Paul & Chase

No, I'm not painting for Chase bank. I'm currently working on three paintings and two of them; "Paul" and "Chase" are almost done. My friend and my sister have ordered as Christmas gift for their friend and family.

My friend C wants "Paul" that goes well with her friend's little boy's room which is {Star Wars} bedding from Pottery Barn Kids. I have done a good job so far and I hope they'll like it.


{Paul's room}







Now, my sister wanted me to paint something for her brother in law's (her husband's younger brother) newborn "Chase" for Christmas gift. The color request was "green" and "yellow" and something that look like the bedding from Pottery Barn Kids. She wanted me to draw Turtle instead of little chicks or sheeps.


{Chase's room}

All photos from Pottery Barn Kids.


I will post the final product photos when I'm done paiting which will take another three days. I can't wait to hear your thoughts on it!

xoxo

Back Up Back Up

Some of you may wonder what's this monkey's all about. This is exactly how I felt or looked when my laptop crushed over the weekend. So far, my husband was able to find files to all the pictures of our daughters. Thank goodness.

One of the most devastating things was that I had saved many photos for my artwork ideas and they are gone. I'm tryng to find it, but so far, no luck. I'm still optimistic and secretly hoping that it'll pop up, but I'm not so sure...

This is why people alwaus say, "You need to buck up the files." Oh I know, I know... I was so going to do that, it's just I didn't get around to it before it happened.

Oh, what's going to happen to the music I purchased on iTunes???? I don't even want to think about it.

Hope you had a lovely weekend...

xoxo

Pat's Bicycle Life

I love this image that my friend Jonas put this image together for me (thanks, Jonas!). Now that I've got a bike stand (borrowed from my friend, Mike), I feel more fully engaged in the bicycle life than ever.

Photography

I constantly try to find the ideas for my paintings and artwork. I grew up surrounded by two professional photographers; my grandpa and my dad. So, watching them taking beautiful pictures had shaped who I am. Yes, I love photography.

A photo can tell a million stories. And it's so magical.

I've seen so many beautiful photography throughout my life and there are many amazing photographers for whom I adore. One of my favorite photographers is Anne Leibovitz. She is so popular that I'm sure most of you've seen her work at least once somewhere in the magazines.

I'm an Anne Leibovitz fan because she's taken the world of photography to the limit and created a world of her own that many of us had never seen before. I always grab the issue of Vanity Fair when it features Hollywood stars that are shot by Anne.

Her photography is a total creation of photography and fantasy - it's just amazingly beautiful. I wonder what it's like to be in front of her camera...








{All Photography By Anne Leibovitz}

And another photographer I adomire is Herb Ritts(1952 - 2002), a fashion photographer who had shot so many Hollywood celebrities including Madonna. He shot iconic photographs in black and white - his work was simple and yet powerful. I love his photography.




{All Photography By Herb Ritts}

One of my all tme favorite music videos is Janet Jackson's "Love Will Never Do" directed by Herb Ritts. He was truly a talented artist. I'm sure you've seen it before. It's the best and the sexiest video ever. Beautiful song = Beautiful video. BTW, Antonio Sabato Jr. was freaking HOT!

Reframing our personal map

Without a car, we've started to realize that our personal landscape has shifted in scale and scope. For obvious reasons, we no longer go to grocery stores 7 miles away (yes, I do miss weekly visits to Russo's). It makes a lot more sense to hit the local Trader Joe's and Stop & Shop with the bike and trailer.

I've also noticed that having a car allowed us to be complacent about the professional services we receive. When we first moved to Boston in 2000, it took a while to find a pediatric dentist. My son has some special needs that made finding the right dentist pretty important. Even though we lived in Roxbury, we ended up going to a dentist in Cambridge. Even after we moved to Brookline, we kept going to Cambridge. But we had a car, so it could work. Even though we could have looked for someone closer, we never took the trouble. It's a hassle to change your dentist, doctor, vet, hairdresser. It's much easier to stay in the same routine. But going to professionals outside your neighborhood comes at a cost--there is an environmental impact of the travel, it eats up extra time from your life, and your money supports an office and workers in a town that's not your own.

A couple weeks ago, I had to take the kids to the dentist for checkups. But the appointment was too close to the end of school to effectively get there by bus, so I ended up renting a zipcar. With traffic, it took us almost an hour to get there (it's about 4 miles from home). Going to the dentist ended up consuming three hours and cost $30 in car rental fees. When I had our own car, I wouldn't have noticed the cost (though it was still costing me), and I would have ignored the time spent.

I've since found a new dentist for the kids, one that we can walk or bike to. And all it took was a couple e-mails to other parents at my son's school, and a phone call to the dental offices. I should have made the change years ago, but the convenience of the car allowed the situation to continue (even though it actually was less convenient).

(It turns out that our old dentist is retiring anyway, so we wouldn't have gotten to see him much anymore anyway.)

More and more, we're rethinking how we're accessing life around us and bringing it back closer to home.

One Step Closer....

I still can't believe my business website is finally up and running. It's a tremendous relief because I've worked so hard to create a beautiful site that everyone can love...

But this is not the end - it's just the beginning of my endless possibilities. I'm still nervous and scared about my new adventure. I'm seriously nervous about it.

I've always loved painting and loved art. But I've never thought I would choose it as my full time job. I think though, it's one of the things that can make me the happiest. It calms me down after all the craziness from everyday life..

I have a part time job and I am a mother of two girls and a wife. So, I don't have a lot of time to work on the paitings. I do paint after the girls go to bed, so when it's quiet which is truly a therapeutic experience. My goal is to quit my part time job by the end of January next year, so that I can focus on my true dream - paiting and becoming a great artist....

This is a blog about my life as an artist, a mother, a wife and a dreamer. I will try to post as much as I can and I hope you cheer me on through my blog. Thank you so much for being part of my life...

xoxo

Saroukh el-Jamahiriya (Libyan Rocket) 2009

Here is the 2009 version of Muammar Gaddafis "Saroukh el-Jamahiriya (Libyan Rocket)" a car which made its debut in 1999, exactly 10 years ago.

The “Libyan Rocket”, as the prototype is called, is described as an “elegant sedan” 17 feet long, more than six feet wide, with a 3-liter, V-6 gasoline engine.

According to the BBC and Fox News, it also has airbags, an unspecified ‘electronic defense system’, and a collapsible bumper.

The car can go hundreds of miles on a flat tire, a feature that could come in handy while driving in the vast Libyan desert. Other safety features include a device to cut off the fuel supply to avoid a fire in case of accident.

Domenico Morali, CEO of Tesco TS SpA, an automotive design company based in Turin, Italy, said Qaddafi joined in discussions about the car’s styling and asked for an original car using Libyan materials includhng marble, leather and fabric.

The car was unveiled in Tripoli at the end of an African Union summit.

According to the BBC, construction of a factory to produce the car was to have began in October 2009 in Tripoli. (ANI)