mural progress.

the Visual Arts Collective finally set their open date for April 4th. which means i'm working pretty diligently to finish my mural work in the bathroom. this is the most recent progress. i'm pretty pleased with the work so far, and a bit surprised i've made the transition from almost exclusively small works to giant wall work (needing ladders and step stools) this easily..

you didn't make it.

adios, my chubby little rat face. you will be missed.

life and times.

the last few weeks have been.. emotional. end of february came and i saw the passing of my friend and coworker amy jones from cancer. she was a phenomenal lady and a great artist. and not in the way you say "she's an artist" and people look at you skeptically because they're picturing scrapbooks and cuts of quilt fabric like i first did when i met her.
(the term "artist" can carry such negative connotations i often refrain from using it to describe myself. it's just something that i've been doing since i knew how to pick up a pencil. it's wrapped up in my personality and my being and giving it a name seems to take away from the entire picture. plus, people judge you for it.)
amy was first class. a dry sense of humor that matched my own, despite the difference between us in years. when we'd dance at work to some cheesy 80's tune or Young MC's "bust a move," she would laugh and look at us like we were crazy. we never got her to dance, though. but i will remember fondly that summer with my three coworkers, dance moves and music on the radio as a golden time (not to sound overly "Outsiders" and PonyBoy).
She left me her kiln, of which i have absolutely no idea how to use.. but i feel i could do great things with it once i find out, and each piece will remind me of her.
watching her struggle with the same cancer that took my grandmother ten years ago surfaced emotions for me i haven't felt since then. before amy had even been diagnosed, she reminded me of grams. and watching her go in the same way was hard. i felt the same hopelessness. i wanted to feel like just once someone got cancer and beat it. that there was hope.
my pet rat has also fallen ill after her surgery for tumor removal. i'm watching her like a hawk and babying her. people will scoff at you for dropping money on something like a rat. but it's a living creature completely dependent on you for its care and well-being and if i have the means, why would i not want to make her short life as great as possible?
in art news, i'm still working on the bathroom mural at the Visual Arts Collective's new space on my free days. it's a lot of work, but it's looking pretty good. i'm getting to realize a childhood dream of coloring all over the walls, basically. Another local artist, PasteEater, is working on the girls bathroom and i have to tell you, it's looking pretty sweet. I'll post photos of my progress as it comes along.