Ristretto - 2.1.14

ristretto - a very "short" shot of espresso coffee.
source: Wikipedia

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Ristretto

I pulled this card and figured it had something to do with restraint or restrictions.  I was so excited to find out it had to do with coffee!  According to wikipedia, originally a ristretto meant pulling a hand press espresso machine faster than usual using the same amount of water.  Now it means an espresso shot using less water.  

Since there still is an element of restriction or restraint in the definition, I chose a butterfly as my subject.  The caterpillar restrains itself in a cocoon and morphs into a beautiful butterfly.  To include the element of coffee, I mixed the watercolors with my leftover morning coffee to give the overall piece a more muted tone.  I tried to use as little water color as possible on the actual butterfly.  I only used just enough to give the color a little variance that I wasn't achieving with coffee alone.  I also wanted to restrict the time I worked on this piece, limiting it to two days.  While I'm far from becoming a watercolor painter, these quick sketches are a fun way to explore the medium and add the element of play that I'm hoping to achieve during this project. 

Daunting - 1.25.13

daunting - adj.
1. causing fear or discouragement; intimidating

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Daunting

Dane has this incredible ability to blindly stumble across any surprise I have brewing in my head for him.  I'm pretty sure in our five years of marriage and the three years of dating before that, I have only managed to successfully surprise him a handful of times.  The strangest thing is, he has never tried to figure out any of these surprises!

Last month I decided that for his birthday this summer I was going to take him to Chicago Music Exchange to pick out an acoustic guitar.  I knew he missed playing and would love to have an acoustic to play again.  I was going to make a day of it...lunch at DMK Burger, picking out a guitar, and then an awesome dinner somewhere. I was planning this now so I could start squirreling away money over the next few months.  It was going to be awesome....until he realized how much he missed playing and started talking about how he wanted a guitar again.  I came clean about my plan because I didn't want him to have to wait half a year to make this dream a reality.  At least I was able to surprise him by saying he should start looking for one. 

Literally the next day we were driving to Chicago Music Exchange to check out a Taylor he found on their website.  As we drove home with it in the back of the car, he looked like a kid that had free reign at a candy store.  He was downright giddy.  

Part of the deal was he had to start teaching me how to play.  That's where the daunting part comes in.  I'm not talking about fear or discouragement, I'm talking about the intimidating definition of daunting.  Music is pretty much a foreign language to me.  I'm at the can-somewhat-understand-a-normal-coversation phase of this language development, but application is a completely different story.  Bless Dane's heart, he doesn't give up trying to teach me new chords, even if I have trouble remembering the previous chord.  I asked him how I was doing he said I was getting an A in content but a B in class participation.  Apparently, I'm a little sassy.  I have not idea what he's talking about, but you know what they say...teachers make the worst students.  I'm just still hoping there isn't any truth to his threats of calling my parents for a parent-teacher conference!  

Bare Feet - 1.18.14

Bare Feet - feet without shoes.

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Bare Feet

Recently, our friends the Lambert's and the Yocum's, came to visit for the weekend.  The Lambert's brought their adorable two year old son, Lincoln.  Seriously, this kid is awesome.  He drums, he's incredibly happy, he loves hockey...and this kid can instantly charm you with his smile.  Dane and I often find ourselves asking the other if we saw the latest Lincoln picture or video on Facebook or Instagram.  

As I was basking in the friendship that filled our home this weekend, I noticed his adorably little shoes sitting next to the couch.  They seem so big compared to the two year old picture of Dane and I holding Little Mr. Lambert and Little Miss. Vaughn that hangs on our fridge.  I am incredibly thankful to have the opportunity to be witness to so many of the joys my wonderful friends have celebrated in the nine years we've known each other.  Their presence in my life is irreplaceable and a true treasure. 

Relax - 1.11.14

relax - verb
8. to reduce or stop work, effort, application, etc., especially for the sake of rest or relaxation
source: dictionary.com

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Relax

Dane and I ended our winter break with two unexpected snow days due to the extremely cold weather.  There we were, lounging on the couch and binging on the show The West Wing.  Bella, our little Boston Terrier, was curled up between us, burrowed under the blanket.  We were the purest definition of "relax."  It was absolutely wonderful.  

Eventually, Dane had to get up. When he turned around he froze and started motioning for me to get up and look at Bella. With the stealthiest, ninja-like moves I could muster, I quietly slipped off the couch and there was our sweet little dog wrapped up like E.T. with her little nose poking out.  

I started a drawing of this photo, but felt that I would need to spend way more than a week on it to do it justice. I might revisit this post in the future, but in the meantime I'm going to enjoy these small, relaxing moments with my family. 

Courage - 1.4.14

courage - noun
1. the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear; bravery
source: dictionary.com

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"You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give."

--Eleanor Roosevelt

Courage

Each week when a new word pops out of the deck, I like to google search it.  I read articles, quotes, poems, whatever I can find that will spark the stream-of-conscience, word association, or series of questions that goes on in my mind. After reading a couple articles from a psychology magazine and perusing several quotes, I started thinking about who I viewed as courageous.

While I was able to compile quite a list, my husband, Dane, stuck out to me.  I fully admit I'm pretty biased towards the guy.  That considered, he's one of the most quietly courageous people I know.  If you ask him, he'll humbly shrug it off and say something like, "I just do what needs to be done." Or "Anyone could do that." Watching him audition, perform, practice and develop a career in music all after kicking cancer's nasty butt shows incredible courage.  Like the words of Eleanor Roosevelt, he is able to meet whatever comes with courage and give it his all. 

For this piece I started by looking at images of cancer cells from a scanning electron microscope.  I am fascinated by science and the images these high-powered microscopes create.  I juxtaposed that nasty cancer cell with one of the sheets of music that make their way around our home. I ended up sketching the cell in colored pencil and ink.  I included the image of the piece as a whole and after I cut the cell away.  Like the cancer that was literally cut out of and removed from my husband, I wanted to cut this cell away from the music that has supported our family.  I lean more toward the second image because there is a separation between the cell and the music.  It's removed and falling away, far away from my family.