Shout Out

I would like to give a shout out to Chuck and his mechanical and technical genius. He brought my Ipod back to life! I couldn't have done my two day road trip to South Dakota with out my little musical buddy. Thank you, Chuck!

Oh, and I'm here in SD now, bored. I would love emails, comments, or anything else to keep me entertained in a very small town. 

Road Trip

I thought I should give you guys an update on my life. So that you don't think I'm wallowing in depression any more. I'm doing so much better with all of that. The Lord has been merciful in renewing my mind so that I can once again function depression free.  Let me explain this a little. When depression happens it is usually a result of some extremely stressful or traumatic situation. But after becoming depressed the brain begins to function in such a way as to stay depressed. Also, thought patterns are created that perpetuate depression. So in my recovery it has been important to seek the Lord in renewing my mind. I am so grateful and blessed that he has done so for me. 

On a happier note, I got to spend a great weekend with my family last weekend. I went home to Borger for a friends wedding. The weekend was so relaxing, and I always have a great time with my family. As always there was a lot of cooking going on throughout the weekend. I wanted to share a recipe for potato salad that my mom (the gourmet cook) just made up on the spot. I don't ever like potato salad, but this I loved! I don't have exact measurements since it's made up, but here are the ingredients

Steamed potatoes

Thick Balsamic Vinegar

Jack Daniels Dijon Mustard

Cilantro

Shallots

Salt 

Mayo

I am off to Vermillion, South Dakota this weekend. I will be traveling in a van with several other people on a two day (YUCK) drive to Vermillion. I am going to take a class at Frogman's Print Studio. The class is a week long, taught by a very talented printmaker. I will get a 3hr credit it 5 days. Pretty Sweet! The only thing I'm really not excited about is the two day drive each way. I will spend almost the same about of time on the road as I will there. 

Struggles

I want to come to you all tonight for prayer. I have been struggling with depression for a few years now. This past year I have been doing much better with it. I have been seeing a councilor and have just started recovery at the village to deal with the heart issues that go along with depression. But recently, I have been losing my battle. If you know anything about depression, then you can understand that just the fact that I am a little depressed makes me more depressed. I have the desire to withdraw from my life completely, especially the Lord. I know that this is sinful and will only make things worse. I ask that you keep me in your prayers as I work through this rough patch. Thank you!

New Art

I have new pictures to show of the rest of my prints for my may class. For some reason I seem to be technically challenged when it comes to blogspot. So...my pictures are out of order and one is sideways. So bear with me here. I also have the progression of a painting I just finished. I always want to see how artists work, like if they start with the hair or something. I don't know, maybe I'm just a nerdy artists. I hope you enjoy it.

This is a self portrait. Hard to believe I know. It actually is very accurate to a picture taken of me (see above this picture)
OK, so here starts the progression.
Now with hair...
And then jump forward to nearly finished...I'm not so good at taking pictures as often as I should yet.
This is finished and framed. The background of the painting is old matchbooks glued to the wood. There is a bad glare on here. I couldn't get my camera to work well for me today.

This is Suzanne with the green stripe and light bulb above her to represent her new going green ideas she comes up with all the time. As you can see on her blog. She also has been complaining that I hadn't made any art of any of her stupid faces yet. I decided she looked dumb enough to be painted here.
This is my youngest sister Kathryn. Above her is her boyfriend of a couple of years. He is flexing his muscles and pulling his shirt back to reveal the ripples. They are both very easily embarrassed at even the hint of them liking each other. Which makes for a lot of fun and embarrassment throughout the family.
Ah, yes. This is my favorite one I made. It's another self portrait. Above me are several sets of eyes that are all making different expressions. Because I am always thinking about different facial expressions, or studying people's faces. Yes, if I have had any face to face time with you I can almost guarantee you that I have very closely studied your face. I'm sorry if this freaks you out... Just try to forget you read this.