If you are looking for my professional portfolio…

Please go to www.maryjamesart.wordpress.com

The site you are currently on is my personal blog.

Thank you.

It’s been A WHILE.

So this morning I’m enjoying my peppermint mocha, reading my friends wordpress blog and I begin to think about my own blog. “I wonder when my last post was?” I thought to myself. “JUNE 9th!!!” I answered myself. Wow I am not very good at this. haha. AND before June my previous post was in MARCH. hahaha. I need to be better at this.

Obviously life has been crazy. I haven’t had much time to myself just because I’ve been so consumed with school and work and when I’m not doing that my first choice to to be with Trevor and our families. Having time to myself is not high on my priority list, but I think it should move on up. It will be good for me. So one of my goals this Christmas break is to update me blog, make it reflect who I am and what’s going on in my life. Not sure if I’m going to focus more on art or journaling or a mix of both. The point is that I need to be consistent!

Drink More Water

This morning I’m reading my bible in John 3 and I because it’s so good I continue onto chapter 4. Here Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman, whom Jews do not normally associate with, and asks for a drink. Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

I keep reading. I as I do this I am drinking from my red plastic water bottle thinking about the truth of being thirsty and hydrating myself right because it’s something I often forget to do. Before I run today I want to drink at least two bottles of water because I want to hydrate myself. I know that if I don’t, then I will get easily dehydrated and pass out. Bringing some water to run might help but I really need to prepare myself before I run to be safe. This way I’m not worried about making that mistake again as I have passed out from the heat before.

In this same way, I have to prepare myself spiritually in the mornings before I take on the day. If I do not consume myself in God’s word- studying it, writing it down, and praying about it- I am much more likely to stumble. I feel so much more prepared, much more confident in my step when I’ve prepared myself for the day. So this is a reminder to myself to drink more water.

 

 

Fingers Crossed

Yesterday I submitted my portfolio for submission into the  Art Education Program. So I thought I would share my images, artist statement and letter of intent for teaching:

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Artist Statement

For me, art is created to serve a functional purpose. Whether to address an argument, raise awareness about an issue, depict a memory, or reflect my future dreams, art puts reality into a new perspective. Beauty may be one of these purposes, but it is in the eye of the beholder and sometimes the function takes precedence over physical appearance. More often than not, I have a specific function or goal in mind for the work I create rather than generating art without concept.

Preparing for the Art Education program allows me to experience an assortment of courses which leads me to create through a variety of mediums. Drawing and painting serve to develop foundational skills of working from observation, whereas design and ceramics allow me to work three dimensionally from imagination. However, photography is what I am most passionate about, as the lens captures pieces of life in the purest form. Whether that may bring back positive or negative suggestions, it allows the viewer to vividly relive moments again and again.

My recent artwork is rooted in the connections between people, as it is a recurring theme in every piece of work I do. This concept is based on the social norms of strangers I see every day and the relationships I hold with the people that are dear to me. With the advancement of technology, overloaded calendars, and a highly individualistic culture, our sense of genuine community has been lost. My desire is to encourage honesty and tenderness into our world, in hopes that viewers will be more aware of the importance of the ties that they hold with one another.

 

Letter of Intent:

I have, for many years, found such joy in caring for younger children within the realm of multiple church activities, summer camps, and steady babysitting opportunities all throughout high school. Now, being an Extended School Day instructor at Mc Nair Elementary School, I have gained even more experience with children. As an extension of their normal school day, we play games, apply academic enrichment, and produce two to three crafts a week. The variety of activities we plan has given me direct practice on how to create art lessons and see how well the children do.

To me, the most important rationale for art education is to provide a feel-good activity for the children. I believe that raising a child’s self-esteem through art will give them the confidence they desperately need to combat the negativity that probably will surround them in other areas of their life. I want to provide art lessons that produce a guaranteed success, so that no child will ever feel inadequate in comparison to their classmates. However, I want them to feel proud of what they create and for them to go home and share their achievements with their families. I feel that a balanced amount of the activities should focus on the growth and learning processes that are weaved into the unit as a whole rather than on the final product of piece of art.

I believe that especially for young children, the development of cognitive abilities and psychomotor skills can easily spill over to other areas of academic learning.  The practice of art making can accelerate the development of fine-motor skills and lead to a foundation of creative learning. Incorporating aspects of math, literature, history, science, and new media into the art classroom can intensify the absorption of knowledge to the student.  This incorporation of other disciplines can be taught in a inventive and interactive way, with a hands-on approach.

“I Believe in Miracles!”

For those who may not know, my mom’s Inflammatory Breast Cancer metastasized (spread to other parts of the body) a few months ago. Her first encounter with Breast Cancer was in October of 2008, my senior year of high school. The entire process of chemo, radiation and finally surgery, lasted about a year. Then a this past October she was having some issues that led us to find out that the same cancer cells had come back. The disease had not only reappeared in the form of 4 tumors among st the organs in her abdomen , but also in the presence of her bones. She immediately started chemo- hard chemo- 2 weeks on 1 week off (as long as her white blood cell count was high enough).

Chemotherapy is like a poison that has all different side effects that counteract with every drug that’s in your system already. It means headaches, nausea, increased heart rate, tiredness, awful random leg or arm pains, and sometimes hair loss (luckily not this most recent round). BUT even though the chemo may be killing some good cells, God has allowed this all worth it. Healing WILL come. Healing HAS come.

Got any doubt that God answers prayers?

This is the emil that my mom sent out to all the Bridgeport Middle School staff titled “I Believe in Miracles!”

I want to Praise the Lord for the positive results of my PET Scan from this Mon. Jan. 30 2012!
My initial scan on Nov. 7th 2011 showed a very large mass of lymph nodes covering almost my entire mid upper abdomen. There were numerous metastasis in the lymph nodes throughout my body. Also noted was widespread metastatic disease in the bones. CANCER seemed to fill my body.

Yesterday, the oncologist read me the results of my scan from Monday, Jan. 30th. It stated,
“Dramatic resolution” of metastatic disease. Dramatic decreased FDG activity in the abdomen…

WOW! Isn’t it amazing! In 2 1/2 months time, The measurable evidence of cancer in my abdomen showed, “dramatic resolution.” No new lesions were noted and no growth noted in any area.
Miracles still happen today! I told the Dr. and nurse that I serve a big God and had lots of people praying
for me. He is the great healer! I believe that the reduction of my cancer cells is a direct result of the many prayers said on my behalf. Thanks for your continued prayers. God isn’t finished with me yet. I believe He has wondrous plans for my future. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, pans to give you hope and a future.”

The chemo drugs I have been taking, have been hard hitting, both to the cancer cells and to the other cells, as it doesn’t differentiate between cancer cells and healthy cells. As result, the chemo has greatly lowered my WBC’s and I have been taking injections to boost my white blood counts. Even after having 4 days of injections after my chemo on the 19th and no chemo last week, my WBC’s were too low to have my chemo treatment yesterday. I will be taking more injections this week, in order to raise my WBC’s enough to take more chemo next week.

Though the days ahead are uncertain, I know God will be with me and give me strength for every step of my journey.
Blessing to you and your families!

Cindy

AH-MA-ZING.

God is SO good.

Random facts to note while procrastinating…

I like:

dresses

slippers

snuggling

drinking nesquik with my spoon in the cup

musicals

singing in the car (but I think it’s odd that I never sing in the shower)

 

I do not favor:

my hair in a ponytail

simultaneously hearing two songs

people who drag their feet

yelling

frosting

wearing earrings and a necklace together, especially if they match

 

I clean when I am killing time and/or procrastinating.

I have had way to much chocolate today.

I think now it would be a smart idea to do my homework.

 

The Band vs. Jesus

So last night, some friends and I went to Banter to See Karyna Cruz and Zach Blach perform. At the end of Karyna’s set she cam around to talk to everyone and also to pass out bracelets, stickers, business cards, all with her name in info on it. She obviously does this so we will use these items, people will ask about it and she will get her name out there. This method easily spreads the word about her music and expands her contact with these people.

As she came around I took a couple business cards and thought to myself about who I could give these to this week. Karyna is great and clearly with the links to her website I’ve given you, I want you to be able to know who she is.

I wonder why we are so good as spreading the word about about our favorite band, but when it comes to spreading the word about Jesus (the one true God we should be worshiping), we fall short? It’s very easy for us as humans to talk about earthly things because that is what is on our minds and that is what is important to us.  But if we captured that fire, and we used it for the glory of God, think about the big things that our Lord will do.Colossians 3 says that you (we) are to “Set your minds on on things above, not on earthly things… When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory… you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” How awesome is that!?!

If we are with God daily, it will begin to show in our hearts, minds, words, and actions. This is defiantly something I am working on and I challenge you to take His word to heart and do this as well. Please pray for me as I work on loving the Lord with all my heart and with all my mind, especially this week.

“The End Of An Era”

All my other roommates had seen every episode, so I thought hey, I’ll make use of my summer by watching all 10 seasons of Friends. People this is 238 episodes in 75 days and I can now proudly say that I have seen every episode of the show, including every gag reel and special feature.
It’s a funny thing really. I never thought I’d be one of those people. One of those people who refers to these characters as if they are an actual person who is apart of their life. I’d be hanging out with Trevor and something he said would remind me of an episode. I’d say, “Last week Ross did this… or Chandler said this…” It was so fun to watch these characters grow and to watch these relationships between them evolve. I have to admit that I cried during The Last One, realizing that I didn’t want the story to end. I wanted to see so badly what was going to happen next.

Now having seen them all I have to say that I feel quite knowledgeable about the show and the characters. I can now refer to specific scenes and quotes, and laugh about all my favorite moments.  I love friends and I am so glad that I spent my summer with them.

I feel like there is more that I should say about this topic… but for now that’s all I’ve got.

 

 

The One Where They’re Up All Night

This is why I try to never workout late at night. Despite the fact that we only got 5 minutes into the warm-up before Trevor got another caffeine headache, my body was so energized that I COULD NOT sleep once I got back to my apartment.

First I called Trevor to tell him goodnight.

Then I took a shower. (Both normal parts of my bedtime routine.)

Next I went on facebook for a little while thinking I would sleep after that.

The problem with that was, I wasn’t feeling tired AT ALL. I was actually really hungry.

Maybe I should finished the disc of Friends I started earlier today…

Still wide awake.

By this time it was almost 2 in the morning and after exploring pinterest for a while I thought reading 15 pages on Fmylife.com would be a good idea.

Not a good idea.

This only made matters worse because now I was LQTM (Laughing Quitely To Myself) in an empty apartment.

By this time I was really really super hungry, and despite my better judgement I went to taco bell at 3am.

I left the apartment building surprised to see so many people also awake at this hour and I wasn’t exactly comfortable with it.

I got my #8 and sat in the living room to watch the next disc of Friends thinking I would surely fall asleep there.

At 5:30am I was still awake.

I laid on the couch… forcing myself not to get up, in fear that maybe I would become even less tired.

I did not touch the TV… I did not touch the hall light… I just laid there.

“Fall asleep, Mary.” I thought to myself. “You have no choice now. NO, you will NOT watch another disc of Friends, the sun might be up by the time that’s over.”

So I tried to close my eyes. What I thought was 2 minutes went by and I looked at my phone.

It was 9:04. “Thank goodness! I slept for 3 hours!”

Ok let’s try to do that again. Maybe I could sleep all day.

Open my eyes… 9:47 … close my eyes

Open my eyes… 10:18 … close my eyes

10:50 Gargi left the apartment… close my eyes

11:20 Gargi returns, asks me questions. I’m up, there is nothing I can do about this now.

Go back to bed. I’m still not sleepy.

Now I’m blogging about it.

Great Day

1. Austin made us pigs-in-a-blanket for breakfast.
2. Basketball
3. Swimming
4. Lunch with Kaitlin at Chilies
5. Haircut
6. Alice in Wonderland pens
7. Shopping a little with mom and Austin
8. Genghis Grill
9. Kung Fu Panda 2
10. Singing all the way home to Trevor’s cd he made me