sorry.

so i started teaching in august. it has been a rollercoaster, a picnic, and a nightmare. but i love it.

i coached volleyball, which to be honest was the main reason i didn't post from the time i got the job until now. i was getting home at 8 or 9 everynight, going to bed, getting up and doing it all over again.

i have had my fall break. spent most of it in dallas...

...with nash.

got to see april too!

i had such a wonderful time. i miss nash the second i get on the plane. i knew that going to see him would just bring back memories and feelings... which i was afraid of... now that it's happened...?

i'm not so afraid.

by the way...

I GOT THE JOB!!!

6am

i woke up around 545 this morning to the sounds of my friend nicole packing. she stopped to have dinner and spend the night last night on her way from ohio to gulf shores; a friend of ours is getting married. since mom and dad got home from their trip yesterday, i decided not to go to the wedding. also because i leave for camp a week from today.

last night i was showing my parents my stairwell painting and i realized i really like it.
when i first finished it, i wasn't too crazy about it. now, i can't stop looking at it. there's something about it that draws me in. i love it. i'm finally proud of it.

on thursday i had 2 interviews scheduled, it turned in to 3.
my first interview was at 1030 in nashville @ the east literature magnet high school (the job i really want). i showed up early to the school, saw a girl walk out of the principal's office, he called me in (around 10:15), did the interview thing (not too sure how it went, could have been better). when i walked out (10:37) there was already another girl waiting. he told me he was interviewing a lot of people for the job and that he would let me know one way or the other by the 12th.

my second interview was in columbia with the head of hr for maury co. schools. just a screening to say whether i should even continue with the application process. when my interview was just ending he asked me what i was doing now, i told him going home, he told me that was incorrect. he sent me directly from there to talk to a principal in mt. pleasant @ the school for visual and performing arts (5-8). that interview (the 3rd) went very well, i think. he gave me a tour of the school, then the art room, he wants me to come back sometime this coming week and interview with his team of... i don't know what to call them. but if they like me i'm in.

such a dilemma. the principal at mt.pleasant asked if both jobs were offered to me, which would i take? and at first i really didn't know. i told him i would have to just take some time and pray and think about it. hopefully the job i want is the job i need.

my soul feels better...

i took better pictures of 'stairwell' this morning, much better. from an actual camera and not a cell phone.

stairwell

oil on canvas

18x36

this painting was extremely fun. i needed to create. i am noticing so much more a difference in myself when i am creating and when i am not. much more sane when i have time to actually do art.

click on the pictures for enlargements

thanks to 'mal' for the photo

happy scott rushton day.

i saw this on postsecret this morning and just had to share.

it's official

i'm applying to grad school.

summer

is warm.

the only update i really have is about daddy and i working on the motorcycle. got so much done in the 9 hours we were down there working today. we're getting down to little things like the battery, oil filter, gas tank, seat... "quick" stuff.

went to plaza with mom the other day- needed some paint. needed to paint. i hadn't been able to paint at all this past semester, it was awful. the most art i did was with the kids- and i needed another outlet. i was going insane, as irving stone wrote that i would. (see artist statement below)  so, i scrounged up some supplies, a canvas that had been taunting me since december, and a photo. i worked on it for about an hour last night and was in such a euphoric state that i did about half the painting. so far, i like it. i'm excited to see the completion.

also staring at a pile of other blank canvases, scenes of italy dance around my head... possibly france... germany... czech... switzerland... uk... ugh... i want to go back.

pictures of motorcycles and paintings to follow.

here's to you, matt walters.

don't know that this is the best way to spread the news, but matt walters died after a head on collision with an 18 wheeler.  

matt was a great friend, a hilarious and witty guy. 

probably would not have made it through my freshman year at HU without him. 

prayers and much love to the walters family. 

one of the coolest things in my life...

i got to hear president george w bush speak tonight. it was beyond amazing. he was warm, charming, witty and poignant. appropriately self-depricating, insightful and a joy to listen to. he was thoughtful, humorous, and graciously did not say any unkind things about current and past presidents who have said unkind things about him. 


a couple quotes from the night:
"If you can make $.50 an hour in Mexico and $5 an hour here, if you're any kind of parent, you're over the border."  on immigration


"Above the fireplace is a painting of George Washington. Who'd you expect... Rutherford B. Hayes?"  on the oval office




"The first plane was an accident, the second plane was an attack, the third plane was a declaration of war."  on 9/11


i am still in awe that i got to experience that man speak. it was such an amazing time. at the end we (the PACKED) benson sang the lord bless you, he cried. so did i. 

this was just too cute to not post.

freshly hand painted toms

should have included a view from the back. kind of was inspired by the mendhi designs from india and thereabouts. the right shoe took me 3 hours, the left only 2. one of my friends just thought they were a new pattern. he was impressed.

i've decided i'm kind of over school. i know the last 3 weeks will fly by, but i'm ready for tomorrow to be may 9th.

slow down... please.

hard to believe i'm less than a month away from my college graduation. really hard to believe. it's funny to think back to my freshman year when i couldn't wait for this part to be over, now i don't want it to end.

paintbowl 2010

paint football/paint dodge ball 

green team before the function started

this one really shows the amount of paint in my hair.

green team after.

the whole group

i took an hour and a half long shower when i got home and then spent an hour picking left over paint out of my hair. then i had everyone in the apartment pick it out for about thirty minutes. this morning, i found paint in my hair. i'm sure there's still some in there.

i scored the winning touch down for our football team. :)

great function. great friends. 

numbers

spring break is over in 2 hours.
1 book report due in 5 days.
1 gsp function in 6 days.
3 formal observations in the next 2 weeks.
teach all 14 elementary art classes by myself starting tomorrow.
in 2 weeks i am done with my k-6 placement and get to go to 8-12.
7th graders don't take art at the academy.
7 weeks until graduation.
12 weeks until africa.
and i can draw a mouse using the number 3 as the body.


2 deep breaths...

artist statement

i wrote this in conjunction with my show last october- this is exactly as it appeared in the gallery with my 103 pieces...





authors have pens, judges have gavels, democrats have other people's money, i have art.

everything in my life has affected my art. from spending summer 2008 traveling europe and seeing things i had only dreamed of to always living my life with a carefree and lighthearted outlook, i have come to learn that art is not only a depiction, but an experience. i have always found the ability to communicate a human emotion or thought through a pencil, paintbrush, piece of wood, clay, fabric, or metal almost euphoric.

my art has never been for anyone. it has always been for me. only me. i have tried to find honest art within myself. attempting to find what means something to me, disregarding the thoughts of others to find my passion for art. some of my art is thought provoking, while other pieces have no meaning, but are just art for art's sake. a number of my pieces could hardly be called conventional; my art depicts life and life is often unconventional.

the things in this gallery are not merely assignments, but a small window into the past four and a half years of my life. art has never been a part of my life; it has always been my whole life.

irving stone wrote in the agony and the ecstasy that "one should not become an artist because he can, but because he must. it is only for those who would be miserable without it."

always out of the box,

lyn

"working"

check out my name tag.... it's big.
i'm sitting at my desk. eating lunch. done with classes. "working" on lesson plans......

there's a monster in my peanut butter.

i made this.... while laying in my bed, eating pb & graham crackers, watching a movie with rutledge.

hey jude....

student teaching

OH. MY. GOODNESS.
it's much more exhausting than i had anticipated.
i start teaching 4 classes next week, pick up 5 more the following week, and the week after, i teach all 14 elementary school art classes. for two weeks straight.
i would be telling a fib if i said i wasn't ready to get to the high school, but i do enjoy the little ones.
this semester needs to slow down.
2 weeks til spring break.
4 weeks til high school.
10 weeks til graduation.
stop it.

wait, what?

victoria's secret has really out-done... or maybe under-done it this time... the new topless bikini...

saturdye & sunday's lunch

yes, i know i miss spelled saturday, i did it on purpose. to spell satur-dye....
i spent some time yesterday dying over some cardigans.
i realized about 4 minutes after i put them in the dye bath that i should have taken before pictures, but i only have after...

i know this is not a very good picture, but it's what i've got right now...  the red cardigan used to be a wheat/oat color that i wore maybe twice in the two years of it's tan life. its not that i didn't like the color, it just didn't like me. not very flattering.  the purple one (which did not turn out as vibrant as i had hoped) used to be a really awkward grey. i love grey, i own and wear lots of it regularly. but this little guy just had no hope. i wore it once and all day that day, people kept asking me if i was sick. 

i think both of these will get lots more wear now that they aren't hideous.

and now to sunday lunch. i found some russet potatoes at harp's a few days ago, and had a craving for my dad's skillet potatoes. they're basically covered in olive oil, garlic, pepper, salt, and a few little tads of other yummy spices... throw them in the skillet... throw that in the oven... when they start to turn brown, take them out and eat them. YUMMY.  i've been venturing out on my cooking. and it's becoming much easier to cook for one. i used to put away left overs then forget i had them the next day and would have to throw away a lot of food... no more. :)

roman holiday...

i was sent home from school this afternoon because of a stomach virus. 

at first i saw this as a debbie downer. but i'm turning it into a positive patricia. 

i've started an audrey hepburn movie marathon. 

started with funny face. 

currently watching roman holiday... which got me reminiscing... a little over a year and a half ago, i was in europe... wandering the streets of italy, switzerland, germany, the czech republic, france, and england. 

as i watched gregory peck and ms. hepburn talk on the spanish steps, i was reminded of the night my cohorts and i sat on the curb eating gelato... walking up and down the steps, sitting with sally infront of the fountain... watching babbo get in the fountain... 

it is still a day dream to me that i was there. that i did all those things. that i went all those places. it is sadly now, just a blur.  i so love looking at my photos, reading what little i wrote on my blog and in my journal about little trips we took. 

rutledge and i were just talking today that after we have been teaching a while, we're going back. and taking our mothers. :)

i know i never put up many pictures of the trip, so here are a few more...

 the pantheon

 the triton fountain

 licking the foot of the colossal constantine!

 the vendor we bought all our scarves from

 feeding the birds at st. mark's

 anacapri

 fiesole

 outside santa maria novella

 on top of the dumo

 first day in florence

 outside the avanti

 roman forum

 venice

 pompeii

i know these are just italy, but i've already watched funny face and i'll soon be watching paris when it sizzles, so i'm sure i'll have another flashback...

high speed photo+gun+crayons

vampire protection...? fail.

spampersand

don't microwave boxed wine...

where was the declaration of independence signed?





at the bottom.  :)

look who's havin a birthday!

the B is 9 years old today!

i forgot to tell you...

nash graduated...

...on my birthday.

vinyl record bowls for sale

if you see one you like, let me know in my comment box- they are 15 each, and i can deliver (if you're near) or i can ship. the records are from "brass voices" and "that old time religion"

if you would like a list of the songs, or more photos, let me know! :)