Still Here, Still Fighting

... Don't worry your pretty little faces, I am still here. I have been out of town, had my life put on hold by a stomach flu, etc. I am thiiiisss close to going to my local university to get my bachelors of fine art with a concentration in graphic design, and maybe a minor in creative writing. I have been emailing and calling and emailing about financial aid, a living situation, etc. So far I have next to no answers, but I have hope! I am so so close! No, this school is not my IDEAL art school, but at this point I think being strong means taking what I can get, and if it weren't for the fact that I may have to commute an hour one way everyday at first, I would be very happy. With my health issues, I know that's gonna be tough, but I don't really know how to give up on this, so, I will keep fighting.
      I just wish I could keep up with this blog in the mean time. I am trying my best to draw in-between all this madness, but I am not producing much that's worthy to put on here, to be perfectly honest. Mostly anatomy tutorials and gesture drawings, etc.
    But if you only knew! I have classes coming up soon! Classes! As in, I will have something to work on! Something to make me feel like I am making progress! I have been kind of stuck at home with health issues for two years now, feeling like I am getting nowhere. But, this lil artist still loves her art, and she isn't beaten yet. She has this foolish tendency to be obnoxious enough to have the audacity to keep going.
     Oh, yes, I get frustrated with the seemingly impossible task of finding money and a job and a living situation, but I can't help but hope that it's all getting very close now. Something is coming. Even if it takes its time arriving, whatever it is, I will always be here, and I am always looking for a way to do what I believe I should.
    I am so excited! Wish me luck, and of course, pray for me as I pray for you. You must be the most patient followers, and I do appreciate you. Very much.

P.S.
      Oh, and I am working on a story for Mouse and Dragon, and maybe Spider (Mouse is a kind of regular on my blog, when I actually blog, for those of you who don't know. Dragon and Spider aren't so much, but I love dragons, so, there you have it.) I have always thought they needed a story, and proper names, so now I am slowly slowly fabricating a world for them. I have no idea when it will be done, but if anything, I hope to finish something that I can at least illustrate a few scenes from someday.  

P.P.S.
        For a bit of added inspiration, here is an amazing speech given by Neil Gaiman on the making of art. Especially if you are an artist of some sort, click on this link. Keep making good art, no matter what.

Little Christ in a Garden

I am alive and painting. I just couldn't show you this painting until just now because it was a commission/surprise graduation gift for My Lovely Friend (click on the link!). Now she has it, so now you can see it:

Little Christ in a Garden

Detail Image

I love this painting. As you can see, I managed to do a ginger-headed, freckled-faced, little Jesus with a mouse and toadstools. I had fun painting this. I was hoping for a fairy tale feel- I don't see why the Christ child wouldn't have loved fairy tales.
      And I think I should let you know that for some reason my carpal tunnel is better lately. I am not sure why, and I don't know how long this good spell will last, but I will take what I can get.
      I just got back from Franciscan University where they sent off the newly graduated class of 2012. If I had stayed at Franciscan longer than 2 years, this would have been my class. I love them so. It was a great blessing to be there with them, through the good and the bad.

‎"WHAT was wonderful about childhood is that anything in it was a wonder. It was not merely a world full of miracles; it was a miraculous world." ~GKC: 'Autobiography.'

“My imagination is a monastery, and I am its monk” -John Keats

When you are describing,
A shape, or sound, or tint;
Don't state the matter plainly,
But put it in a hint;
And learn to look at all things,
With a sort of mental squint.
~Lewis Carroll