Category Archives: art

a special morning

August 21, 2010 – 12:33 pm

This morning I got to take my family to the Grand Opening of Hoag Hospital, Irvine for a special breakfast and tour of the beautifully refurbished facility. How did I gain access to such an elite event (ha ha!)? So glad you asked. Well, I shot one of the 100 photos named winners of the Hoag Hospital Irvine photo contest. Cool? I sure think so. Below are some pictures of the fun. The one thing missing? My photo! I walked all of the open floors of that dang place (no small feat what with the large baby currently inhabiting my abdomen) and it turned out that my photo was one of the 50 or so that are still “in production.” It was definitely fun wandering around the hospital with no patients and very little staff. Not to mention Sid and I agreed that the photos, all taken on the Mountains to Sea Trail, as well as the other aspects of the refurbishment, really make the hospital a pleasant place to be.

The breakfast was given in the cafeteria of the hospital, it was nice.

Ave asked me to take a picture of the back of her hair so she could see what it looked like. Lovely, no?

I like them.

Wandering. Isn’t it pretty in there?

How rad is that?! I love that! When I get my teeth cleaned, I always close my eyes and pretend that the super bright light in my face is the sun and that I am on an empty beach with God, so I almost felt like this was my idea! This room was labeled “Nuclear Medicine,” I would like to know what that refers to, exactly.

Because of this photo, the baby will have bragging rights when he/she needs ‘em one day, “Oh yeah? Well I’ve been winning photography contests since I was in the womb!”

Jonny was the first to spot my name and the look on his face when he saw it was very gratifying. I’m always trying to impress my kids and it isn’t easy!

Here are my lovely gifts, a glass paper weight and a really nice book of some of the winning photos.

The other winning photos are so amazing that I wish I could go out into the wild today and take some pictures. But that season will be here, with the funny, coincidental circumstances that always seem to accompany such times, soon enough. There were definitely some funny and coincidental circumstances surrounding my becoming aware of the Mountains to Sea Trail (part of it is in my hood) and the contest itself. I’m super grateful that everything lined up just right for us to share this special morning. My only issue is, how will I ever get to see my photo in the hospital? I suppose I could wait a few months, and then try to fake an orthopaedic, pulmonary or cardiac event, so that I would require care from the facility (did I mention how nice-hotel-like the patient rooms are? They all have huge windows, thus a view and natural light as well as lovely photos on the walls taken on the Mountains to Sea Trail! I would fancy a stay in one), and then sneak out of my room in the middle of the night to find my photo . . . Hmmm . . .

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Aveline’s rendition of my birth

July 26, 2010 – 1:27 pm

Just like every mother, ever, I derive great joy from my children’s art. Aveline is 6 and conveys such profound beauty through her drawings, and what is so wonderful to realize is that the beauty, the love, the imagination . . . is her. It comes straight from her singular, precious heart.

In light of this, I thought I’d commission her to do a piece for inspiration as I prepare for my soon coming birth. I said, “Aveline, do you think that sometime soon you would do a drawing of me giving birth to the baby?” She replied, “Do you want me to do it right now?” I said, “Just do it whenever you want.” Whenever she wanted turned out to be immediately. She asked me where I’d give birth and I told her that we might put a birthing tub in the library, but that most likely it would happen in bed, if it went fast like my last two births. I told her to put me wherever she wanted, maybe even outside. She opted for the bed and here is what she drew.

I don’t know why it should surprise me that she got the positioning so right on, with the head coming out first, after all, a little over 3 years ago she witnessed the birth of her baby sister. Still that impressed me. I love that we get an X-ray view of the baby’s body still in mine, too. She captured the most intense part of delivery in my opinion, when the head is out, the body is in, I lose my mind and inevitably ask my midwife, “What do I do now?” Those moments are so overwhelming, so beyond comprehension, so wondrous. The intense relief is moments away, the mysterious little person, inches from the skin on my chest and the embrace of my arms. Everything I’ve been dreaming of for so long is just about to really happen! Of course I’m smiling, I’m ecstatic!

I’m sure I will treasure this drawing forever. I’m sure I will want to look at it in the earlier stage of labor, and everyday from now until then. Thank you, thank you, my dear Aveline for sharing your heart with me.

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J and A’s Art Class

May 25, 2010 – 12:25 pm

Jonny and Aveline took an Art class all year from a lady who lives right around the way from us. They loved it! Here is some of their art, gifts to me for Mother’s day =) Treasures, these!!

If you would like more information about the art classes for your child, email me at bouquetofparentheses@gmail.com and I’ll pass the info along.

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An Afternoon at the Park

March 25, 2010 – 3:43 pm

I’d had a rough morning, I was brutalized by a careless lab technician, left with a very swollen, tender and sore inside-of-left-elbow. I’d had my blood drawn to get to the bottom of a hematologic anomaly occuring in my circulation. I needed an afternoon at Santiago Oaks, one of the prettiest parks ever. Here are some photos of our parktime.

creek crossing

lookin'

away into prettiness

little gals

a fence dance

Jonny took this one for me

fairyworld

ivy

and on to the playground . . .

Thank you Santiago Oaks, for a beautiful afternoon. Sorry if my crankiness toward the end of our visit offended your majesty.

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Sewing together

March 22, 2010 – 10:51 am

That’s me working on a blanket for the new baby (it’s finished, but too wonderful for how the photos of it have turned out thus far) and Jonny’s experimenting and practicing with his sewing machine. He got my hand-me-down since I got a new machine for my b-day and Christmas.

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