A Thing of Beauty

Katherine Hilbery...

"Although thus supported by the knowledge of his new possession of considerable 

value, he was not proof against the familiar thoughts which

the suburban streets and the damp shrubs growing

in front of gardens and the absurd names painted in white upon the 

gates of those 

gardens suggested to him."

~ Virginia Woolf, Night and Day

Bit of a Belated Post for Adam

This post is belated, but my justification

for this is perfectly understandable, as my day was spent in

prep work for Adam's

surprise Valentines Day night<3

My Love:

I cannot believe that it has already been two years! 

Time has flown so fast, 

and yet I remember every day. 

I am looking forward to another year of unforgettable moments

spent with you

(and all the years paving the way to the end of time). 

You are the sweetest, most gentle man I know, 

and I am so blessed and ecstatic to

be a part of your life; thank you for sharing it with me.

I don't know why you chose

me, but I am thankful that you did, more and more

every day.

Thank you for being my shoulder, and for leaving your shoulder

open 24 hours a day, seven days a week

(you don't even take the weekends off!)

You have guided and comforted me through hard, sad times

and through this, 

I know that we have grown 

closer and the bond 

between us has grown stronger. 

We have spent months apart, and ran into each others' arms 

in the end. I treasure those moments

more than I could ever spell out, as well 

as the overwhelming excitement I feel in my throat

and the butterflies that brush their tiny wings against

my rib cage, at the thought of

seeing you again.

I love all of our Biblical, theological discussions and 

how much I glean from your

knowledge. 

You truly are a man after

God's own heart,

and that is something I rejoice in 

and thank God for:)

I love that we can be silly together; making our cheeks

sore with our smiles. 

I love that we can even be silly

in public, acting as if the world weren't laughing at us;

being completely oblivious 

to the looks people give us as they pass by.

I love laughing with you 

as much as I love the air I breathe.

Most of all, I have to tell you,

that my love for you is undefinable

and near impossible to portray with earthly revelations. 

Love Like A Hurricane

He is jealous for me.

Loves like Hurricane, 

I am a tree

Bending beneath the weight of His

wind and mercy.

When all of a sudden, 

I am unaware 

of these afflictions eclipsed by glory.

And I realize just how

beautiful You are and how great your affections

are for me.

O, how he loves us so.

O, how He loves us

How he loves us so.

Unexpected Beauty

Something that I never thought I would ever say:

It can be very beautiful down

here in the desert, especially when you are 

driving before the sun;

with all the city lights glowing in the 

soft, pre-dawn light.

Witnessing, the gentle, orange sunlight

stretch across fields and touch mountain peaks, with

all the snow covered mountains peeking through the scene in the 

background. 

Then, as the sun rises higher, it's light

highlights creeping fog that clings to the trunks of

barren, knarled trees and slithers

through the dew-decorated

field grass.

Christmas is too Close! (Merry Christmas Eve!)

My mind is blown, I can't believe how fast this year has ended.

and NOW,

I have all this creating, wrapping, and frosting to do!

There's too much fun stuff

to do. I am not used to doing so many fun things in succession!

(off to the mid day Christmas Service at church)

Merry Christmas Eve!

I hope that it is a blessed day for all you

lovely people.

Opening

I feel like the world of art is opening before 

me, and I am so excited 

that I can barely contain myself.

A Day With The Masters

Today I visited the masters:

Dega, Van Gogh, Monet, Rembrandt, Picasso,

Nolde, Lacombe, Rivera, and many

others.

I am so blessed to be in

the art class that I am in, with the people

that are in it. 

They are all so full of good advice, wisdom, encouragement,

praise, and constructive criticism.

I am truly thankful for them.

Our trip to the Huntington Museum and Norton Simon Museum 

today was thoroughly amazing.

They made the trip what it was and I know that

without them, it would not have

been half of the experience that it was

(especially for a first timer in art museums like me).

Hmm

I am taking a sabbatical from my Facebook

until finals are over,

but if I could post a status right now,

I would say:

Only Lady Gag would/could make a Christmas Song

Dirty. 

P.S. Going to the Getty tomorrow!

(for the first time ever). 

"We"

I've decided that my academic 

endeavors are destroying my mind

rather than improving it.

In the last few weeks,

I've taken to referring to, and talking

to myself in, the plural first person. I feel like

Gollum or some person with

multiple personalities

that should me committed to the 

psych ward.

Happy List For Jordie Lindsey

1. Finding a Bible verse that makes my heart leap

2. The smiling faces of my siblings

3. My sketchbook, filled with ideas, inspirational images, and quotes

4. The morning fog, accompanied with a warm drink

5. Successfully, baking something wonderful from scratch

6. Goosebumps of excitement that tickle my arm

7.  My school's art studio

8. Creating mixed media art

9. Thick, (sometimes loose) sweaters for fall and winter

(usually Adam's)

10. Feathers and Sea Shells

11. Furry, purring, cuddly kitties in my lap

12. The feeling of warmth, inside my clothes or under my covers,

on a day or night that's brisk 

13. Letters from loved ones
14. My quiet time with the Lord
15. Encouraging my fellow sisters and brothers in Christ
16. Day dreaming
17. The feeling that rises in my chest when I hold a paint brush in my hand
18. Old Movies
19. Laughing until I can't talk, but try to talk anyways
20. Unexpected moments with a friend or family member, when they
walk into my heart for just a moment and
lift me up, 
when I was denying the presence down trodden spirit.
(which humbles me, as I think there is a touch of pride in my heart
when I seek deny my down cast heart, so as to appear that
I have myself in order)

Abandon Expectations

I feel choked.

Art is not wanting to happen for me,

and I feel devistated

and well just plain ol' sad. 

I made yesterday my ALL day art day,

to work on my next project for 

art class. Nothing was 

what I had envisioned, and not

what I desperately wanted to do! 

I prayed while I shaded,

painted, sanded,

ripped, and rubber cemented. 

Somehow, God is showing me something through this.

I don't know what it is yet.

Maybe, to abandon

expectations of my self, 

grade wise.

I confess that as I was buried in every

art supply that I own,

I was thinking about what would get me a 

good grade, and not the 

art itself. 

Sad.

Hopefully, after I drop these expectations,

I will do better.

I need Inspiration. 

Gianna Jessen :: Abortion Survivor (Part 2)

Gianna Jessen :: Abortion Survivor (Part 1)

Pigeon Feather Beauty

“Beauty can be about a problem; something that repels you or makes you question the status quo” (Kate MccGwire, Author’s Statement). This quote rings true to London, England artist Kate MccGwire, and her artwork, in the most genuine sense. Her artwork both startles and awes you, pulls you in and pushes you back, and above all, fills you with wonderment and disbelief. Kate takes nature at it’s best, as well as at it’s worst, and transforms it into a piece of artwork unlike any other. She proves that artistic materials can be found in the most unlikely of situations, as a result of the most unlikely of sources.

Most artwork begins with gaining inspiration from somewhere, something, or someone. A spark flies, ignites, and explodes in the mind of an artist in a way that seems supernatural. Supernatural- to the potential degree of eeriness. It is a mystery that will forever baffle the minds of spectators, researchers, critics, fellow artists, as well as the artist him or herself. For Kate MccGwire, inspiration comes in a few different forms. Most of her inspiration comes from somewhat classic and expected sources. That is not to say that she doesn’t have her quirk in the aspect of inspiration. Kate finds inspiration in the beauty of nature and the artistic notions of the abject. However, the strangest and most unfathomable source of inspiration for Kate is in Sigmund Freud’s Unheimlich (meaning The Uncanny or Un-homely).

Sigmund Freud’s Unheimlich is an essay about things and situations that are uncanny, hidden, and repetitious to human kind. Wikipedia sums up The Uncanny in an accurate yet short and sweet definition,” The Uncanny reminds us of our own ID, our hidden, thus repressed impulses perceived as a threatening force by our super-ego, ridden with oedipal guilt as it fears symbolic castration by punishment for deviating from societal norms.” True to The Uncanny, Kate takes a link in the chain of social norm, in this case a link of aversion, and breaks free of that repression.

The way in which Kate’s inspiration and the end result of her artwork coincide is flawless. She takes the feathers of pigeons, birds that are frowned upon by society, referred to as “flying rats”, and turns them into something beautiful and clean. Using pigeon feathers for art, and in the quantity in which she uses them, is indeed an uncanny thing to do. This, however, provokes and heightens the eyes and senses of spectators, bringing them to a wholly new level of art. She takes the molting of a “filthy” bird and turns it into something striking and seemingly out of this world.

Kate MccGwire is an artist who works, lives, and breathes patience. In an interview with Juxtapoz Magazine, Kate revealed that the process of collecting the materials for her creations takes months, even years, to attain. She also told Juxtapoz that, over a course of three years, she went from collecting feathers in the parks of London, to calling up pigeon racers for molten feathers, to regularly receiving envelopes full of feathers from over two hundred people. Even receiving envelopes, full to the point of combustion, doesn’t speed up the procedure of collecting material. As if the process of finding and gaining enough feathers, just to start a piece wasn’t long enough, her process of design and formation take months as well. However, time is not of the essence to MccGwire.

Kate states that her pieces,” Evolve intuitively as if out of the subconscious” (Author’s statement, website). Allowing her work to both breathe and develop, with no true expectation, she takes her time to gather, collate, re-use, layer, burn, reveal, locate, question, duplicate, play, and photograph. There is no rush or self-made dead line for MccGwire. Just pure art being created in the quiet simplicity of patience.

Her artwork both denies society’s idea of cleanliness and beauty, and re-defines it. She takes the refuse of a bird that is socially accepted as disgusting and creates wonder. What’s more, she has society joining in to her denial and re-definition; people send her pigeon feathers, gathered by their own hands. Thus, causing people to question the status quo and let go of the norm to be repelled.

Fallow and Fruitful: The Torture of Art

There are artists that just touch your 

creative desires and, to an extent, touch your soul.

They get to you in a 

way that you never knew possible. 

Suddenly, and all at once, 

you are pulling out every art supply you own, trying

to incorporate the movement in their art, in yours. 

Hopefully, with your individual style and without down right

plagiarizing their work.

What is it? The need to create art...?

The innate need to create happens at the weirdest times,

and goes fallow during a time

you NEED to have a piece done for an art class, 

or when you are yearning to

create something, but have absolutely no inspiration.

I feel as though I am slowly emerging from my time of

fallowness in inspiration and ability.

And I know how it began.

Over this past weekend, during my quiet time with the Lord,

I asked Him to help me.

I felt so discouraged in so many ways. One of the ways in which
I felt discouraged was, the 

fact that I want to be an artist but haven't been able to

produce a single piece of art work.

I prayed that He would always be within my ability of art, and

that I would glorify Him through 

each of my creations. As well as that I would 

be reminded daily that

my ability in the artistic world (if indeed I do have that ability)

is not my own ability, but His.

That He only chose to bestow it upon me to better

serve Him and His plan.

After all, look at his creations! He is truly

the master artist.

Bridgette Guerzon Mills: Mixed Media Artist

Title: Forever Constant

Did I Tell You?!?

*drum roll*


Kombucha is back!!!

I was EVEN in the local health food store, 

when they unpacked it.

How lucky is that?! 

The guy unpacking it was so nice. He opened up the

box with the flavor I wanted,

and let me

have the privilege of being the first to purchase

(and drink, since I just couldn't wait to drink it the car)

 a bottle from their first shipment, 

since that whole scenario went down.

Have A Lovely Day

I am wishing you all a lovely day, filled with beauty and

breath-taking discoveries like

these gorgeous flowers.

(I wish I knew what the name of this flower is. If anyone knows, 

leave me a comment telling me! I'd love to know).

Also, a quick little quote:

art is the only way to run away without leaving home.

— twyla thorp

Book Love

Today, I feel like posting, but have nothing of interest to say. 

SO, I've decided to post a little list of 

books that I adore:

1. Jane Eyre* 

(mostly depressing but ends lovely)

2. Freckles

(endearing all around)

3. The Notebook*

(love love)

4. The Invisible Man

(brother love)

5. The Giver Trilogy

(read it for school but loved it still)

6. Northanger Abbey

(Love Austen)

7. Crown Duel*

(total nerd reading but love)

8. The Princess Bride

(love the movie, but the book is even better)

9. Twilight*

(not a die hard fan but I loved them and the movies)

10. Peter Pan

(classic)

* = read more than once

I spose that's good enough for now... I have read a lot 

but for some reason my mind has gone a bit

blank.

Now is...

Now is a time for a cuddly kitty friend, and I have none. Now is

the time for tea and silence with my Lord, but

stress is prevalent. 

Now is the time to cuddle in bed wearing your sweet's 

sweater, but its not time for bed yet.

Now is the time to get lost in a good book, but 

thoughts keep your attention elsewhere.

French Toast With Louis Armstrong

This morning, I made the kids French Toast 

(and coffee for Jake [brother] and myself)

to the rich, soothing voices of Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, 

Harry Connick Jr., and Jelly Roll Morton.