I started out the year with an art show. Four of my paintings were on display at Coffman Union at the University of Minnesota. My art was chosen for all the promotional stuff, which was pretty awesome. It's really neat to see a big ol' poster with your work splashed across it. The art shows continued, February being the best month, when I had art in FOUR shows at the same time! I had work displayed in an upscale salon, a tattoo shop, restaurant, and an actual gallery. Beloved Studios (the tattoo place) left my paintings up from February until August! I didn't have too many other shows this year, but I did get to road trip a little for one. In October, I drove up to the Iron Range in northern MN with all my Doily Ninjas to be part of a street art show. My grandparents live just two minutes from the gallery, so it was fun for my Grandma to get to see my art in person. My grandparents also had more to brag about when pictures of some of the Doily Ninjas got published in the Mesabi Daily News. Thanks, Grandma, for the newspaper clippings--I will totally hang on to those!
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| Any press is good! |
I got a really good response from people, probably because I gave away a few of the Ninjas. The Doily Ninjas are my most successful series so far; it's been really fun to see where they end up--my Ninjas are more well traveled than I am! Someone brought a Ninja to Japan; Hannah's taking one with her to New Zealand, and another friend is packing one when she and her family go to Cameroon next month. Just remember to take pictures for me, guys!
The Doily Ninjas have been extra fun for me, because I always planned to give them all away. I got the wood shapes for free, and I just like to share art with others. Sure, I like to sell work as well (money is good), but part of my artistic philosophy is that I give some stuff away too. God gifted me with a passion and skill for art making, I like to give back by not clinging so tightly to everything I make. Beauty is meant to be shared.
Speaking of art, I just applied for graduate school this month. If I get accepted, I'll be attending the U of MN next fall for a Master's in painting. I feel like God's telling me it's time to start a new chapter in my life and focus more on what I really want to be doing. Now that my application is out of the way, I'll be gearing up to apply for more art shows after Christmas.
The biggest thing this year was getting my tattoo. It's been something I'd been thinking about for a long time and finally had the money to do it right. I'm so happy with it, and it just feels right to have it there now. It's a visual aid for a great story about Who God is and what He's done in my life. In the coming year, I look forward to sharing that testimony more. God has really been impressing on my heart that I need to not give into fear, but be bold and courageous, standing up and proclaiming that I am who I am today because of His great love. Without Jesus, I would be lost, broken, alone, bereft, in darkness and hopeless. I never want it to become this trite, faky smile story. It's not like, "Everything was horrible, then Jesus showed up and now it's all perfect!" *cheesy grin* Life has its ups and downs, and God is there with me through it all.
Another cool thing this year: my sisters and I went on a great American road trip across the country. We went from MN to Omaha, Nebraska (where our aunt and uncle live), then straight through to Tucson, Arizona. It was just the three of us and my red Elantra, zipping through mountains and desert, there and back again in a little less than two weeks. It was alternately draining and relaxing. Our friends in Tucson spoiled us and played tour guide--I definitely want to visit again! I love road trips, and there's just so much to see in the Southwest. Note to self next time: don't try to drive straight through the night, pay the money for a hotel. It was really hard to come back to the humidity of the Midwest after the glorious dry heat of AZ. If I didn't like MN so much, I would move there right now.
I'm going on three and a half years at Half Price now. It's been a decent job with some nice benefits--they take pretty good care of their employees. I'm grateful to have great health insurance, that's for sure! I appreciate having such a flexible job when it comes to getting days off. Because of that flexibility, I've been able to do as many art shows as I have and volunteer as well. There's not too many jobs you can just take every Tuesday off to go volunteer somewhere. I really like that I can do that. I also love the fact that I'm surrounded by books every day and get paid to read. I've learned so much from all the awesome books I've come across at Half Price. I always said when I was growing up that I wanted to work at a bookstore someday.
But lately, the store's been feeling smaller, claustrophobic at times. There's an itch, I guess you would call it, a quiet longing for something more. A little voice whispering in the back of my mind as I go about my day: "Don't settle. Don't stagnate, Elisabeth. You will not be happy or content to stay here another three years." It's scary though, because I don't know what's coming next. It's safer to just settle into neutral and not strive too hard....but it's not the best way. I want the less traveled road, the journey through uncharted territory. I can feel it's time for something new--God's been poking me most of the year to get ready. He knows that I like being comfortable and am not a huge fan of big life change.
And if I'm coming across as all uber-spiritual and faith-filled, because I mention God a lot, don't believe it. I floss more than I read my Bible. If I want to read something, the Bible is definitely not the first thing that comes to mind. Over the last 12 months, I definitely have gotten closer to Jesus and feel like I understand Him just a bit more...but faith is a never ending journey. I suck at it a lot more than I'm successful. That's one thing I've realized this year: I may have grown up in the church and a Christian household, which means I know a lot about the Bible....but it's much harder for that knowledge to be transformed into application in my life. I don't want to be a Christ follower simply in word. It's easy to talk, that's cheap and easy. The hard part comes when it's time to put one foot in front of the other and actually live out what I say I believe. I think if I focus on following Jesus first and foremost, the rest will get figured out along the way.
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