Day 1 of Thanksgiving Weekend

Greetings!!

I thought I'd share a little of my Thanksgiving food adventures with you. I made the drive up to my parents house and helped with some of the prep and making of the food. The clean up after the nights cooking was quite large.

Mom and I decided we needed some homemade chocolate chip cookies to keep us going through the night. Nothing like a nice warm, sweet and delicious cookie to motivate you, no?

As you can see we got plenty of motivation...... We needed it though for the turkeys!

Next we were on to the peach pies. In the words of Rachel Ray, Yum-O!!

Fresh peaches, cinnamon, nutmeg, whole cloves (removed before baking), sugar, and plenty of butter and pie crust on top. Forgive me for not having a pic of the completed product, but trust me I say it was might-a-lee good!

We also made macaroni and cheese, dressing, AND cream mashed sweet potatoes. Do I really have to tell you everything was homemade.... This wasn't even all of the food. I'll tell you about TG Day in the next post. Until then I hope everyone is having fun with family, eating great food, and being very thankful.

Peeeeeeace!

A. Sparkle

The Broke Version of Adventure

Greetings and salutations,

There are certain times in life when you are ecstatic about getting paid and you have sugar plum fairies dancing in your head with the fun ways you're gonna blow all you're new money. Nevermind the fact that you have bills... big bills to pay with said money. Then at some point when you're mapping out all the fun times you're gonna have, you come to a realization. You've decided to actually be an adult this time...... this time.... and go ahead and pay the people who are harassing you and calling you ten times a day for every last cent you've ever made in life!

Yep. It's true. You're broke.

Shout out to Sallie Mae for perfecting the technique of legal stalking. lol. For all of you that don't know.. Sallie Mae is a friendly and evil student loan company.

So yes, that was this weekend. What did I do with no money? I took pictures of cool art, of course! I happened to be traveling through downtown Decatur when I ran upon this mural.

I absolutely love this and I'll tell you why. I'm a really big fan of color and this packs a full punch and it's also like poetry in the form of art. Obviously there is a lot of symbolism going on and it seems like it's telling a story and not one of those fake ass stories that people try to make up for their art to seem like it's important on a deep level.

The #1 reason I like it though is because of the eyes!! There's character, feeling, and intensity coming from those eyes, almost like it's someone really looking at you. Like you're being transported some where else when you stare into the eyes. I'm getting a little dramatic I know, but I just really like it.

I've been holding out on you with this one below. I was in the village at the time and happened to see this guy whoever he is in the process of actually painting this cycloptic, happy, furry thing.

It was pretty awesome to watch and there was even a little crowd gathered around to take a peek at what he was doing. I've seen his work some else around town and the only reason why I know this is because it was another blue hairy creature just like this one. It always amazes me what people can do with spray paint, because I have no idea whatsoever on how you would be able to control it to make it do what you want it to. Kudos to you spray painting masters!

Until the next mural spotting...

Peace,

A. Sparkle.

The Heinousness that is the Radio

Greetings peoples,

Lets just get down to brass tacks... I've deemed it Rant Wednesday!! I figured you should be prepared that I am going to have a rant today. It's allowed at least once a week....

Say what? You didn't know about this?? Well its true. So here... I've taken the liberty of pouring you a glass of wine, so sit back and chill.

Ok so I have this theory about my job, right? All day long.... ALL......... DAY......... LONG........... we have to listen to the same radio station every s-i-n-g-l-e solitary day. I've finally come to the conclusion that this is to brainwash us.

No! Stop laughing... hear me out. Here is the rundown..

It's the same radio station day in and day out..

It plays everywhere in the building (i. e. the office, the break room, the waiting area, and even the bathroom!!!) For crying out loud!!! I mean really.... Isn't the bathroom supposed to be Holy Ground or something? I can't get a moment of silence to pee??

Aaaaaaaaand only one guy has the authority the change it to one of two approved radio stations and its in a room under lock and key............

LOCK AND KEY!!!!!!!!!

Alright.. admit it to yourself. After looking at all the facts, this doesn't seem right at all does it?? I can see it now... We all for really real look like this poor sap sucka below.

We just don't know it because we are brainwashed to the max! I'm probably sitting here right now as we speak and don't even know that I have dark circles under my eyes, and am going bald! It's really a shame. Now that I think about it, my hair has been shedding a lot and the top of my head has been feeling awfully cold lately. (j/k)

Honorable Mention Rants:

Socks - What is the deal with the seam on the toes?? They annoy me to no end! Sock makers of the world... I ask... you couldn't find a better place to put that than on my toes? Someone should look into this.

Being Cold - Have you ever been sitting somewhere that you couldn't control the climate and it was just dumb cold in the building/room? Is it really necessary to have the air on when it's 57 degrees outside?? Do us both a favor and just turn the air off. I stop chattering from being cold and you save on the electric bill. It's a win/win for both of us, I promise.

This concludes my ranting for the day. Although I did rant, I did have a good day today. Sometimes you just have to let off a little steam. Feel free to share your rants with me. I have my wine glass filled and I'm ready. :)

Peace,

A. Sparkle

Daylight Savings and the Dead Eyed Girl

Happy Sunday!

It's time again for daylight savings time and we gain an hr, which is always sweet. It turns bitter though when you're sitting at work thinking it should be time to go and normally is, BUT! you still have one more freakin hour to go. (sad face) What can you do? I'll appreciate the extra hr of sleep though!

So yesterday I had to get my brakes done, which actually turned out easier than I thought it was gonna be. Not that it's hard....... but I'm saying, the last time I had to get my brakes done... it cost me 400.00 smack-a-roos and that's just not kool. AT ALL! This time it was less than 200.00 so I was very happy about that, since I still have money for important things like buying shoes and pay-per-view movies. (just kidding) I did go to Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand though.

I must tell you that I have this talent of sorts.

I can look at old restaurants and tell what they used to be. This one was the great greasy spoon of the south, Waffle House. It has the same windows, lighting, and even tile on the floors. I guess Delia liked Waffle House decor. So of course it had that warm, inviting feeling of WH, but with a hip new twist and I'm digging it till I run into this mug below.......

Yes..................... She looked exactly like this and was damn near rude, even though everyone else was very friendly. You've all seen this expression before. It's the 'I'm at work on a Saturday when I should be doing (fill in the blank) and I'm gonna take my revenge out on you since you have the nerve to actually be here standing in my line whilst I'm at work of all places!!!!!!' look.. Notice the uninterested dead look in her eyes...? Yep.. It was just like that. No exaggeration. It's times like these that you try to restrain yourself from punching people like this, because they are messing up the rotation of your good day. Oddly enough there was a glass pitcher right in from of her that had a message taped to it that said, 'Sexy People Tip.' I guess I wasn't sexy that day, because dead eyed girl wasn't about to get a tip of any kind except for 'Don't eat the yellow snow.' lol!

I ended up getting what they call "The Hot Mess". It was weird ordering it talmbout (=talkin about), 'Yeah.. Lemme get a hot mess....' There's no reason for you to ever say that in real life! You talk about someone being a hot mess, not eating one. lol. Anyway, it was a chicken sausage link, jalapenos, tomatoes, black beans, cheese, and some kinda chili sauce all on a toasted bun. It was decent. Good alternative for when you want something a little bit different.

Yep.. so that was my Saturday adventure.. A little time playing

adult, deciphering restaurant architecture, drawing cartoons of dead eyed girls, and eating hot messes. Can't beat it with a stick right? (smile)

A. Sparkle

And a New Breed was Born..

Greetings everyone,

It's 12:17 am and I'm still up. I tried to go to bed, I really did. It just didn't happen. I dunno why, it's just one of those weeks where your sleep pattern is all jacked up. I've meditated... I've have some relaxation tea... I've even laid in the bed, shut my eyes tight, and demanded myself to go to sleep. Obviously my brain has a different agenda than I. This is good for you though, because here I am actually writing to you. You might as well see my new projects since you've dropped by. Would you like some tea?? No, you say?? Ok, you just get comfortable then.

Well I finally started on the 2nd piece for my 'Purple Haired Gurl' series. As you can see below right now all I have is a bald head scallywag..... I've been procrastinating on finishing it. It's been so long now since I've worked on it that it now faces the wall. I just can't look at it being all unfinished. I hadn't continued at first because I had no idea what kinda hair I wanted her to have and I just wasn't finding anything suitable.

I just have to tell you that I'm not that artist that can draw from memory or imagination in some cases. I need something to look at not to necessarily copy it, but to have some kind of guide. I also have to tell you that I don't like re-doing things either. I get real pissy. I just like it done right the 1st time. Hence...... having the guide so no mistakes are made. That's probably the perfectionist that lives within me like a parasitic twin that causes that pissy reaction I mentioned. lol. What can you do though, right? So anyway, the 2nd reason I haven't finished it yet is because this project scares the crap outta me. No.... for really real... I've drawn faces plenty of times, but painting them is a bit more tricky and I'd be upset if I was to mess it up. Plus this painting involves 'props' and I'm still trying to work out how it's all supposed to go down. You'll see the props later when it's a finished painting.

So in the meantime I've created a little playmate.....

His name is 'Odd Bird'. Yes... that's right. Odd..... Bird..... He got created through a lively conversation with my mother. She said something about someone being an odd bird and I blurted out, 'Wouldn't that be an awesome series to do?' So we now each have our own version of an odd bird and a new breed was born. I'm still refining him, so there is an initial rough sketch not shown and he will more than likely change a small bit for his final look as well.

I'm really kinda in love with the idea of 'Odd Bird', because often times I have felt like the odd bird among my peers. So this will kinda be like an ode to all of us who felt like the weird kid who had their own unique way of dressing, was quiet and thought to be a snob and really wasn't, who had an 'odd' hobby that no one else understood, who had a bunch of piercings, who wasn't apart of the so-called in-crowd, who dared be different than their peers and said step off because I have my own identity, mind, and I'm a non-conformist dammit!! (Shout out to CMF) Yep... here's to you my fellow odd birds and I say be proud of your odd birdiness. Go forth and be odd!! (smile)

Ok that felt good... Maybe I can get some sleep now. Goodnight!

A. Sparkle

Inspiration!

Hello all,

I'm such a slacker... I've been meaning to share this blog post slash video with you for the longest. Even as we speak, I'm watching tv and still slacking a bit between writing sentences. :) I ran across this marvelous video while reading one of my favorite blogs. You know how it goes... your reading one post and they link to some other website and then when you check it out it leads you to some other link with a mind blowing post.

I have to tell you I'm one of those people that loved the book 'Eat, Pray, Love', by Liz Gilbert. Needless to say I was excited when I found this video originally posted on ted.com. So b/c I thought it was brilliant I am sharing it with you! If you're a creative person at all then you will Luh-ove this video!!! Whenever I start to doubt my abilities I watch this, and I feel ready to fight another day. So now go enjoy and be inspired.

*P*E*A*C*E*

A. Sparkle

Art and the City Gurl

Hello again!

New things have been occurring. (smile) The biggest thing is that I've now moved to 'The City'. I love it! Can I just tell you I've always wanted to be a city girl.....

You know what that means right? You get to go do City Gurl things like.....

Going to Ikea on a whim...

Trying quaint and/or hip new coffee houses and/or restaurants..

Go to art galleries and museums and the zoo...

Have fun dates in the park and really see people sitting on blankets smooching and guys playing football...

Have a glass of wine at sunset while you sit on your balcony talking to friends and wondering how it came to be that you were so lucky to find a place in the city...

Things like that! :) This happens to be my balcony.. In the City.. (wink) Never mind that I don't have any furniture out there yet or that all you see are trees. The city is lurking behind them not too far away.. The important thing here is what's sitting on the floor!

Yes my friends, its a canvas. I must point out that this is another City Gurl thing to do. You get to see so many inspirational things while riding around it kinda forces you to be creative. I took it old skool and got down on my hands and knees like I used to do when I was a kid and started working it out. The hardwood floors were no match for me that day! As a matter of fact I laughed in its face! Bwah hahahahahha! HA! I happen to finally be working on the 2nd piece in my 'Purple Haired Gurl' series. More pix to come soon.

I figured I'd entertain you with my first City Gurl Adventure... It happened at Woody's. Famous for none other than... You guessed it. The Philly cheese steak!

Meat..

Mayo...

Cheese....

Onions......

Need I really say more?? It was good. Very good.

I kinda invited myself to go with a co-struggler aka co-worker to :::in my superhero announcer voice::: 'CHEESE STEAK SATURDAY... DAY.. Day.. day..'
People were friendly and the atmosphere was nice. Of course I was City Gurl chic that day. Sunglasses were mandatory. So were short sleeves and ice water. It was HOTT outside!!!

Many more adventures to come next week..

PEACE!

A. Sparkle

Like Nike says...

Greetings,

It's so funny how things happen in life. For a lil over a year now I've been feeling like something grand was supposed to happen to me. There hasn't been a big bang of occurrences or anything, but I most definitely feel like I'm where I'm supposed to be right now. I was talking to one of my guy friends and he's been picking at me and asking why I haven't done anything new with my art yet.

I really hate that question.... People who aren't creative and don't have to produce something original and unique never understand why or why you don't produce work. The conversation went something like this.

Him: So have you done any new art yet?

Me: (hanging head and avoiding eye contact) Nope..

Him: Why not?

Me: Well... because I just haven't been in the mood. It's hard to produce something when you're stressed out or whatever, plus it's just plain ole scary to put your art out to be seen. It's like putting tiny pieces of your soul out there for strangers to judge.

Him: (giving me the intense death stare) Well that's no excuse. If it's something that you want to do, you should be doing it. Have you done any research? Have you looked into any galleries?

Me: (starting to get disgruntled, feeling shamed & still avoiding eye contact) Well... no.

Him: (continues death stare) Well you just have to get out there and do it, even if you're scared. You can get on google and look up 'How to be an artist', you research and read all you can, and you make a plan and then you do it!!

Me: (unmotivatedly I admit) Yeah.. I guess.

So in his very 'black and white-make a plan-then just do it!' world it's simply that easy. He probably doesn't know this, but I consider him somewhat fearless, which is a quality I really admire him for. Although we see things somewhat different in the aspect of my producing art, the conversation really hit home for me. I really sat down and thought about why I've been stalling. I'm ashamed to admit the answer, but the truth and nothing but the truth is that I've been lazy, complacent, and very fearful. VERY.... FEARFUL!! Did I mention fearful???

So yep. Now you know my ugly secret. However, I'm happy to report that I've been doing more sketches lately and many new ideas for series have been popping up in my dreams at random. I asked my other guy friend (shout out to Courtney!) who is a fellow 'starving artist' how often he sketches and he said something like 'everyday'. We discussed a few other things too and I knew I really had to get to grinding for sure. The odd thing that I never realized until after I spoke to Courtney is that art wasn't supposed to be hard. It was supposed to be FUN! And somewhere between high school and graduating college, it had totally stopped being fun and started to be a big ass monkey of disappointment & frustration on my back. MY LORD it feels great to get that out! All these years I've been holding that in not knowing how to express what I was truly feeling because I didn't even know myself what was going on or even how to put it into words.

The fact that I've had these 2 conversations with my friends and I'm currently in the process of moving to a side of town that I never thought I'd get to live in and that I consider to be perfect.. Yes, I feel like things are falling into place. The new place I'm moving to has lots of natural light that streams in, its quiet, and people are friendly in my new neighborhood, and on top of that it just has good energy, which will help me produce great art. I can't even express how excited I am! Alright, I'm rambling now. :) Until the next time...

*Peace*

A. Sparkle

Yeah well...

Greetings..

I know it's been forever since I posted. If you've been following me then you know that's just how I roll in this camp. I might go away for a while but I always come back. :) Last wknd was the Dogwood Festival here in Atlanta and seeing all the great artist there, made me want to go disappear for a whole two days, lock myself in a room, and just bang out some great art. The stuff there was really amazing. Out of my budget....... but amazing none the less!

I'm not gonna lie... I've worked out an idea for my next painting, but just haven't done it yet. You ever feel like you just have so many things going on at once that you just can't add anymore to your plate? Yes, my friends that's me right now. It's hard for me to be creative when I'm stressed out. However... in life sometimes you must push yourself to do things that you are afraid of doing, because if you don't then you just end up missing out. I'm tired of missing out, I don't know about you. So I'm running off to Michael's today and maybe Hobby Lobby for some supplies.

It will be like that high you always got from shopping for school supplies.. You knew that you were always gonna get 3 ring binder paper with the skinny blue lines, a fresh pack of pencils/pens, some colorful ass Lisa Frank folders, and last but mos def not least a great, big, awesome, I'm-better-than-you-are-because-my-shit-is-cooler-than-yours Trapper Keeper!!!! If you didn't have a Trapper Keeper you weren't shit! Yes my friends, it was just like that. :) I would use a Trapper Keeper to this day, if I could find one! With some Lisa Frank folders to go with it of course.

I've gotten all off subject, but that's just me. I like to cover 5 subjects within a 2 min span don't you? lol. Wish me luck.. I will have pictures soon of the new project.

*P*E*A*C*E*

A. Sparkle

Live Uncomplicated

Hello peoples!

I'm excited to be posting about my artwork more now. I have the perfect atmosphere for writing as well as being creative. The work day is over, the temperature is so comfortable that I'm chillin at home with the window open. No heat or air on, so no running up a high utility bill! lol. Good weather always puts me in the mood to be productive.

So anyway... I've decided to feature one of the paintings now for sell in my shop, called *Uncomplicated*.

It took me a minute to figure out what I wanted to call this piece. When I started the design I knew I wanted it to be something simple. Often times I like to use a lot of color in my work, but this particular time I wanted this piece to pop, without slapping you in the face! Aaaaaaaaaand you just can't go wrong with black and white. It's a winner every single time.

I don't have any pictures of the painting process, however I do have the original sketch of the idea. How this idea came about is, I was thumbing through a magazine and this ad showed a tiger lily. It was very pretty, and colorful (orangey with black spots), and it loudly whispered to me and said, 'HEY! Yeah I'm talking to you... Don't you want to draw me?' What else could I say, but 'YES! Yes, I do!' and so I did.

I didn't want it to look like just another flower painting of some pretty petals, so I decided to go BIG and do a close-up. I thought about adding some more dimension, but it just seemed wrong for the look I was going for. So what was born is what you see today in the first picture featured. I really and truly like this piece and have hung it in my own home, but why not share it with the world to bring peace and joy to someone else, right? Right!

So enjoy your day/night.. I'm out!

**Peace**

A. Sparkle

Grand Opening!!!

Greetings!!!!

It's taken some hard work and over a year to build up the courage to be ready, but it's official... It's time for the Grand Opening of my new shop on Etsy.com, Eclectic Oasis! As you can see below, I've been doing some last minute tweaking. Not glamorous, but necessary.

Stop by to visit me and add what you like, as one of your favorites! If you choose to buy something feel free to contact me with any questions by email at eclecticoasisart@aol.com or on Etsy.com if you have an account.

More posts to follow soon about the art that I have featured in the shop! Thanks!

Peace!

A. Sparkle

Feeling the Pipes

Hey everyone,

I was doing some fishing around on the internet for some pictures of PVC and found exactly what I was looking for. I searched for PVC because I had seen it on the back of a semi looking larger than life and I fell in love with it! It was intriguing and bold and perfect.

Now the trick is to figure out how to make this very tedious, repetitive design as easy as possible to use as a background for my 'Purple Haired Girl' and then it's a done deal! I might paint it, I might do some collage work on it.. Who knows? You will see soon enough though won't you... (smile)

Peaccccce

A. Sparkle

Poetic Justice and the Purple Haired Girl

Salutations!

I'm just chillin tonight watching Poetic Justice. I've never seen this movie all the way through so I'm kinda excited it's on tv right now. This is the 3rd day I've been off work due to the weather conditions here in Atlanta and it has allowed my creative juices to flow.

I've had an idea in my head for a while needing to escape. With all this free time it just kinda oozed it's way through my brain wrinkles, into my eyes, flowed through my heart, and tingled all the way down to my hands and fingertips and came out on the paper.

This was the inspiration for what I had in mind...

I haven't drawn a face in a real real good while now and I am rather rusty. I've been doing mostly abstract work lately, but I wanted to go back to my true love which are faces. How well this is gonna turn out in a painting, I don't know. I always start with the eyes and then I work my way down. Here's what I started with. Sorry it's to the side. :)

I stopped for a day and then started on the hair. To me the hair is one of the best parts to draw. It has so much texture and a freedom all it's own. Usually I draw more strands of hair than this, but I was trying a different technique. So I kinda played with the hair a tried different things and was kinda picking apart the work and seeing if I wanted to change anything. I really wanted to change the chin and make the mouth bigger, but it's just a sketch and it's not gonna be the exact same on the painting anyway, because I'll make the face my own and change up the hair a bit. I just needed this as practice for my idea.

Below is the finished product. For the painting, I plan on adding a textured background and it will become apart of a series I'm thinking of doing of a purple haired girl. One painting is already completed and this will be the 2nd piece.

Hopefully I'll find a suitable background when I have some more free time this weekend. Then I will get to painting. Wish me luck!

Peaceee

A. Sparkle

The New New.. or Something Like That!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!!

Yeah I know I'm a little late... Okay... maybe I'm way late considering I haven't posted on here and quite a while and the fact that its already the 10th on January. But! Better late than never right? Or at least that's what I hear. :)

In my last post I said that I was going to start blogging about my artwork. Yay for me! This is the last step before actually putting my art up for sale and I'm neeeeeeeeervooouuusssssssssss!! It's like you're putting your heart and soul out there to be seen and bought! (hopefully)

Anyway, let me tell you about what's going on...

Yep.. you guessed it! This is my work space. A small desk in my bedroom that has enough space for my paints, canvas and tabletop easel. Ideally I'd have my own studio and just paint and be creative all day. However, I'm still paying my 'staving artist' dues and that means I start with a room and a desk. It's all good baby!

** Work In Progress**

With this being an abstract piece, I love for people to have their own interpretations about what they see when they look at it. Why? Because everyone is different and has different points of view. When I started designing this piece though, what I was thinking about was my future wedding. A wedding? Yes... I know, but I'm a romantic at heart. The colors I wanted were Tiffany blue and brown or more elegantly.. chocolate.

***Finished Product***

What I see is a bride, represented by the blues and the groom represented by the browns. The intermingling of the colors or stripes is the train of the wedding gown as well as showing the coming to together of two people as one. The black lines bordering the stripes, represent the tuxedo. And last, but certainly not least... the grey right-hand corner represents the engagement ring. Fairly simple, right? lol.

Feel free to tell me what you see in this piece and what you think. I only ask that you please be kind. Also, stop by my shop Eclectic Oasis on Etsy.com to see this piece and more for sale in the near future.

*Peace*

A. Sparkle