Timing

Funny how life is all about timing, isn’t it?  If you’re at the right place at the right time, things can turn out fabulously.  If you’re at the wrong place at the wrong time, it can have dire consequences.

I’ve never understood the meaning of “the right place at the wrong time” or the “wrong place at the right time.”  I guess that’s the accountant in me.  Everything is black and white.  It’s either right or it’s wrong.  Then again, everything is subject to interpretation… so it’s all a matter of perception.

Sometimes the timing is just right, and sometimes the timing just plain sucks.

Miles McDamnright

This young man is my son’s best friend, and a constant source of inspiration for me.  The other day I was feeling totally uninspired… I told him I was trying to think outside the box.  He told me to stop trying to think outside the box & to go to the grocery store instead.  He told me it was full of colors, shapes and textures.  Wow.  DUH!  How did I not think of that?  He’s so wise beyond his years sometimes.  I love that Miles is still an integral part of our lives even though my son (and his best friend) is in the Air Force, and is no longer living with us as he’s stationed in a different state.  Miles takes care of my cat when we go out of town, and takes my younger son under his wing and acts as big brother in Josh’s absence.  Not to mention he knows how to rock a can of spray paint!

Here is some of his amazing work (that constantly inspires me):

Check out Miles’ Facebook page by either clicking on his portrait or HERE.  You’ll either love his work or be freaked out by it… it all depends on how much you love the abstract.  I didn’t post it here, but I want to buy his mannequin with the tubing coming out of the head with a light bulb at the end.  I think it would be a lovely shocking piece in the corner of my living room!

p.s.  I used Kim Klassen’s lovely “naturally” texture on Miles’ portrait as well as Yellow Sky’s bubble champagne action.  I also used MCP’s magic skin action.

5 Fact Friday – September Edition

1. I used to own an online scrapbook company (I guess technically I still own the LLC):  I Luv Scrappin.  It was in the hey day of scrapbooking by hand in the early 2000′s.  I used to be able to sell an item on eBay for $7.00 + $3.00 S&H that I sold for $1.25 in my store.  It was crazy.  That’s how I got to my red star status on eBay.  My user name is still “iluvscrappin” over there.  It was a crazy good time.  My sister-in-law, Rachel still teases me about counting eyelets for the eyelet-of-the-month club.  I shut it down in 2004 for good & sold everything to a scrapbook store in Montpelier Idaho (that’s a whole different story, OMG)!  Heidi Swapp was totally my inspiration, and I think I took every single class she offered at Memory Lane back in the day.
2. I’ve been to Hawaii 4 times.  Kauai twice (totally my favorite island), Oahu three times (I don’t count the landing there & straight to Kauai as one of them), and Maui twice.  I love it there, but as I’ve mentioned before (and on my 101 in 1001 list), I really, really, really want to go to Italy.  I’d love to spend two weeks there!  Or at least one there, and one in France.  I’d be more interested in the country-sides.  Going with a photography group would be EVEN BETTER!
3. I was in a car accident in 2010.  Rear-ended in front of my kids’ high school while stopped in the rain.  I’m paranoid to drive in the rain in the wintertime now.  Everyone drives too fast & hydroplanes here in AZ.  It was a four month recovery (actually shorter than my PHN issues), and although I took one for the team, it was horrible.  That was the beginning of a series of 3 more car accidents after that.  Only the fourth one was my fault.  Three of them were within a year of that first awful accident.
4. I had an agent when I was 13.  I know, cool, right?   I was this nerdy kid with Coke-bottle glasses that was tiny & skinny.  My mom thought of me as her own little doll, I think.  She put me in everything… ice skating, bowling, cheerleading, ballet, tap, singing, piano, flute, you name it.  I was horrible at all of them.  I’m not athletic, I’m totally an indoor kind of girl.  Anyway, by the time I was 12, she finally got around to putting me into acting lessons.  BAM!  That was the winner.  I loved it.  I was the only one in the series of courses to be chosen to sign with the agency.  I’m never nervous on stage, it’s like a high!   Unfortunately, my parents (love ‘em dearly) weren’t so supportive when it came to driving me around to auditions, and I never went anywhere with it.  I dropped out of drama in high school, because the kids were “inappropriate” and had mohawks, wore black, had safety pins in their cheeks, wore combat boots, ripped jeans & chains.  Personally, I thought it was a great look, but that did NOT fly with my parents.  So I sadly left the most accepting group I’d ever been in behind, and spent my life trying to make other people happy.  It’s all good, I’m over it now… especially because I can wear black, combat boots & ripped jeans without anyone telling me I can’t.  HA!  All my furniture is black too.  I lose my iPhone in my bed (sheets & comforter are black), we lose the black cat sitting on the black couch… it’s actually quite entertaining. 
5. I paint.  Ironically, one person in particular has been the inspiration for all of my paintings.  I typically paint when I’m upset or emotional.  I haven’t done much painting since I’ve been in my new house (which after a year can’t really be considered new, can it?).  I was upset because when I painted “Hurricane” I splattered blue paint on my son’s red monster on my back wall.  I’m a little messy.  I’m an abstract expressionist, which I’ve mentioned before.  I’m typically covered in more paint than the canvas by the time I’m finished.  It usually takes me months to finish a piece… Push only took one afternoon, however.  I’ve run out of places to hang paintings in my house, so I haven’t really purchased more canvas… and I’ve lost myself in my photography anyway now.  I’ve posted my big paintings below.  They all go very well with black.    Enjoy!

Push – 5/2010

Purple Rain – 7/2010

Something’s Missing – 2/2011

Hurricane – 12/2011

Weekly Photo Challenge: Urban

Weekly Challenge:  Urban – My favorite Urban Art right now…

We have the most amazing place in Phoenix, Arizona called “Roosevelt Row.”  At any given moment, you can ramble downtown and stop dead in your tracks with the amazing artistry surrounding you from every side.  It’s a special place where artists are able to express themselves freely.  I’ve found other obscure areas where abstract expressionism can be found in abundance.  Not everyone loves this type of art.  I’m not a big fan of vandalism or gang signs… destructive just isn’t cool.  However, I applaud business owners who allow artists to create such gorgeous pieces for all to enjoy.

I happen to be that type of homeowner.  I am the only person I know who’s entire back wall has been tagged.  I love the image below of my taggers admiring their handiwork.  Before the grass was even planted and only a few weeks after we moved into our new home, the tagging began!  Now that my oldest has moved away, I have giant pieces of his art all over my backyard that he left behind for me to admire.  It’s not for everyone, but urban art is totally for me!

Ragtime’s Last Dance

I love this shot that I took of an old piano sitting in an old bar in Chloride, Arizona.  There was something so magical about this old piano.  I wanted to give my image a song… something melancholy to accompany the life this tired, worn out life this piano had lived.  Once in tune, accompanying dancers, gamblers, and drinkers… now discarded and forgotten.  I wanted to give Ragtime one Last Dance.

Ragtime (© Yvonne Michelle, Photecstasy)

Last Dance (© Sarah McLaughlan)