LEONA NAESS

So I was listening to the Pandora station because my ipod decided to run out of battery on me... (DANG! i like my music!) and thank goodness! I was working on some artwork and heard some awesome tunes come out that I haven't heard before... DISCOVERY! Don't you love it when you discover someone you've never heard before and LOVE it?

well... the lovely voice was Leona Naess. I actually had a song of hers already on my ipod but didn't recognize it to be her... actually I would have recognized her song that I have but not her name. The song that was playing was one I had not heard before called "Shiny on the Inside"

Sooooo technically she is a RE-DISCOVERY! Yaaaaay for good music! you can listen to her at the end of this sentence.

Also... quick fact. Her father was once married to Diana Ross.

Seeing God in Everything

It just occurred to me that I suck at blogging.... seeing how I have not posted anything since the end of July. Well, anyway.... I've been busy with other things on my mind lately and just haven't been in the blog kind of mood I guess you could say.

But, with that said, I have been going through some things that are hard to deal with lately, and with feeling like I've fallen off the face of the earth with my relationship with the Lord, I decided to just jump into a devotional to put me back on track rather than playing bible roulette. I never know where to start in that big book. But the date of September 17th in "Streams in the Desert...... 366 Daily Devotional Readings" by L.B. Cowman Edited by Jim Reimann hit the spot of what I needed that day so much I am deciding to let my readers look at it.

September 17th

"He is the Lord; Let him do what is good in his eyes." (1 Samuel 3:18)

If I see God in everything, He will calm and color everything I see! Perhaps the circumstances causing my sorrows will not be removed and my situation will remain the same, but if Christ is brought into my grief and gloom as my Lord and Master, He will "surround me with songs of deliverance" (Ps. 32:7). To see Him and to be sure that His wisdom and power never fail and His love never changes, to know that even his most distressing dealings with me are for my deepest spiritual gain, is to be able to say in the mist of bereavement, sorrow, pain, and loss, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised" (Job 1:21)

Seeing God in everything is the only thing that will make me loving and patient with people who annoy and trouble me. Then I will see others as the instruments God uses to accomplish His tender and wise purpose for me, and I will even find myself inwardly thanking them for the blessing they have become to me. Nothing but seeing God will completely put an end to all complaining and thoughts of rebellion. Hannah Whitall Smith

(and then it goes on with this poem)

"Give me a new idea," I said,

While thinking on a sleepless bed;

"A new idea that'll bring to earth

A balm for souls of priceless worth;

That'll give men thoughts of things above,

And teach them how to serve and love,

That'll banish every selfish thought,

And rid men of the sins they've fought."

The new thought came, just how, I'll tell:

'Twas when on bended knee I fell,

And sought from HIM who knows full well

The way our sorrow to expel.

SEE GOD IN ALL THINGS, great and small,

And give HIM praise what'er befall,

In life or death, in pain or woe,

See God, and overcome your foe.

I saw HIM in the morning light,

He made the day shine clear and bright;

I saw HIM in the noontide hour,

And gained from HIM refreshing shower,

At evening, when worn and sad,

HE gave me help, and made me glad.

At midnight, when on tossing bed

My weary soul to sleep HE led.

I saw HIM when great losses came,

And found HE loved me just the same.

When heavy loads I had to bear,

I found HE lightened every car.

By sickness, sorrow, sore distress,

HE calmed my mind and gave me rest.

HE'S filled my hear with joyous praise

Since I gave HIM the upward gaze.

'Twas new to me, yet old to some,

This thought that to me has become

A revelation of the way

We all should live throughout the day;

For as each day unfolds its light,

We'll walk by faith and not by sight.

Life will, indeed, a blessing bring,

If we SEE GOD IN EVERYTHING.

-A.E. Finn

MIRAH

So... I found a new artist. And I am quite surprised that I haven't ever heard her before. Why? you ask.. well because she has put out albums since 2000! and the last one she has out was in 2009.... I like her "Engine Heart" song. Listen to it over yonder ----->

Peace.

Square Face

During 4th of July I had the privilege to be introduced to the most ridiculous face EVER!

SETTING:

We were all out on my friends boat in the Charleston Harbor. Parked and getting ready to watch some fireworks. We were all dressed in "rich boating attire"

Well, while this was an occasion not only for America but also it was my sister's birthday! So, of course I had my camera with me.... and while amidst taking pictures I found this jem of a bad picture of my brother... showed it to him and everybody else!

Let's just say we all couldn't stop laughing and made him retake another picture with the same face just to get a better picture of it without having to zoom super close. Not only did we retake his picture... but we all had our picture taken trying to do the exact same face. We call it "Square Face: The Face of Absolute Pure Joy" and it has given me a new project series idea.

And now! I present to you Square Face!

Project.. title not released yet...

So I've been working on this art piece for .....well since the end of November. I would probably say that I have actually worked on in two weeks straight (hours wise) and when I would take a break from it or if life got in the way it would usually be weeks in between when I would work on it again. HA! oooooh procrastination. You're a bitch. I spent several weeks pondering after I thought it was done what it needed. It felt like it wasn't really done... yet I had done everything (drawing/coloring wise) that I could do.

Well, I decided to take the exact-o knife to it. YEP! months of work going under the knife.

But don't you panic!

Lucky for me I had brains this time and did a little testeroo before taking the exact-o to the work. I needed some depth because this piece is SO large and SO detailed that it was almost too much and needed a 3D effect to make it pop! It's still in the works of the exact-o so it's not done yet

So I took some images to give you a little taste of it.

Oh yeah! and it may look familiar. But whatever you have seen before this that reminds you of it...has actually come from this. <----- hope that made sense.

The Black Keys.

There was this song that I heard somewhere... I can't remember. and for the longest time I was trying to find out what the song was called and who sang it. Big challenge when you don't know either or.

Well.... meet The Black Keys. and their song Tighten Up. You can listen to it if you look towards the right of this page on the music gadget thingy thing. ---->

The album that this song is on is called Brothers. I recommend it.

I was googling some of their images and came across this album cover. I liked it. I liked it because of how they blended the photo together using photography and watercolor. Creative.

and this photo I just liked the composition of it.

ETSY Shop!

So.... I'm officially on ETSY! so people can purchase my art... I've only got one thing listed so far haha.. but as I become equipped a little better with what is going on there will be more to come. Here is the link... ETSY!

Kevin and Julie Garver

A couple of weekends ago I had the privilege to be the wedding photographer at one of my best friend's wedding. This was my first wedding to shoot ever and it could not have been for a better bride than Julie. With the editing, I am searching for a style that I like to work with and it may change as I get work coming in. The more I do the better it will hopefully get. It was such a fun wedding to be a part of and I wish the best to the both of them in their long and happy marriage! :)

Julie thank you so much for letting me be a part of your wedding. It means so much to me and I can't wait to send you the rest of the pictures when they are done! Especially the album! Enjoy the little window into what you are getting soon.....

Ta Ta for now......

Madeleine Peyroux

One of my passions in life is finding great music. Not only great music, but music that a lot of people haven't heard off. If I had another dream job other than being an artist I would want to be one of those people that goes around discovering musicians.

This post is a shout out to Madeleine Peyroux. She has the old jazz voice that is just so soothing. I mean.... look how beautiful she is on the outside, and her voice just makes it better. You can look her up on itunes or click on the grooveshark gadget to the right. Her songs are the first two.

I didn't take this picture. but I wish I did.... :)

Do you have a favorite thing you like to discover? Or do you have particular type of music that you like listening to right now?

Eloise

Meet Eloise. Betsy, the woman whose child I keep was so pleased with the portrait of her daughter I did (the post below) that she asked me to do a portrait of her friends child as a birthday gift for her friend. Wow, that may or may not have been a run-on sentence. I have to admit, I am loving drawing these portraits! I have so much fun watching it turn into what it becomes and discovering new techniques or new ways to do certain things.

With this one I got to experiment with drawing velvet. I'm pleased with how it turned out! What a cutie.

I've been working on another portrait of some friends of mine (as a gift for them) in which I've discovered that i don't particularly like drawing grown people. It might have been because of the certain picture. They were set further back in the picture which made the details difficult to draw. I wouldn't mind conquering that obstacle.

I might be sticking with super close figures though. The detail you can get out of close up images are fun to work with. The more detail you can get the better the drawing will be.

I'll keep an update on the drawing of my friends. Hopefully I won't be too embarrassed to post it up here when it's done.

Next to come are some images that I did for one of my best friends. I shot her wedding photos this past weekend and will post a preview after I've edited a few. Get excited! It was my first ever wedding to shoot and let me tell you! it was more work than I ever thought it would be and I still have to edit them!

Until next time friends!

-Rach

I'm officially a working artist!

Greetings. I apologize for anyone that has been dying to read an update. yes yes... I know there are so many of you out there. I'm just going to start this all over .... and begin with where I am right now instead of updating since the last time I blogged.

First of all.... I am a nanny. That's right. I take care of ONE child (who can't even talk yet). It is GREAT! I really love it and the parents are a delight. Could not have asked for a better job at the moment.

Well... this leads me to what I am about to show you (granted you haven't already scrolled down to look). The little girl I take care of is taken care of by her grandmother most of the day (while her parents are at work) I get there later in the afternoon to give the grandmother a break. A few weeks ago the grandmother asked me to do a portrait of Virginia (the child) as a present to the parents (mothers/fathers day/birthday). I didn't think it would really turn out that well since I haven't drawn in years, but I read on some website that an artist should never turn down if someone asks you to do something that you THINK you can't do. So I said yes.

Turns out I'm pretty good at it. Not to toot my own horn but I really REALLY enjoyed drawing it and it's something that people would invest in. Who knew I would be really good at drawing?! It was a surprise to me. A pleasant one at that!

and here is the portrait of Virginia. My first ever piece of art sold. Not a quality picture of it as it was taken by my phone.. but non the less here it is.

magic.

Before and After.

Test Test 1 2 3

This summer I have been asked to shoot several weddings. I have never shot a wedding before, so of course I have been doing a LOT of research of how I want to approach them. Right now I have been looking at editing styles. I have taken some shots I did while in Puerto Rico and edited them a bit to test the look..... It's a vintage look which I have been gravitating towards lately.

Questions? Comments? Concerns?.........

MOS DEF

Can I just say how much I love this photo album cover..... and his music, but I LOVE THIS PHOTO ALBUM COVER!