The Last Lecture

Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch (Oct. 23, 1960 - July 25, 2008) gave this lecture at the university Sept. 18, 2007, before a packed McConomy Auditorium. As he prepared for his speech and even while he spoke his words of wisdom he couldn't help repeating to himself the grim prediction his doctors gave just a month before - you have 3 - 6 months of "good health" left. Think about that for a few minutes. . . . .

What if you were told that very same thing today? What would you do? Would you curl up in a ball and wait to die? Would you so bravely go on with life and try to be truly happy - - or could you be strong enough to actually LIVE the rest of your life?

What about your children? Could you go on like life was the same as it has always been -pretending that you weren't about to leave everything that you hold dear - or how unfair it was that you are forced to leave the perfect life you worked so hard to achieve just to give your kids a few more precious months of normalcy... a few more memories of what life was like when Daddy was here.

Some of you may have read or know about his book. You may have seen him on t.v. or heard about his passing but you may not have taken the time to look him up and get to know the generous and wise Randy P. aka the mad hatter - lol. This video is worth every second of your life that you spend watching it - take your time and watch it all the way to the end (you will thank me for it). Spend some time to really think about how it relates to you and your life. Let it help you be a happier person, living in the now.

Here is a link: http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/news/index.html that you might enjoy if you want to read more from Randy. These are notes from him with updates on his health and pix of him and his family and links to things that he found interesting.

edit: This is the main page with lots of stuff like interviews and links to his book etc. http://download.srv.cs.cmu.edu/~pausch/.

Inspiration - The Blind painter

Have you seen this? This is inspirational. I find it amazing. Hope you enjoy it!

Self Portrait

This self portrait is of my talented 10 year old daughter. She won a blue ribbon in a local art show. I want to thank her art teacher for encouraging her to enter. She's a little shy about showing off her art (like all of us are at times -lol ) I'm grateful that the school she currently attends has an art program and that her teacher has the energy to put up with 20 or so elementary aged kids with open jars of paint, ink, markers and clay!

Spend time with your kids...

Painting of the MONTH!!

Copyright 2008©, images may not be used

except with the permission of the Artist

What a nice surprise to have one of my paintings chosen as Painter Talk's – Image of the Month. Thank you Karen! Change is good – featuring a monthly painting (instead of a painter) keeps us interested and on our toes! That is exactly what I was searching for with my art. I wasn't looking to make my style unrecognizable, but I was looking for a way to add to it. I was bored with smudging. It worked for me for a while, but it just wasn't where I wanted to stay. I would like to be able to tell a story like Norman Rockwell with the painting style of Pino. Lofty goal. LOL

The first step in making these changes was to read my art books. I studied the painting styles of artists I love, including some artists from the forums. Reading of other artists' struggles, the changes they made through the years, and the reasons they paint the way they do helped me to see what they tried to say with their art. Why did they use this color next to that one? How did they achieve a certain look? Where were they in life? I wanted their words - not my interpretation of their work.

I work in Painter & Photo Shop, and I love both of them for different reasons. This painting was done totally in PS using two new brushes that I made and a paint splatter brush. The first brush I made paints two colors at the same time. I used it to add thin layers of color, building up either different shades of the same color or two different colors at the same time. The second brush pushes, pulls, smudges, or scratches the paint laid down with the first. It's similar to painting with a palette knife, except it has a brush head. I can use this one, a pressure sensitive brush, for most of my PS paintings. And by changing the size of the brush it's good for just about everything, from painting strands of hair to eyes and even skin. It took some time to get used to this brush, but it has added freedom to my fun!

I will probably have Legs printed on canvas and hang it in my home. I will use it to show clients an example of my work. (Of course anyone who wants to may purchase it.) If anyone needs help making a brush or has questions for me please feel free to send me a message. Thank you Karen (and all of you) for your thoughtfulness & support. Your ability to keep PT fresh helps us continue seeing it with new eyes, and is what keeps us evolving and moving forward.

Kendra

Check ME Out!!

Have you seen to my sister's photography site lately? Why not?!? She has some really great stuff on there. You will see images of our last Wedding shoot and high impact slide shows. You can take a peek at her pregnancy & newborn sessions or see the lastest High School Senior (she's hot!) She does Intimate portraiture and birthday parties. Her lastest blog is about ME!!

Check it out: http://www.photoartworks.blogspot.com/

wip