Claudia Horsey

Time to enjoy

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:36:00 +0000

I've been working on my web site for about 3 months now. Of course it's been on and off. And when I make decisions about it and let them sit for too long before I make them public, it turns out that when I get back to them, I just don't like them anymore. So I start all over again. So for the past couple of weeks I've decided that I'm going to finish the design for my web site, no matter what. It's been great to see how much you can get done when you have a dead line. Even your own dead lines work.

My back is a little sore, and I haven't been sleeping as much as I wish, but I'm very happy with the results of hard work and productivity. So for the rest of the night, after a couple of weeks of not holding a brush at all (just computer work), I'm going to enjoy myself doing what I love the most: just painting, while listening to some music.

Dani is out of town, and I'm really enjoying this time alone. Tomorrow, I'll get other chores ready, like packing for Venezuela!!!
So see you soon!

Oh shenanigans!

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 06:18:00 +0000

Holly Molly!
Today I was playing at the playground with one of the cute little girls I take care of, and, as the brieve description of the Dr. in his form, I "slipped and smacked" my shin. It was so painful we had to go to the emergency room to have it checked out. Now I'm walking with the crutches, and being pampered by Dani.

This whole incident can have a very possitive point of view; it made me realized how happy I am with the people I'm surrounded by. The truth is that I'm usually happy and I feel very appretiated, but in moments like this I can feel it even more and it's more obvious.

I also realized how sometimes we can take health for granted. After this event I'm going to use my body in even more ways, I'll explore movement and be more motivated to work out, walk, run, dance, stretch and just move as much as I can (I'll do my best to keep this feeling last for as long as I can).

I love being alive.

Currently reading - The Bears Famous Invasion of Sicily

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 23:03:00 +0000

I'm currently reading this amazing story about bears, battles, and people. It was written by Dino Buzzati. The story is written so simply, and it makes my mind travel to italy and a long time ago into the past, that I believe existed.

Dino Buzzati (October 16, 1906 - January 28, 1972) was an italian writer, painter and poet, and he's well know worldwide for Il deserto dei tartari (the tartar steppe) I trully admire him and I wanted to share ir with you. Maybe you'll like his books too :)

Here are some of his paintings:

We're all kids

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 16:55:00 +0000

A couple of weeks ago, Dani and I went to the children's museum as part of our art walk, and we had a blast!
it reminded me that we're all kids, but sometimes we have to pretend to be grownups to fit in... maybe some people are real grownups, but I think that's an unknown world to me!

Walking on Creme Brulee

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 05:54:00 +0000

Walking on Creme Brulee from Claudia Horsey on Vimeo.

Winter already

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 23:33:00 +0000

Wait a minute!
I thought it was that time of the year when the leafs start falling of the trees and you get kind of like a chill feeling in the morning and therefore you have to wear some kind of jacket to be a little bit more comfortable. Well, maybe on another year, but this time around I just feel like opening and handing Christmas presents, and we haven't even gone through Thanksgiving yet!
Oh well, I can't say I'm not enjoying it, and it actually looks quite beautiful. The first snow of the year was on Friday night and I was dancing and singing just to celebrate :)

Dani and I decided to take a stroll and see the first snowflakes covering the town.

It was a little windy too!

snow is so pretty...

at the next morning... Oh no! some letters are missing from the banner!

Beauty everywhere

I was ready for a walk.

Halloween!

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 03:17:00 +0000

Finally I'm back :)
After a couple of weeks without computer, now I get to see all the pictures I've taken and enjoy blogging again.
Dani and I spent Halloween weekend playing CLUE with friends, eating some candy and having relaxing time at home watching scary movies. Thanks Katy for hosting such lovely party :)

My partner Sam and I knew who the killer was from the get go... we just couldn't get to the right room to make the guess, oh well...

Lots of candy, and cupcakes, and more candy...

Dani doesn't need a costume to look creepy...

My tutu skirt took over the whole living room, it's big...

and finally, trick or treat!
Hope you had a great weekend too :)

Oh oh...Computer broke. So many things to show you, I'll be back soon :)

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:22:00 +0000

How to be alone

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:01:00 +0000

I really enjoy watching this video. Why are we so afraid of being alone?
I want to keep learning how to be alone while still being with someone. Is that really possible?

While I'm creating, I embrace the art of being alone. I want to make that art my best piece of all, because to me is the reflection of a pure love, the love to ourselves ♥

This video is a poem written and performed by Tanya Davis.

Day Dreaming

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Day Dreaming from Claudia Horsey on Vimeo.

When I'm walking to work, this is what sometimes I "see"
I'm always day dreaming when I'm walking, and most of the time when people is talking to me... I should not have confessed that. Oh well...

To see my other videos click HERE

Inspiration Wall

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 03:57:00 +0000

I wasn't feeling very creative this week so I went to the hardware store and got some paint samples to inspire myself about color combination.

I'm trying to explore new ones, and at first, the paintings I did didn't look right. But after a while watching them they do! They're not finished yet, but I'll show you when they are :)

Peace on Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:50:00 +0000

Sometimes I see our house, and I think that it looks like no one lives in there. I love our place, so I decided use the front of the house to send a message to the world: "peace on earth", peace on the house, peace at work, peace at home.

I think it turned out kind of cute :)

IF: Transportation

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 03:44:00 +0000

My favorite way of transportation :)

Walk to Work

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:38:00 +0000

Fall is my favorite time of the year. This year is my third time experiencing Fall, because you can say in Venezuela is summer all the time, with some rain, but we don't get to see the cycle and recycle of nature, even though it's happening, it's less obvious.

I really enjoy walking to work, it enhances my senses and even though there's still a lot of pavement and bricks, there's so much to see and explore!

I took this pictures yesterday, it was very foggy and every tree and corner was covered with spiderwebs... you can feel Halloween is coming.

The raccoon made my day, and I must say that was my favorite part of my walk. I wish he would have stayed still so I could have taken a better picture of him, oh well...

Yes, Autumn is here...and I'm very happy about that :)

Howls - Hammock - by JUL & MAT

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 17:00:00 +0000

Finding inspiration everywhere :)

Exploration #2 - Scare Yourself

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 18:38:00 +0000

For this exploration you just need to be bold. Meaning that you have to do something that you've probably been postponing, something you've been putting off because it's scares you,m and you may think you're not going to get a good result from it.

To me that thing was encaustic paint.

Too many fears:

I'm going to burn the kitchen,
it will look ugly,

I don't really know how to do it,

it's too expensive,

what if it doesn't look pretty... yada, yada ya...

I said to myself "let go of the outcome" and I repeated it in my head many times. It feels pretty good :)

What would I do without you, bee...

I prepared my space,

and went to the stove and prepared my encaustic medium :

50% beeswax

25% Damar Resin

25% Paraffin Wax

heat

and applied it the best I could... Voila!

IF: Beneath

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 19:02:00 +0000

The cow is beneath the ground, in the stomach of the earth... where it's quiet, and safe.

I made this illustration as part of an exploration that you can find here :)

I ♥ Farmers Market

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000

I love farmers market :)
last Saturday Dani and I went to the Bellingham Farmers Market, and I wanted to share some of the pictures I took. I got inspired for my latest post for Illustration Friday, you can see it here

I would love to shower with these ones :) they look like candy!

Lots of people and beautiful things...

Lovely music played by a lovely girl...

And the veggies of course :)

What inspires you?

Exploration # 1

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 01:40:00 +0000

I'm going to start doing some creative explorations to open up creativity. This isn't really the first time I do this exploration, but I'll call this one # 1 to start a series of explorations, to see the progress of my creative process starting here. This is also a way of inviting you to participate and share your explorations.

Feel free to use this ideas as an exercise for your own creative process.

Exploration instructions:

Make 10 mini paintings (including drawings, collages, or anything else) with the first thing that crosses your mind. So you sit down with all your materials on hand, a glass of water, music, and maybe some snack, and hands on work!

Note: don't stop until you finish the 10 paintings, maybe a 10 minute break after the 5th one

Suggestion: make mini paintings, so you can work fast and ideas can flow easily.

Another Note: feel free to change, modify or ignore this exploration and make something else.

Here are my 10 mini paints

Plastic Bag from Futurestates

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:01:00 +0000

Just wanted to share this video with you.
Now when I go to the store and I see the plastic bags, I think of what I saw on this video.

IF: Old Fashioned

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 17:03:00 +0000

Inspired by the Farmers Market, I decided to make this Illo.

I would like to share the breve process for his one:

First the drawing

Then one layer of pencil color (and by this moment I thought"Oh no!, I don't know if I'm going to like it")

So I applied one, 2 and 3 more layers...

... and it ended up like this :) now I like it. I try to give a few chances to my drawings before deciding. In the end, I almost always end up liking it.

Today I'm grateful for....

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:21:00 +0000

The way I'll celebrate Mabon this year will start by making a list of at least 10 things I'm grateful for today. Maybe later I'll make some homemade bread to share with dani, and meditate before going to bed. But I think it's a good way to start my day by listing the things I'm grateful for at the moment. So here it is:

I'm grateful for...

1. My life with Dani, full of joy and abundance;

2. Having amazing people I call my family, including my blood family and in law family;

3. Have a roof to live under, a space to create love, art and to share with my dearest;

4. all the experiences I've had, that have helped me become what I am today,

5. the Nature I'm surrounded by,

6. my basil plant,

7. Autumn, and the change of seasons,

8. the freedom I have,

9. food I get to eat, and

10. being alive

What are you grateful for TODAY? want to share?

IF: Acrobat

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:51:00 +0000

I drew this illustration while I was waiting for the bus to go to Seattle to visit family, last Friday. I did it scratching this special black paper, that reveals color once scratched :)
Improvised illustration. It reminds me of my last post about zoom out, and I guess the metaphor of being an acrobat applies to life too.

Zoom Out

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 16:47:00 +0000

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how to keep a balanced life. I have so many interests and things that I want to do (and some of them are things I have to do) that sometimes I feel like I can only focus on One thing at a time.

For example: last winter I was so focused on working on my illustrations, that I completely abandoned the gym and the mountains, and I didn't work out at all. Then summer came and I focused on working out and outdoors activities, but I abandoned my illustrations almost completely. I've realized that it has also happend with other many things that I have to deal dayly, like cleaning the house, laundry, taking care of my hair, and hanging out with friends, oh... and cooking too!

I was talking to Dani about it and he said: "you just have to zoom out, you're focusing too much, zooming in too much"

I work mostly visually, so this metaphor is not so much a metaphor when I think about it. I do focus too much on things, I can tend to be quite intense. So I'm going to start exercising zooming out, trying to see the whole picture, and open space for all the things I want in my life.

Conclusion: Zoom out = Open space and time :)

Do you feel like this sometimes? ...

I didn't know...

noreply@blogger.com (Claudia Horsey) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 06:39:00 +0000

Last weekend a couple of friends came to visit us and stay for a few days with their lovely dog, Porter. And I didn't know Porter could sit on my lap, like a kid, and stay!

I didn't know that the bar we go to sometimes has elephants as decoration... interesting...

I didn't know there were such cool mushroom flowers growing in our front yard... (click on the pic to see it better)

...or that I love abandoned places and rusty things so much!

...or that you can find patters almost everywhere you look...

...or that the rocks by the water look like carved and sculpted by someone, naturally!

...or that my friends would wait for me when I stay behind taking pictures,

This was a great weekend, I learned a lot :)