear up some health issues, and pain that I've been dealing with for quite some time. So instead of being bummed out, or even freaked out. I am going to use this time to heal, recover, and nurture myself. I will spend my winter snuggling in and relaxing, recovering, re-evaluating my life, and also focusing more on my art. So that when spring arrives I will be healthier, stronger, more focused and energetic. Kind of like a butterfly..I will nestle into my little cocoon, do the work I need too, and emerge with new wings and brighter color, ready to fly. I have sooo many ideas and art projects inside my head just waiting for a chance to be born, and this will be the perfect time to really focus on making them a reality. I also plan on spending my healing winter days learning to knit, take and edit video, learning to use my new sewing machine, and hopefully make some cool things..I also plan to blog a lot more, seeing as part of the recovery process restricts me from speaking at all at first and then only on a limited basis until I have healed more..which should be interesting to say the least..but again instead of freaking out about it, I've decided to use it as a means to express myself in other non-verbal ways, such as art and writing..so stay tuned for future updates on my surgery and recovery adventure and life without speaking...