Tag: painting

Question of the Day

**Note I am currently without my laptop so I am writing this on my iPad. It’s not ideal, and really weird to type on, not to mention the formatting is not user friendly.**

It may come as not surprise but I have a weak spot for journals. It’s quite dangerous for me to go into that section at Barnes and Noble because guaranteed I will find some pretty little book with a dragon or fairy on it begging for me to buy it, take it home and deface it’s pages with my chicken scratch. Then there are the journaling books that offer inspiration or suggestions on what to write. Last spring I came upon on of those entities One Question a Day. The journal poses one question per day for a year. When you finish the year, you repeat the process, same questions, for 5 years. I suppose its to see how your answers change over time. The answers are to be short and sweet. Some questions are silly and others a bit more serious. I thought it might be kind of interesting to choose 10 questions randomly and answer them here.

What colors do you wear most often?

Being that blue is my favorite color I tend to lean towards blue clothing. Shocker. I also tend to pick up a lot of green as well.

What is your biggest fear?

I have a couple phobias but generally I can work my way around those, except pigs. They give me the creeps. As for my biggest fear is something awful happening to my daughter. An accident where she gets hurt or even worse, someone harming her. Everything else I can conquer, even nasty pigs, but harm befalling my daughter scares me.

When was the last time you cried?

Yesterday. I was driving home listening to music on shuffle and Blue October’s For My Brother, from their live album Argue With a Tree came on. Like every other time I’ve listened to the song I was wiping away the tears. I think it’s one of the most achingly beautiful songs I have ever heard. I wish I could find words to explain this song, but everything I come up with is woefully inadequate. I’ll include the YouTube link. Please give it a listen to the end and you’ll understand.

https://youtu.be/RC0tIrHjTIM

What do you wish you could tell your younger self?

There is probably lots of advice I could give my younger self. Mostly, I think I’d want to tell myself back then, to stop being afraid of what others think and take some chances. I wonder if I could just take the attitude, knowledge and experience that 48 year old me has and put it in 23 year old me what that would have been like.

What is one item on your bucket list?

There are still many things I want to see which require some travel. But experience wise? This is tough for me. I really can’t say I want to do anything daring like, sky-dive or drive a race car. I just have no desire for that kind of stuff. I might have to put some thought into this later.

What issue do you tend to rant about?

The general stupidity of humans. This can be anything from politics or terrible drivers.

What is your usual breakfast?

Hot tea, green or black varieties are my preference. Scrambled eggs and fruit, or out meal if I’m feeling not very energetic. I’m not a morning person but I do need my breakfast to be a decent human being.

Who are you surprised is still your friend?

I have many good friends and I’m blessed to have several “best” friends that have been with me for decades. I’m very lucky and I’m also quite surprised that we are still friends. No, its not that I think I’m some unlikable person but I’ve moved around a lot and its quite hard to maintain relationships long distance. There have been times, before social media and texting, where I haven’t heard from one of my friends for a very long time. Writing is hard. Phoning for a phone-a-phobic like me, and some of my best friends, is downright scary. I have discovered this weekend and the last few weeks of visiting with old friends that you pick that relationship right back up where it left off.

What is the oldest thing in your home?

I think it would be the portraits of my 3x Great-Grandparents Caroline and Heinrich Biebeshimer. They came to the United States from Germany, settled in New York for sometime before moving to Iowa. Heinrich was brewer and grocer. He also was a musician. As the story goes, he bought a wooden flute soon after getting off the boat. I don’t know too much about Caroline other than the basic biographical facts. As for the portraits, I’m not sure on the exact date, but I can deduce that they probably were painted in New York around the 1860s.

What part of your body do you like to show off?

I was tempted to pick another random question because this one is just so…bleh. Currently, nothing. Except maybe my fingernails. I recently started growing them out and they are kind of pretty. Other than that I’m really kind of self conscious about my looks. When I was younger I still had confidence issues regarding my body (who doesn’t?), but I was told I had nice lips and I felt kind of good wearing a crop top.

No One Sings Like You Anymore

[Note: Originally posted on December 2, 2018 on Facebook]


I’ve been sitting on this for a few weeks now and I think it’s finished. It is a deeply personal painting for me, at least the journey in creating it was. This is my little tribute to Chris Cornell. It’s hard for me to explain how important a musician I’d never met was to me (staring contests don’t count, right?) From the first time I saw the video Hands All Over on Headbanger’s Ball in Cathy’s parent’s basement Chris Cornell and his various projects (Audioslave, Soundgarden, soundtracks and his solo career) have made an enormous impact on my life. He was an absolutely brilliant lyricist and made music that was profound that spoke to me and many others. (Do yourself a favor and listen to Just Like Suicide and dig up the story behind it). Yes, he was The Voice of a Generation, a leader of the Grunge Movement out of Seattle, but for those of us who’ve followed his career know just what a versatile artist he was.

And oh, the memories. I can hear a certain song and it brings back friends long gone, or just a moment of my life. His music has even helped me through some tough times in my life. Chris was a captivating frontman as well. I only got to see Soundgarden once, but that show still beats out almost all other bands I’ve seen.

I woke up early on May 18th to my friend Shelly’s text about his passing. It was a gut punch that I just couldn’t deal with at the time. (Some of you know that we’ve been going through some very difficult times, and continue to cope with. I will tell you I was in a pretty dark place last Spring). I was crying and breaking down over, well, everything. I’m sure if I even heard Big Dumb Sex I’d be sobbing.

It’s taken me awhile, but earlier this fall at a workday at school I decided that I actually wanted to listen to some Soundgarden. I put on this mix on YouTube and proceeded to clean out all those old books and magazines left in my art room from the previous teacher. I was actually bopping around, singing and overall enjoying myself, until one of Chris’ solo songs came on. It was When I’m Down, recorded live at the Troubadour, and just Chris and a piano. I just sat there and listened and lost it. It must have been quite the sight, me sitting on the floor surrounded by garbage, sobbing. I cried for Chris, for his kids, all the people who must have loved him. I cried for my family and most of all I cried for me. It was after that that this idea came to me, that I would do something.

Since starting this painting I’ve begun sketching again, for myself. (Sadly most of the art I have been doing the past few years has all been school related). It’s like the floodgates have been opened. I’ve got ideas for half a dozen paintings now. I’ve also been listening to music I enjoy, not just the the Pop music my daughter wants. I’ve even gone looking for new music. Needless to say this painting has brought on a healing process for me. Thank you Chris.