Yikes....where has the time gone??

 How goes it? As they used to say...

How is it already 2023?! Life has gone by in such a flash, I scarcely know where to begin. Every time in the past that I have taken a hiatus, I have made what feels like empty promises to myself and whoever used to read/follow my postings here. Now, I have more time on my hands that there are no excuses. 

I will simply state that I will endeavor to post here again on a more regular basis. Not sure what I will post other than my personal musings and occasional artwork...I have been in a bit of a creative slump for sometime and I am only beginning to wake up again and revisit my creativity, art, and imagination. 

I am working on a novel...though who knows if I will finish it, let alone if anyone will read it. I am married, I moved to a new area, I have changed jobs, and I learned about TikTok and how much time it can consume and steal from you if you're not using it for anything other than mindless scrolling haha.

I am marinating on artwork I want to accomplish but every time I look at a canvas, I feel a pang of fear. I often wrestle, much like other creatives, with the fear of not being good enough. this is probably why a lot of my artistic attempt end up dying on the vine. I have also spent a great deal of time worried about what others think of me and often not accepting myself. I have dedicated many hours of my life and energy to that which serves others while letting my dreams die and dissipate. 

I started this blog nearly 11 years ago with the thought in mind that my artwork would set me free from a prison I perceived I was in at the time. It has taken me that long to realize I had the keys all along and now that I have the freedom I once desired, I feel like I don't know what to do with it. I a currently pursing another dream, one that requires a lot of brain space, discipline, and dedication. I have never felt happier about a decision than this one. 

I realize that life is not a competition, I am on my own journey and while I may look back and think I should have done this sooner, in my maturity, I realize things happen precisely when they are meant to. They happen when you are ready, and I am ready.

I will set a reminder to myself to start posting here once again. I may not engage in a lot of social media anymore but I do need an outlet of sorts. This seems as good as any.

Thank you for reading and thank you for understanding. 

New Year's Resolutions

 

Happy 2017 y’all! We are just about 2 weeks in and I am starting on my first resolution which of course is: POSTING ON HERE MORE. A lot of things have been competing for my time over the last year, including PLANNING MY WEDDING! So excited April is coming sooner than I thought though and there are TONS of things to get done before then but the major things are settled.

In true geek fashion, we are having a themed wedding, Doctor Who to be exact! So when the day comes be ready for lots and lots of TARDIS pictures. Consider yourselves warned!


  I am also tackling a new “medium” for myself: pastries. So right now I’m exploring #winesfordessert its my slogan for the marriage between my love of wine and my love for creativity.#imnotalush #butilovemyvino #winesfordessert is creating pastries while using wines, namely local Virginia wines as a main ingredient in the confections. Hoping to roll that into something commercial but right now in the early stages. #2017goals I have so far posted pictures of my first two creations (that I’ve allowed to be public) on my Instagram @dcurbanpixie and one of those creations was retweeted/shared by the winery I produced it from. My Greenhill Blanc de Blancs cupcakes caught Greenhill’s attention so what a great way to finish 2016 and begin 2017. All smiles over here so be prepared, in the words of Scar from “The Lion King”, for more shares on this end.

Of course lets not forget why we are here in the first place, paintings! I will be posting more soon and creating more work, now that I am getting back on track with my personal pursuits. Part of why I slowed down is I just simply needed the mental break after Grad School. Getting my MA was a lot of work, time, and pretty much took all of my creative juices when it came to writing paper after paper after paper. All worth it in the end as I got to walk for my graduation in 2016 (although I technically graduated in Dec 2015) and I now have an MA at the end of my name. Lots of new things happened last year, all good at least on a personal note (otherwise 2016, well, we know how we all feel about that year now don’t we), and lots more to come from 2017.

Last but not least, I want to say thanks to all those that continued to stay followers on this page. I love you all! So here is to a happy, productive, goal achieving, spectacular 2017.

Cheers!

Happy 2016

Hello,


   I know its been MONTHS since my last post but I wanted to make sure I finished up all pressing things and now I have all the time in the world to bet back into my creative pursuits! THANK GOODNESS!!!!


So I posted a little blurb I wrote about my grandfather today and I'm posting this now just to say if you have been sticking around for this slow period, THANK YOU! I promise to be more diligent about posting this year. There is so much to be excited about and grateful for and I know 2016 will be a good year.


I'm not going to bother with the new year new me thing, and as it is February it would be seriously late to make such a claim. I only strive to live this year the best I can. I hope you are doing the same.




To a great 2016! :)

My Grandfather

Well, what can I say about my grandfather in particular? He was a mostly quiet man. He was simple and enjoyed sitting out on his front porch watching us grandkids playing in the front yard. My relationship with him was distant at best, I never really new the old man with tired eyes and sunbaked brown skin. The little I knew of him was that he lost his wife to a blood clot, raised most of his children by himself on a 6^th grade education and a sugar factory worker salary. I knew that my mother had a very estranged relationship with him and I think that added to the distance between him and myself. I just new this sad, almost grumpy-looking man, who didn’t say much and kept to himself.

Updates and plans for the future

So....I imagine most are not checking this blog for updates at this point because, well, I haven't been on or writing as much as I used to in the past.








A little about what is going on: I am finishing my Masters Degree! Per my usual during academic pursuits, I am less creative in the fun way because all creativity is going into writing for academic reasons. It has also been a roller coaster of a year, lots of ups and downs, mostly downs, but I'm still standing and I'm here to write another day giving me something to be grateful for out of all of it.






My child is getting to be bigger and bigger, and by that I mean taller. He's catching up.


In other news, after completion of my masters I want to rededicate my time to this blog, my art, and now, wine and viticulture.








I haven't talked about it on here before but ever since March 2014, I caught the bug of desire to work in viticulture. I was out celebrating my anniversary with my man in Virginia wine country near Leesburg. As I sat enjoying my food and cool crisp glass of wine sitting in that rustic barn tasting room, I knew there was something there that intrigued me. A couple weeks later we decided to venture out again, this time staying in a bed and breakfast out that way, we visited another wonderful place and began talking to the owned and winemaker. From then I was HOOKED! I started thinking wouldn't it be fun to get into this, work as a volunteer or something and help out, I wouldn't care if I was paid in wine.








Later, I also had a necessity to make some extra income for personal reasons so I started searching for ways to satisfy my desire to work in the industry and my need for extra income to care for my family.






As fate would have it, I searched on craigslist and found a great winery gig as a tasting room associate. What a great experience and I am forever grateful to them for giving me a chance sans previous experience in the industry and sans experience in hospitality or food and beverage. I worked events both on and off the vineyard, I made new friends and connections, I learned the importance of aromas, notes, and pairings. I wanted to make it full time, but practicality and the needs of family came first. Unfortunately, the commute out started to take its toll and I needed to find something that worked better for my current living location and....my new budget. I bid farewell, and I miss them terribly but life goes on and so must I.








After that I worked and volunteered with two new wineries. One hasn't even built their tasting room yet so I am gaining experience working in farmers markets in addition to my previous experience from the first winery.








I plan on going for my MSET certification next and seeing about options for travel to Europe to learn more over the summer of next year. Here's hoping that all works out! I want to be there learning about the grapes, and the differences between there and Virginia. I also figure I'll get some great inspiration out of what I see and experience and be able to channel that into art and writing.






Other than that, not too much else is new. I am just looking forward to closing my school chapter for a while and opening a new chapter in wine, writing, family, art and so much more.

The Bad Rap of "Baby Mamas"

The Bad Rap of “Baby Mamas”

Lately, I’ve been coming across some interesting lists on why one needs to stay clear of baby mamas and I’ve been seeing A LOT of the worst examples of baby mamas on television as of late.

A little about me: I am a divorcee with an eight year old who doesn’t like being put into the box that comes with labels like “baby mama”.

Here’s my problem with the lists and bad baby mamas: you can’t make a sweeping generalization about a group based off of these examples. 

Double Standards...You're Kidding Right?

Yesterday my younger brother posted what I can only describe as a piece of ignorant dribble derived from that of an over-privileged mind. I want to take this moment now to say that this is another segment about race so if you’re going to get sensitive either stop reading now or leave that stuff at the door and follow along with me. 

 

   Now, the issue at hand is this article: http://madworldnews.com/michelle-obama-white-girls/

   The article’s title is “Michelle Obama Sends Message To White Girls That They Don’t Matter”

Let that sink in for a moment. It is obviously crafted to serve as click bait to ensure someone reads it. But, as the saying goes, “One cannot judge a book by its cover” so, too, “One cannot judge an article off of a sensational headline”. In the interest of not being shallow in my assessment, I clicked on this link and read the article.

   Here’s a summary if you didn’t click the link above: Basically Michelle Obama attended the “Black Girls Rock” event and as a result of doing so, she told white girls they don’t matter.

   It takes some effort for me as a Black Woman and a Latina to get through the article and took even more effort to nicely summarize the point of the article as I did above. Ok, now that I have that little item out of the way, let me get to my opinion and why I have arrived at my opinion.