Feeling good...

For the first Sunday in a while, I feel really blessed and lifted. 

We tried a new church (again) today.

Trying to find a new home church is so hard.

I started the morning feeling so frustrated and fed up.

We were running late, so we almost didn't go,

but I'm SO glad we did.

We tried "The Blended Church" this morning, 

and for the first time in a long while, I left feeling lifted and happy. 

We were hesitant at first, because it sounded too good to be true, but it turned out great!

For starters, I absolutely love seeing people come together despite different races and cultures, to worship our one God.

It was very inspirational, there were literally people of all ages and races there.

The building was simple, and I found out it is because they do a massive amount of outreach and community and missionary support, which is something I passionately believe in.

The worship was very gospel, with a little rock and even some funk thrown in, which is right up our alley. They have connection groups, and many great programs going on. 

The preaching is a bit more...enthusiastic 

than I'm used to, but it's not a bad thing, just different. And they have 3 pastors on staff, so I'm interested to see if it changes.

We haven't decided yet by any means, but I'm looking forward to going back.

I'm excited and feeling positive about Sunday mornings again, and I think this church has more potential then any others we've been too.

Yay!

♥

My paintings...

I haven't posted any oil painting artwork in a while, so I decided to update with some of my finished works from last semester, and some of my works in progress. 

The final product of my very first still life! It's now at my mom's house. 

A painting of a photo from our vacation to the Indiana Dunes.

Two practice still life setups.

An in progress lighthouse from a postcard from St Augustine, FL. It will go in our bathroom when finished.

The following is a sequence of a reproduction (for technique practice, not for sale or anything, lol.) I chose Le Fille avec un panier (The girl with the basket) by Berthe Morisot. 

This is the original painting by Berthe Morisot.

I took one picture after each class, so each picture equals 2 1/2 hours of work, and it's on an 18x24 canvas.  

And the finished product! I'm pretty proud of it, except I think the face could use some adjusting.  I'm realizing there is no such thing as completely satisfied when it comes to artwork.

This is a quick still life I did that is now hanging in our house.

The following was my final project, that I never got completely finished, but it was pretty complex, so my prof didn't mind.  It's a photo of Jamie and his brothers (Jamie's the little one,) that I'm going to give to my mother in law when I'm done.

Here's the original photo,

I'm kind of burnt out on it, so I'm taking a break for a while. =)

And finally, this is the first still life of Semester 2, and it's still in progress.  It's to practice painting metal and glass, which is really hard. We also have to use only analogous and opposite colors, which is a challenge I am enjoying. 

We are also going to focus more on landscapes this semester, which I'm really excited about. 

More to come later!

♥

Sorry friends!

Wow! It's been a while!

To update everyone, after lots of hard work I passed my class last semester with a B- (I'll take it!) and had a very enjoyable and uplifting Christmas break! I've just been trying to bring myself back to the positive place I was at before all this madness started.  This semester is going well so far, I have a 6th grade student teaching position in an IPS on the southeast side of Indy. I'm excited about it, and just ready to get started.  I'm also retaking painting, because I really loved it.  I also decided that since I'm not working, I want to put my energy into a good cause, so I'm going to be tutoring homeless students in Indianapolis this semester through School on Wheels.  I'm really, really excited about it. 

Other than that, things are going wonderfully, and I'm feeling strong and motivated.

Graduation here I come!!

♥