A snapshot of life...the series

I've been so busy with work, art and life in general that I've completely neglected my blog for the last few weeks.

I just finished up a series of eleven 4"x4" pieces last week that I'd been working on for the past month or so. I'm hoping to add one more, but used up all my 4"x4" canvases so I have to re-order before I can add any more.

This is one of my favorites of the series. I call it "Bathing Beauties"

The theme of the series is a snapshot of everyday life. Each piece can stand on it's own, but the grouping looks amazing together. I think I'll hang a set of nine and keep two very special pieces just for me. You see, two of the pieces include old family photos that my grandma let me scan several years ago. One is a photo of my grandpa as a young man. He looks so confident and relaxed, traits I didn't see much of in the last few years of his life.

The other is a picture of my grandma and grandpa together relaxing on the pier at the lake. They look so young and happy in the photo...I just love it!

You can see more close-up images on my flickr photostream here.

And right after I finished the series I found out the my work will hang in a local coffee shop called Strange Brew in October. So, I've been busily cutting mats and framing pieces...which is soooo much work! No wonder frame shops charge big bucks for custom framing!

I'll hang the work on October 8th, so if you're planning to be around Greenwood, Indiana anytime soon stop by Strange Brew, have a cuppa coffee and see my work!

~Alisa

My little girl is 5!

2004 was a year of change for Dave and me. We got married, had a baby girl, and Dave got his education degree and got a real-life paying job. It was a crazy time...especially having a new little baby in our lives. Ella was born on Labor Day weekend on a beautiful Saturday morning after an exhausting 12 hours of labor. She was the tiniest thing I'd ever seen, weighing in at only 5 lb. 14 oz. All the cute clothes we brought to the hospital were way too big for her. She was the cutest little baby and at the time I couldn't even imagine her being anything other than my tiny little baby. I still can't...even though she is the tallest kid (boy or girl) in her class at school.

On Friday night we celebrated her 5th birthday. We dropped off little sis at Nana's house, then went to school with Ella for her "special day". She got to show off some pictures that she brought, fielded questions about her favorite things and had a special snack. She was also supposed to bring one special thing in to show the class, so she chose her autograph book from Disney World. The kids in her class couldn't believe she got autographs from Buzz Lightyear, green army man or Donald Duck. They thought it was the coolest thing. After school we took her to build-a-bear and to lunch. She commented on several occasions that she really liked it when little sis wasn't around and it was just us...and to be honest, so did I. The girls fight constantly when they are together and it was really nice to spend time with Ella when she wasn't screaming at her sister. The perfect birthday culminated in a trip to The Incredible Pizza company where she opened presents, had cake and played games.

Oh and the cake she picked out had to be the weirdest one ever. As we browsed through the Disney characters and movie cakes, she knew instantly what she wanted the moment we saw it...an Indiana Jones cake. It was definitely an odd choice for a 5 year old girl.

So happy birthday to my little girl! I hope you had a wonderful day!