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!

Rojo y Azul

Rojo y Azul

Acrylic to 5x7 Canvas

I Am That, I am

An original painting also by me
DC URBAN PIXIE
Title: Burnt Sienna
Acrylic Painting to 11x14 Canvas

GRACE and SERENITY
By T Marie Mason-Nolan (DC Urban Pixie)

Today I was thinking, today I was observing
The people, the sounds, the office, my surroundings
In my personal musings, I pointed
I pointed to people places and things and in this moment a phrase 

A phrase repeated itself over and over
"I am that, I am"
I pointed to the sidewalk, to a child, to a tree
And in that moment I pondered over the beautiful God or higher being 
that made me
I realized there was no above and below
But rather an inside, outside, and all around.
It was then another phrase burst through to my conscious from my subconscious
"I found God in myself, and I loved her, I loved her fiercely."

These words may not mean much to you 
But as for me, they mean everything
They help me to realize the beauty in myself and all that surrounds me
They help me reach a state of grace
A state of....Serenity

and so I share another poem today from "For Colored Girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf"

Enjoy and leave your thoughts.



A Laying on of Hands 
from "for colored girls who have considered suicide | when the rainbow is enuf"
by Ntozake Shange

i waz missing somethin
somethin so important
somethin promised
a layin on of hands
fingers near my forehead
strong
cool
movin
makin me whole
sense pure
all the gods comin into me
layin me open to myself
i waz missing somethin
somethin promised
somethin free
a layin on of hands
i know bout/layin on bodies/layin outta man
bringin him alla my fleshy self & some of my pleasure
bein taken full eager wet like i get sometimes
i waz missing somethin
a layin on of hands
not a man
layin on
not my mama/holdin me tight/sayin
i'm laways gonna be her girl
not a layin on of bosom and womb
a layin on of hands
the holiness of myself released

i sat up one nite walkin a boardin house
screamin/cryin/the ghost of another woman
who waz missin what i waz missin
i wanted to jump up outta my bones
& be done wit myself
leave me alone
& go on in the wind
it waz too much
i fell into a numbness
til the only tree i cd see
took me up in her branches
held me in the breeze
made me dawn dew
that chill at daybreak
the sun wrapped me up swingin rose light everywhere
the sky laid over me like a million men
i waz cold/i waz burnin up/a child
& endlessly weavin garments for the moon
wit my tears
i found god in myself
& i loved her/i loved her fiercely 

Crimson Blue

11x14 (may have to double check that size)

Acrylic paint to Canvas

What I do with days off! ^_^

Meme Share of the Day 1/23/2013

History Repeats Itself

So we've all heard the cliche before: HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF.

Well, it really does ring true, and just yesterday I found out why.

For a long time, I felt pain over the not so positive relationship between my biological father and myself.

As it turns out, he too was harboring a similar pain, a pain that came more to light when my younger sister tracked down our Cuban grandfather. I am actually looking at his naturalization document as I type, gazing at his signature. This person is a part of me.

New Sketch

New Sketch. Below...well that's just the aftermath of the sketch on my hand lol

FINALLY! Painted the cover to my sketch book.

FINALLY painted it. Will eventually post some of the sketches. I don't feel they're worthy of publication JUST yet because I had stopped doing sketching for a while so, I'm getting back into the practice. Lot's of pages to fill but I like how the cover came out! I squeal with excessive amounts of Joy. Also...if you didn't notice I'm in some sort of weird pink phase. ;)

The Ego

So I came across this picture the other day on Facebook and it really does speak a profound truth in the most simplest of terms. Your head will talk you out of your hearts desire but over analyzing or applying too much logic. Also, as I thought further on the subject, its not so much your head as it is your EGO. Those three lovely letters which stem from the human need of self preservation.

I believe the home of the EGO is the brain, your heart could be saying, "I really love him/her and I want to talk to them or work things out." but then the EGO takes over in your mind and says, "Well it's their fault/They need to come to me/I'm not going to talk to them first." And other variations of the "selfish" variety.

I'm a firm believer in ignoring the EGO but let's face it, I am human, and the EGO is a persuasive little coward, which in turn makes me the coward for listening to it.

However, I am also a firm believer in following what your heart tells you. It is usually my number one piece of advice I give to a friend who is stuck in the midst of indecision on a situation. Your heart will not lie to you, in fact, I believe it is a gift and our best guide in choosing what is right or what is the right path. EGO, on the other hand, is a lot like a political lobbyist, it will lie/cheat/etc to turn you towards its agenda, as if it was a separate entity that happens to be residing in the same body. That is my thought for the day.

Below, I leave yet another piece that really made me think on this and perhaps it stood out because the one below happened to contain three things I would really like to say to someone but my EGO/HEAD/FEAR/COWARDICE and whatever else could be listed simply won't let me. An excuse perhaps but...it is what it is. 

Love them Anyway...

  

  
A couple of lessons I have learned about people: 
1. Insecure people will work double time to try to make you feel just as insecure as they are, but love them anyway. 
2. A person who has no problem hurting themselves, won't have any problem hurting you, love them anyway.
3. So many people will tell you that you can't do something because they feel in themselves that they can't, keep doing you and love them anyway. 
4. The most sensitive people often have the biggest walls. I have realized walls are for cowards, open hearts are for the brave.
Welcome to Day 2 of 2013. Make the most of it, it is a page of a chapter of the book of your life. Have a good day everyone! ^_^


Paintings above: Acrylic on 9x12 Canvas 
Available as mug, magnet, and post card prints at dcurbanpixie.deviantart.com

Recognition

Never fail to recognize yourself in another person. Regardless of culture, appearance, life choices, or current circumstances. When you recognize yourself in others, you can give and share freely with others. It is why I am always thankful that when I run into a homeless or poor person on the street, I always always always have at least a dollar or more to give to them. When we give to others we give to ourselves. It does not matter what they choose to do with what is given, This life, this world, this experience, is all shared and connected. Help others, help yourself. Forgive others, forgiveness will be given to you. That is my thought for the day. :)

Goodbye 2012

 

A brief, or maybe not so brief, moment of reflection...

Not sure where to start but here goes. It would appear that any and all negativity I may have been harboring or attracting into my life all hit in the last month of this year. Such great lost and on top of all the great losses, I then got extremely sick.

In fact, I am still slightly sick while typing this.

At first glance it would seem that maybe some evil forces are working against me, but at the second one must realize that in order to make room for new and better things, the old things must be lost and die away.

I had not thought on it quite in that manner until I was watching a documentary on the life of Siddhartha or The Buddha. There was one phrase that stood out for me during this journey into the great man and teacher's past.

The phrase was this: "In order to gain anything, you must first lose everything."

It came up in the part of the story where, after the birth of his child Siddhartha had a choice to make. He wanted to truly understand the world especially after all that he had seen beyond his life he knew as a prince with a protected and sheltered life. He wanted to understand suffering, death, aging, and illness, he wanted to understand what the journey was about. He realized in order to understand these things, he must first leave everything he knew behind. To gain that kind of knowledge, he had to lose the life he knew.

So one night as he gazed upon his wife and newborn child he refrained from touching the child. He knew he could not leave if he did this because it would attach his heart to the child further binding him into his cage of ignorance. So he left that world behind.

He lost everything in that moment but he gained a knowledge and level of enlightenment that generations of people in this world could grow and learn from. How different would the world be without the teachings of Buddha?

I will take this moment to say that I am not a Buddhist, I am a practicing Catholic but that does not mean that wisdom cannot be gained from his journey and my faith shares similarities in the story of our savior Jesus. He too had to let go and lose everything in order to gain enlightenment and strength to make the ultimate sacrifice of dying for the salvation of man kind.

I promise this all has a point.

In the spans of a month I have lost quite a bit but I have also gained so much. I have gained a fresh perspective on my life. My car accident this month was a bit of a wake up call. For all intents and purposes, I and my son, should not have been able to walk away from that accident. A truck hitting a car my size at 45 mph should have injured us severely and probably if he had been going faster or had my car been stagnant, my son would not have been enjoying his 7th Christmas and I would not be typing at this precise moment.

I have found my faith again in the most extreme of circumstances, I feel blessed to be here and one way of looking at the loss a car is it makes room for a new car to be gained which was something I needed anyways.

The circumstances also served as a mirror holding up to me the images of negativity I attracted into my life by thoughts and words that were not positive and loving. You receive that which you give out.

So now here it is, the final days of the year, so much has been lost but so much remains to be gained from that loss, a lesson, a perspective, new friendships, relationships, cars, homes, or whatever "gaining" means to you. I for one believe that there is much to be gained and thankful for in 2013 and despite pain and loss in 2012 I bid it a fond farewell because every experience has brought me to this moment right this second and I am grateful for it. I also am thankful for the wonderful moments I had this last year, I had laughs, trips, great friendships, great memories, new opportunities, and I even had sunrises again for a while.

Goodbye 2012, thank you, thank you, thank you, for all that was given and all that was taken out of my path to make room for whatever 2013 promises to bring. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

:)

The Blue Lady

The blue lady was born on a day in which I found myself in a state of melancholic limbo. i was trying to release my negativity and focus on something more positve and therapeautic. As I painted, it was as if she leached the sadness out of my body and took it into herself as she took form on my canvas.

The Blue Lady.

Labor of love

Just realized that my hand cast a shadow on it when I too the photo. Will retake and repost eventually.

Wishful Thinking

Suppose it was just wishful thinking
Suppose it was just a dream
Suppose it was just a reality
Suppose it was just my imagination

What ever it was supposed to be...I am thankful for it nonetheless...

Let me know what you all think!

Change the way you think, please and thank you. :)

This post was first published on my Facebook page on February 8, 2010

I don't know why I had not published it here sooner but here it is. Let me know what you think!

Hello DeviantART 1rst Journal Post

Hello All

   It's been about a month since my last post, rest assured I have not been resting on any of my efforts or pursuits. There's just been so much going on behind the scenes. From Film making, to painting to....starting my DeviantART account. That's right, yours truly, is now on DeviantART. So check out the page and buy some of my prints!! :)

Below you will find my first journal posting on my DeviantART profile as well as a link to my page there. And as always, I am thankful for all the support here on my original blog page. Keep checking both and btw...in the coming weeks I will have a review/opinion piece to post that I have been working on as well as a couple of new paintings.

DEVIANTART LINK: http://dcurbanpixie.deviantart.com/

Pens and Time