a pieced and quilted life

breathing space::studio space

i love peaking into creative people's spaces and seeing where their particular magic takes place. u find little clues scattered about their momentos. what they cherish, where they've been, where they hope to go.

it's like trying on someone else's living style for a few moments. seeing how it fits.

i also like sharing my space....adding to the conversation so to speak.

here's my breathing space...my studio...my art office.  

 

the seatie is new to the studio...now i can comfortable read and write. e's not to happy about the shelves hanging over the siting area...but with all the earthquakes we've had recently and nothing falling down..i think i'm good. 

 

i have my granma's fav blanket there to keep my spirit company...i grabbed it today and dug my head in...took a deep breath and i could still smell her sweet, clean scent. heaven.

16 books bought in the past week in a half...2 of them i've already finished (the top two)...all but 1 of them was used (the color purple was new)...11 of them were only $.33 each...the other's were about $15..so all together I probably spent less than $25 for all of these books.

this will probably end up a memorial/shrine for granma...i have things she loved (antiques, flowers, crochet dollies), a picture of her, me and my mom when i was 17, and the elephant piggy bank she gave my daughter...the three of us shared a love of elephants...i cherish it too much to let it room with the little lady. i miss her so much. 

a collage picture of the west wall...the fabric wall...not so junky, but not so clean either.

it's amazing to me how many orange-red and turquoise things i've acquired over the years...unintentionally..and the art books ?...pure intention...i love studying artist. hanging in the left corner is my prayer beads...and that turquoise candy dish is either milk or depression glass...i got it for like $7...i can't remember which one it is..but i love it. i love milk glass and depression glass...i think i'm going to start a little collection...i've started picking up pieces in the past few months.

where i work...happily...fabric cutting, ironing and leather painting to the left, sewing and leather work to the right...mindlessly searching the 'nets, blogging and making up playlist? straight down the middle.

    

i bought this antique quilt a few weeks ago...i went looking for cutter quilts...found this one and couldn't leave it...i think its from the late '70's or early '80's judging by the fabrics...its in fairly good condition too...maybe i'll give it to ya-ya soon...she loves yellow like her mama.

summer garden...my view from the studio...

   

the newest bed...the herbs and flowers i started a couple of months ago. its really maturing and taking off...one of my favorite places to visit when i go outside now. i want to do another one before the summer's out...and add more flowers to this one...i'd love to pluck some sunflower and wild flower seeds along the back wall...along with a fruit tree...we'll see, i'll have to wiggle some gardening funds from e's tight hands first. smile.

i never thought i'd be able to fit so much stuff comfortably in this small room, and that i'd be able to do so many different things here...in this one space. i paint, sew, leather work, dance, weave, write, read, you name it.

i wish it had a window seat like the kid's rooms...but that takes up a considerable amount of wall space so i don't complain. 

nothing better than carving out some breathing space...no matter how small or big...

be peace...ki

gum drops, spice drops...

 

i promised some christmas crafting around the 'que household...we usually make a gingerbread house...but this year...we thought...a candy tree would be awesome too.

so this year we have two trees...one 7 1/2 foot one...and a small 3 foot one for our dinning room table...this one is for the kids...and candy...and to provide a lush background for our gingerbread house.

$20 worth of candy + $14 mini douglas fir + 2 hours of "crafting" = a sugary sweet tree

 

(that still isn't done)

the four of us worked for a little more than 2 hours...crafting and dreaming up sweet little ornaments for our tree....lots of fun...and imagination later...it isn't as covered as we'd like...but oh...its still sweet.

we decided that it'll be a continual holiday craft work in progress...the gingerbread house will be made this weekend...and i'm sure...lots more other sweet little creatures.

"a snowman bouncing" by mykey

"a gumdrop ladybug" by yali

"a gumdrop girl w/turtleneck" by ki

"one of the three kings" by e

a snowman, bird, and bear...

a sugar mess...that smelled soooo good...ahh...(i understand lamar odom a little better after smelling all this candy for so long!)

our 7.5 foot tree...and our decorated staircase in the back...complete with our stockings...a much more public place than our fireplace in the schoolroom...

hopefully a gingerbread man wreath is coming soon!

"jingle bells...jingle bells...jingle all the way...oh what fun it is to craft on a cozy winter day...hey!"

peaceful holidays...ki

our schoolroom (vintage post from old blog...)

**here's a post dated 8/12/08 that got lost on another blog i started...and let languish by the wayside...:

our schoolroom

so i've promised a few times to share our school room. it is very much still a minor work in progress, as is most of my house but it is for the most part done.

our schoolroom, is "housed" in what used to be our family room, which is apart of the kitchen and a little dining area that sits off the kitchen, between the family area...and the kitchen.

this room has always been the most used area of our house (along with my studio) as i'm always in the kitchen cooking or baking, and we have all our meals together at the table. the other good thing about this room is that it gets wonderful light in the day...and it is our house access to the back yard.

i decided that this would be the best room for schooling, once the t.v. was removed, because we have an area to eat breakfast, snacks and do cooking exercises, etc. not to mention the light is wonderful..and its probably the best area we have that has ample wall space. every other room has windows on almost every wall.

so here is a tour of our schoolroom.

the eating area.

when you first enter the room this is the first view...the eating area.

the "schoolroom"

to the left of the eating area is the actual "school" area. the formal area. the kids have a child's table that seats four, that have shelves underneath the table. the table is the perfect size for them, with a little room for them to still grow into. we found it at costco for about $200 and luckily we had the extra money to buy it. i think its best to give kids a table where they can comfortably sit, and have space to do school work.

the right of the kids desk.

to the right of the kids' work area is a little seatee, and access to the backyard. the seatee is a nice place for us to sit and read books...sometimes the kids will nap here also.

the left of the kids' work area. this is where our bookshelf is with all of the kids' supplies, books, etc. and the home of our belated mr.fish (who passed last week).

the bookshelf is not to organized, i'm waiting for the big shipment of school work/curriculum to come and then i'll go through and organize it better.

behind the kids desk is our fireplace, which we don't use, but hopefully we'll start putting it to use.

above the fireplace i have this bulletin board, i plan on putting up the kids work during the school year and other seasonal things. which means i need to get another board the same size as this one...

the view of the kitchen from the schoolroom.

bulletin board #2,

here's the second of the bulletin boards, this one is our calendar board which is doing good with helping the kids learn the months, the concept of dates, weather and seasons. they have a loose idea of these concepts but the calendar is helping to make it more concrete. it also helps with the "when is..." questions that we field constantly.

the kids, i and e love the schoolroom. its amazing how once we changed the room into a schooling area how are lives just seemed to morph in the right direction. its not uncommon to find the kids working at there desk on school stuff, crafts or letters to the family while me or me and e are making meals. there's been quite a few times that we cuddle on the seatee and read books, or the kids read there on their own.

they also love the wide open space. lately they've been putting it to use building "cities" with their blocks. they build all the places they like to go...space them out and set up their little figures to visit around the city. with all the space they don't have to take them down...so they can stay up till e gets home from work, but best of all me and e aren't stepping on random blocks and hoping around in pain...or knocking them over.

there is definitely something about the kitchen that makes it a great place for the family to congregate. i suggest incorporating a family learning area in or around your kitchen if you have the space.

paz,

ki

* everything is about the same...a year later...the only difference is that the seatee is now in me and e's bedroom...which i'm loving...and well out stove gave out in the middle of easter dinner so that's been re-placed by a silver and black newer model (wish they had it in white)...it changes the clean look of the kitchen a bit...otherwise...everything is about exactly the same...oh and there is the bird now too...

personal tour of my home...

home is a certain kind of personal word..different from house. it conjures up pride and coziness...possession and comfort to me. 

soon enough it'll be 5 years since this house became ours. i cannot begin to tell you how much i loved this house when we found it. the street..the vines...the windows...the constant streaming of natural light...the space...the clean white walls...i loved it all.

as we've been here and the kids have grown up here (they were 1.5 yrs and 2 months when we moved here) i've honestly fallen in and out of love.

there's times when i'm ever frustrated by the dingy white carpet, and the old metal/white mini blinds. i struggle with our tile counter tops which the previous owners had glazed (sigh)...along with the tubs and sinks...etc.

but i'm in love with so much too...

i can't really explain it...take a look...

 

a very partial part of our book collection...and some art...and things...

this is on your right side as you enter...there are 2 ikea bookshelves that anchor a thrifted bookshelf. i collect national geographic magazines...they are up top, there are some african artifacts...like a fertility god (upper right) that i need to pass on to someone...and a hand-carved couple...that sign that says no reads: no negroes, no dogs, no mexicans. i love it...if you know me you know i'm petrified of dogs...and well the negroes and mexicans...well thats us. its a copy of an old sign from the jim crow era in texas...

maybe a better shot...

up to the right of this area is a wonderful circular window..thats wonderful to look out of when your on the staircase...this is right over the front door...

see here, our front door...that's the aztec calendar hanging on the door..my mother in law brought it from mexico the last time she was there...the ceiling goes the total height of our home...two stories..its beautiful to just lay in the living room at night and stare at the sky...

when the kids were young...and we still had a "family bed" me and e would camp out in the living room on our sleeper sofa...and look out the window at the sky and talk...

our staircase...

as you continue on along the bookcase wall...is our staircase...and you eventually land in the schoolroom/kitchen...or in the formal dining area...which is to the left of the staircase...

right at the entrance to the kids schoolroom is their kitchen...which they still "cook" in...our school calendar...and their easels...at the base of the stairs is yali's keyboard...on a thrifted piano bench...don't ask me why that blue easter basket is hanging...the kids' like to "jimmy-rig" things from the stairs...they "send" things down to eachother...or something like that.

the stair case has family pictures on the second landing...some quilt art from my solo on the first landing...and all the way at the top...another quilt piece from my first solo show...eventually i'll install the words i had on the wall too...but with these two story walls...that'll take a lot of work and maneuvering...i'm not sure it can be done...

the first door is our room...the one next to it is my studio...at the other end of the hallway is the kids' bedrooms (side by side) and their bathroom.

our "formal" dinning area...view from the staircase...

notice all the stacks of mail and other "stuff" on our dinning table? the halloween balloon (the kids grandparents always bring them balloons...from the time yali was a newborn...)? the armoire on the right side is a vintage piece...notice the quilts rolled up and put on the chair in the left-hand corner?

there is a second window on top of the bottom window...i kinda got it in this blurry shot...it allows more light...and takes up some of the wall space...the walls go 2 stories...and the ceiling slants and meets in a v at top....

the vase is handmade in mexico, its heavy and big...the flowers are also handmade in mexico out of cornhusk...we've had them for at least 8 years...

and this is the mess that the kids make daily...

the boxes in the back corner are all our k12 kindergarten materials that got sent for michael (which have to go back...more boxes are coming today)...that corner is usually the collection spot for their balls, golf stuff, balloons...p.e. type stuff...

the t.v. armoire and coffee table were all hand-made in mexico and shipped across the border...the table actually has a big metal pot in the center which is traditionally used to fry stuff...or ice down cold beers, etc. my kids find it better to collect their "junque." underneath it is cd's i've yet to find a purpose for...

the furniture? well that's the ikea futon we bought for our first "home" 10 years ago...the blanket covering up the worn out cover is from mexico too...its hand-woven...wool and soooo comfy...i hijacked it from my in-laws years ago...

and unfortunately...i still have the mini-blinds on the windows...they're falling apart...yet their still there...eventuallly...i'll get to replacing them.

living (and creating) with kids...

living with kids can be quite an experience...they come with so many "things" and little stuff...and they find it easy to live amongst toys scattered every where...

i constantly have them pick up their stuff...only to find it thrown all over hours later. sometimes i just ignore it...sometimes i fuss...most times i begrungedly pick it up...(when i have time)

i made the decision when they were smaller to not buy "good" furniture when we moved here...our ikea stuff still had legs...and i figured why invest when they'll "live" in it and on it...

i didn't want them to not be able to "be" and play...and discover in their home...

i didn't want any part of their home to be "off-limits" to them...now things have changed a bit...or should i say evolved...our room is now "off-limits" to them...it is our "couple" space...a place for us..no toys...no more family bed...except for the occasional family movie night cuddle...

my studio is also "off-limits" now...they can come in and hang a bit with me..but none of their stuff can take up permanent residence...i needed a physical and mental place to break from role as mommy/wife and be artist...

i'm mostly happy with this decision...because as i look at the fingerprints on the sofa of jelly...and see the first scribbles on the futon wood...i think to myself this could of been on a nice piece of furniture...when i see them make beautiful castles...like the one in the above picture i think...they're exploring...when i'm able to go into any one of "our" spaces...close the door and be something other than mommy for a minute...i re-new myself.

i find that being an artist and mommy/wife takes some guts and will...guts to say...i'm not cleaning up toys today...or "honey, you can make dinner tonight...even if it is cereal...." or today "i'm not going to worry about the dishes." sometimes it takes will-power to be selfish and take care of me...to let the kids explore on their own...be independent while i work...or let them play in the dirt as e cuts the grass so i can work...

living and creating with kids happens when i step back...and take time for myself...i don't have the best house on the block..nor the cleanest...but most times...or better yet sometimes...i have "time" for myself...

as for our home....someday it'll be more grown-up...but for now...i'm fine with what it is today...the toys...the crayons...the dolls...the legos and blocks...the homeschooling boxes...all of it. including the little pockets of space me and e have carved out for ourselves...

one day...they'll be grown...one day they'll be in college...one day i'll miss their presence...and beg them to come visit...

until then....

peace, ki

an old picture of our living room...before we started housing the t.v. in the living room...before homeschooling...i found in the archives...

new spaces...pt. 2

there is something i'm digging about this space...the grunginess...the rawness...i don't know...feels like the best space to make a mess...and make something!

for right now...i'm thinking i'll do all my "messy" work here...leather-working, dyeing, and painting...

i have my easel, my rolling paint station, my old industrial sewing machine...and my large quilting frame here...

my plans are to knock out the wall and put in a sliding glass door...so i'll have more light, air and access to the garden in the back...and can watch the kids play...and to eventually close off the space to "garage" section...you know the messy...packed...car area....

hopefully we'll be able to do that next year sometime...but for now...i'm most content with the space that i have!

my general "area" the wall directly in front is really a dry-walled garage door opening, behind the wall is a wooden garage door that allows for you to "drive-thru" to the backyard. its called a "tandem" garage, the space is designed to accommodate one car.

one the left is a door to the house, which has a guest bathroom right there...and to the right is a door to the side of the house that leads to the backyard.

in the space...on the left is my easel, and rolling painting table..up against the wall is a closet door turned work table...house on two plastic work horses...there is also a baker's rack (one of the first pieces of furniture i bought), a few small bookshelves (left over from the previous owner's school room) and an antique chest of drawers...

on my table is art work of mines and a friend waiting to go on the wall...underneath, boxes storing all my dyeing materials...so if i ever need to...they are handy...


underneath the window...lots of odds and ends found around the garage to organize the space

 nothing really spectacular...organization...but no decoration...

the fence outside...i painted a love letter there for e...so when he's taking out the trash..he'd know i appreciated it...now i get to enjoy it too!

my sewing area...the industrial machine...and looking into the "rest" of the garage..

i tell you it is still very much a garage...poor e worked hours sunday...piling and moving around the "junk" we've carried with us from the condo, to our 2nd house...to this one...sadly some of these boxes have never been unpacked...from the condo to house #1 move...

this is the normal garage stuff...its to the right of the car...the gardening, "pantry," cleaning supplies, etc., etc. stuff...also there is lots of scrap wood...which he uses to build me panels, etc. well its not all scrap...we've bought most of it...

and lastly a general shot...

it doesn't take a spectacular space...and anything new to carve out a space of your own to create...all of this is re-purposed furniture....and almost all of it was vintage when we did buy it...

i don't know what i want for this space now...part of me is thinking something shabby chic...and girly...but the other side of me is thinking...artful...colorful...and crazy...

my original idea was to have all of my friends (most, if not all of them are artist) come over and paint what ever they wanted on the walls...and from then on every guest to my studio would have to "grafitti" the walls...i love grafitti...

but there is something in me that wants to see something pretty...i don't know if the two can be combined...most of friends are men...and they hardly paint pretty...

we'll see...it'll be a space in the making...

i'm open to ideas....

peace...ki

pt. 1 here...

new spaces...

workspaces...

my workspaces, or studios seem to be in a constant flux. i'm guessing thats fairly telling about my artistic life. 

i'm a voracious reader, and the same as an artist. think picasso. i'm not content with just sitting down and setting my sights on just one medium for life...or for any long period. 

i'm curious.

i ask why.

i ask how.

and i seek answers and new ways of answering old questions. and this always leads me on colorful paths through mediums.

i'm mixed media...

i'm collage....

and as such its only fitting that my life as an artist be a mirror to who i am.

there's poetry and acrylic paints, quilting and doll-making, print-making and leather-working, gardening and baking, drawing and mixed media...cross-stitching and embroidery...and now something new...

so...i've been working on my work spaces, again.

i've decided to move leather-working to a small section in our garage. we have a tandem, l-shaped 3 car garage. this was a "deciding" factor in our buying this house because i...we, could see the 3rd car section being a small studio for me. at the time i was a painter. lol. solely a painter.

over the past year i've had reoccurring dreams that i'd wake up, stumble up and into a "hidden" treasure in our house. it was a room with a patio, a bathroom and lots of light. it was dirty and packed with the previous owners old furniture and what-nots. in the dream, after living in the house for a "few" years, i'd "discover" the section of the house...and began the dirty work to bringing out another studio. i'd always tell e...isn't this why we bought this house? in the dream.

after having the dream about 3 times in the space of about 6 months..i decided to tell someone...it was quite honestly beginning to "freak" me out. i told my mother.

whats odd is that my mother helped us find this house. see, she lives an hour and a half away, and she hates driving. i was very pregnant with michael yosef when i began this house search, yael was all of 15 months, it was the middle of the summer and she offered to come one saturday and help. it was when we were with her that we found this house, fell in love and sat and talked to the previous owner (who had been the only owner) for hours. no kidding. hours. she told us about her life here, her children's lives...who had grown up here...and how much we'd love it.

she homeschooled both of her kids (i thought to myself there is no way in heck i'm doing that), her daughter became a really accomplished dancer and at 16 was moving to join a dance troupe and go to college (live on campus at 16!!) which is why she and her husband was moving. her son was a missionary. she also ran a homeschool for primary grades in the garage...which was fully converted (drywall, air conditioning, carpet, fully-enclosed)...

okay...back to the story...so my mom reminded me of that small section...that was to be my studio...and finally after months...the dream made sense. i had it once or twice more...during the year...the last one being in march i think...

its amazing how much or dreams speak to us. everything that i felt in the dream from the yuck of cleaning up the space (pulling up old carpet that use to house a school room for small kids....uck!), from the over-whelming nature of all the space that needed to be cleared and organized...to the excitement of having "space" (mentally and physically) i experienced.

the space is so far from where i want it to be...but the excitement...the potential...the i get to watch this and what ever it'll house grow feeling...i feel.

there is something magical about lucid dreams i tell you...

i'm sharing pictures of the space here because...i love looking into peoples' workspaces...i love seeing other peoples' homes. i also like seeing "raw" spaces...spaces that aren't done-up...decorated but are quite "raw" and in that beautiful...

so i'm sharing...i'm adding my space to the internet...and i'm also telling you...pay attention to your dreams!

go to pt. 2 for pictures....

peace....ki

a walk in my garden...

the wonderful thing about gardening...

is that in a blink of an eye...you go from this:

3/09

to this:

6/09

i have to be honest...i've been terribly neglectful of my little patch of land. with school ending for me and the kids...e working longer days...and me finding my voice in painting...i've been almost "un-interested."

i wanna say not completely...just not enough for me to want to get out there and work.

in my defense the skies have been covered in grey for the past week plus...i saw blue skies today in what feels like 2 weeks...seems like as soon as the calendar changed from may to june...a switch flicked and the weather wizard remembered ooh yeah..."june gloom."

its as if someone took out a marker, broad tip...and marked the sky in grey.

i should be honest and say that there was also not too much work to do...just harvesting...and staking plants...

we went out yesterday afternoon...thinking we were going to just harvest what was ready to be picked...but i was shocked to see how much harvesting and staking i really had to do...

this growing season...i decided to plant a number of different tomato varieties...since my boys love the fruit so...and i also decided to crowd them in...and let them go un-caged...

boy do we have a jungle in our garden...

there is actually a home underneath that vine structure...that is our living and dining room covered in the beautiful morning glory vine...

e is planning on chopping it down this summer :(

i let the arugula bolt and flower...it's really an impressive flower specimen...

five varieties of squash and and our first cucumber...i'll be making lots of sweet squash bread this week...and maybe some squash burgers too!

cherry tomatoes, strawberries and one lone raspberry that was very ripe...i hear the strawberries were really good and sweet...wasn't enough for me to get a taste...

a thumbelina? or a baby carrot? 

i pulled this carrot to check their progress...problem is i don't remember if this is the thumbelina variety that i planted...or they just need more time...i misplaced my "seed planting map" 

we're a bit confused as to what exact variety of squash this is...it came off the spaghetti squash vine...yet it looks like a zucchini...i guess i won't know until i cut it...it weighs about 3 1/2 lbs...it is the largest squash i've ever seen...or grown!

you can see the creamy white color of the spaghetti squash in the picture above...

i'm wondering if the varieties can cross-pollinate? i wouldn't be surprised.

and as if i could never get enough of fruiting trees and plants...i got a new almond tree today...can't wait to add that to the land! i love nuts...especially almonds...and for $22 i couldn't resist.

i'm looking forward to this growing season...even more than before!

paz....

ki

dirt...

edible flowers 

...that's where u can find me these days..out back playing in the dirt.

i've found so much peace in the garden, its all i can do most mornings. there is something beautiful about being alone with my thoughts, listening to the chatter of the birds, the bees...watching the earthworms wiggle through the dirt and creating yet something else...this time with nature's help...food.

the first ladybug spotted on a weed that's seemed to be new in our yard...but very hardy...i'm waiting for it to flower to see if i can identify it...never seen it before...and its all along the back fence...

its sort of become my meditation and my companion these past few weeks. me and e have worked hard together, chatting...silently...earnestly working the earth, preparing it to grow our food.

i've found myself working against this pull to be in the dirt with the need to do school work. i've managed though...still maintaining an A in my classes...but every moment that i'm starring at the computer screen...i'm wishing i was in my raggedy clothes and sneaks..creating with nature.

i think the essence of me is creating...whether i'm painting, making bags, or gardening...i'm working with God and creating...creating with nature...creating with emotion...but always creating with love.

there's something to be said about understanding oneself...knowing what is the simplest and truest expression/meaning of you...

the older i get...the more i know mines:

creating.

this year we doubled the veggie bed, its now 150 square feet...we are also going to establish a berry/grape patch. e wants to do away with all the grass and grow food everywhere...that's not going to be a reality anytime soon...the kids still need space to run and play...but who knows where the years will take us in our gardening journey...

the new veggie/fruit bed. it runs east/west...up against the fence/hill is all the sod we took out for the new area/extension...once the grass dries out, we'll move it.

speaking of this here journey...i've realized that i need to document my gardening activity...i've learned that your own personal garden journal will be your best gardening book over the years...there is a lot of planning that should go into good gardening...and knowing what's happened in years past helps a lot.

that back row is all the tomatoes...15 varieties...they're crammed in there...but hopefully we'll train them up this new trellis system early and i won't have any problems...front row is summer squash, middle is winter squash which will also be trellised.

baby cornrows...and zuchinni

this year i actually had to spend a day or two planning what was going to go where...based upon what was grown there the previous year, and what plants grow well together or adversely affects eachother. for example: you don't want to grow your winter squash/pumpkins next to your melons, because these cousins can cross pollinate and cause your melons to be bitter. wouldn't want that. 

so i'm debating if i should start an online journal...or a paper one. i'm not too good with writing in journals...so i don't know how good of an idea that would be...i enjoy typing though. i'm sure once i'm done with my degree (4 more classes) i'll have a lot more free time...so online journaling won't be too much...we'll see. i still got a lot of thinking to do about this.

the drip system we installed this weekend...almost working perfectly...but it may need some more work...i did a video to upload of the process...

green strawberry nestled amongst the cocoa mulch...

meyer lemon blossoms...they smell heavenly!

first lemon of spring...

first blueberry blossom on the new plant...waiting to get planted

sign the kids hung outside their swing set...

i'm enjoying spring...i hope you all are too!

paz...ki

Shlumpadinka a.k.a. slump-a-dinka

in this post i told you all that i was going to seriously hunker down and become a:

shlumpadinka a.k.a. slump-a-dinka

some of you didn't know what i was talking about.

nina to the rescue.

she went online...and got some "official" definitions.

see here.

a slump-a-dinka....(in my words) is a woman, be it mama, or wife, stay-at-home mother, or working mom...crafty chica, artist extradoinaire...or cooking master...single woman or "just engaged"...grandmother or twenty-something...

who:

has no time, no energy, or no care...to get dolled up to get what she needs to get done. she ain't got time to put on that pretty outfit that makes it look that she just got done doing yoga, she ain't got no cute matching track suits with the shoes to match to make going to the grocery store...going to get the mail...or playing outside in the dirt with the kids look like a wonderful sporting event.

she does not always wear the pretty aprons that she crafts up...because...while cleaning the toilet, washing the clothes, putting the kids toys back into the organizing bin that stays empty for the 27th time that day...or making yet another peanut-butter and jelly sandwich...or whipping up some cupcakes, cookies, or dinner...she doesn't have time! cause i'm sure the kids done done something with the apron anyway! not to mention...does she want to spill bleach on the apron? does she want it covered with juice, jelly or milk?

slump-a-dinka...knows that she can "pull-it together" when she needs to. but while she is homeschooling, cooking, baking, painting, sewing, grocery shopping, carrying the kids to practice, gardening, cleaning dirty noses, putting band-aids on yet another "ouie," making dinner, washing clothes, blogging...

her focus is "getting it done" and she' knows she's just "keeping it real."

so that's what its about...keeping it real, sharing and saying...

i may not look like it...but! i got it going on...cause i'm taking care of home...and this is what it looks like.

me and nina often...while video im'ing fashionably model our slump-a-dinka 'fits for eachother...proudly. we love ourselves and eachother...with our scarfs...or bras from the breast feeding days (two years ago), or "man-beaters" and boxers...or (not pink) sweatpants from wal-mart or tar-jay....or "recycled" outdated fashion clothes from before kids when we could afford to buy clothes...every season.

you'll often catch me in tank dresses from high-school, 13 years ago, e's boxers, old t-shirts that have so many holes e has begged me to throw them away...and the winter...oh the winter it gets worse.

my wonderful grandmother has even contributed to my slump-a-dinka-ness. just last month while i was visiting her she gave me a *few mu-mu's and blanket dresses for the winter. she even *bought* me a matching pink and black track-suit (label free) for when i want to "look nice."

i'll leave you with three pictures taken from phootobooth on my mac. all different days...

before the locks...i wore a scarf all day...every day. this is me waking up in bed. no make-up. nothing. (as if that's something new...i consider chapstick make-up...its all i add)

a few months ago, judging by the locks probably feb. middle day, the mess behind me that the kids re-make daily. this is in the kitchen.

this is me...right now. and yes that is the same tank-top that i had on in this post, just a few days ago. i haven't worn it everyday...but i recycled it last night...before it gets washed, might as well get some use out of it. this is in my sewing room/studio. the kids made a mess in here last night while i was sleeping.

i have more pictures to share...i'm thinking i'm going to start a photo album. sounds like a good idea to me. me and nina plan on having a slump-a-dinka posting day every week...maybe you'll join us.

next up?

the slump-a-dinka house...yeap you know what i'm talking about..what your house really looks like. we've talked about that too. hince "the imperfect home" kinda of like "litttle corners of my home" but a bit more real and raw...

we'll talk about that in another post.

okay...time to get out of my slump-a-dinka wears, eat breakfast, and go do my saturday errands...

lots more to come later...but until then, be comfortable...and keep it real!

paz,

ki

p.s. i've got some home-schooling stuff to share too...and maybe be baking up something special today...stay tuned!

painting again....day 2

so yesterday i logged a few more hours at the easel. i didn't keep track of how many...

my plan was to tackle the "chip on my shoulder."

my little african nyasa love bird was quite the challenge. although in the end i'm happy with how he came out.

he's not angry...just very informative or "matter of fact"...he's a pretty talkative fellow.

so it was off to the last creature of the painting..i layed the ground color...and bout time i was through...i was through. e and the kids had went out to the garden for harvesting (veggies and snails...we have a snail problem!) and i wanted to go back out and give my garden some love. me and the little guy were out early in the morning to "check on things" and look who we saw taking a rest amongst the black eyed peas.

our resident dragon fly.

one thing i've noticed is that if you become a part of your garden...meaning get out there everyday, all times of day, you become acquainted with your "garden friends." you learn their favorite spots and times...

for example i know where the big busy bumble bee lives...on the side of the house in the morning glory vine. he comes around huffing and puffing, making lots of noise very early in the morning. he loves our garden and the neighbor's tree that over looks our garden. he's very noisy.

the lady bugs love the squash leaves and are always chilling there, quite literally in the shade of the huge leaves in the evening.

the bees are always bout their business in the morning....loving the cucumber, crooked neck and zucchini.

the snails congregate in the morning...after the 5 a.m. sprinkler shower, they head towards the back fence for some odd reason.

and the dragon fly...loves to sit and rest on the highest post around. last sunday we added some old bamboo around the black eyed peas, as they were getting pretty tall. nice to see he found a new resting place.

ahhh, but this isn't suppose to be about the garden...its about my painting in progress, right?

wip...

she needs some eyeballs...and sankofa needs final color

lovelove...i still love love

i wish i could say definitively if i was happy at the direction the painting is taking or not. i'm not unhappy. i just have a vision of a direction i'd like to take things, and i don't know how to get there from the point that i'm at. ahhh, so hard to explain.

if it was on paper, i know how to do it, if it was a quilt, i know. but right now i gotta put my thinking cap on and figure out my direction...i know i'm on the right path...just gotta adjust the direction.

funny thing me and nina was on im cam while i was painting and she said...i don't know if you're interrested but in looking at this, i think you should illustrate children's books. funny thing is it crosses my mind. but i don't know....can't quite call it.

i think my work appears that way now, because of my little ones, and they affect my work a lot. i try to paint things, create things that they can relate to. its a bit of a self conscious and unconscious thing at the same time. being around two creative, lively kids...learning from them and teaching them how can they not affect my work.

if nothing else, the more interrested they are in my work, the more they let me work. they'll sit and watch mama paint...and the little guy keeps insisting that i let him help me paint. he literally wants to "paint the grass" or paint the bird for me. sigh. i wish i could let him, but i have to keep explaining to him that this is mommies work, work...and just like he can't manage a budget for papa, this is something he can't do. although i think i'm going to make some panels for us to paint together. once school starts....incorporate it into their art class.

speaking of the little one's creativitiy look at what the little lady drew after our date to see the "kitt" movie:

"kitt"

she came home and drew it the night we went to the movies, and had e put it on the wall. no prompting at all, she felt it needed to go on the wall, not the 'fridge. that's my girl!

but in all honesty...i hope i'm not raising two more artist...i think e would go crazy...the budget would never be balanced.

i'm signing off...don't really know what's up for the day. the kids decided they want to run a restaraunt today...so i may be busy doing that...who knows. but i'll be sure to let you know about the restaraunt if it "opens" tonight. which reminds me...the little guy is having a birthday soon...maybe i should do a "restaraunt" theme, since he wants to be a chef (and a builder)...or a building party....hmmmmm? any ideas? time to get out my old martha stewart baby and kids magazines.

i'll leave you with the mess of my "sewing studio" turned "painting studio..." why don't i just paint in the garage in the "dye studio?"

paz,

ki