Category: Art

Past, Present, Future

Tiny art by Paige for my miniature museum, featuring Tim as a missionary in Micronesia.

Being the planner that I am, I get lost in future scenarios really easily. I love to sit down with my day planner and organize everything. Sometimes I have to limit how long I allow myself to live in the future because hello, there are people here, right now, that could use some attention.

I also have a sentimental side that collects images and artifacts from every event in our lives. I find that when I am most stressed, it is my memories that will ground me. Favorite escape memories for me often involve scenes from my childhood: a still, black, icy night walking home from a tithing settlement with my family; feeling static shocks at my great-grandmother’s house from her shag carpet while eating her pink wintergreen lozenges; the leathery, then papery crunch of autumn leaves under my feet as I walked home from elementary school on a golden afternoon. The past is a friend when I am a bag of nerves.

The present is probably the least easy place for me to inhabit. But this week that is where I have tried to live. We spent time with Tim and Mark last Friday, a last hurrah together before the mission. I didn’t take pictures, just mental ones. I have tried to be open to what the last week of regular life has brought to us. I watched Tim and Elder Josh Marz together in our front yard, talking and smiling on Josh’s last P-day before flying to his mission. I watched some shows with Mark who has a cold. I walked around a store and explored the Christmas aisles instead of just my usual in-and-out beeline to the things on my list.

We gather tomorrow for an outdoor goodbye party for Tim. On Sunday, he will speak in church and be set apart as a missionary. All the planning and work makes the present more enjoyable. My word of the month is SHINE. We’re ready.

Museum of miniature art

I have opened a miniature art museum on my front porch. It delights me to find the children in the neighborhood are displaying their art here. I got the idea online and sent invitations to create pieces no bigger than a library card. Slowly, the art began to appear. Paige kindly contributed a piece early on just in case no one showed up. 🙂 I have never “caught” anyone leaving art, and that is part of the fun. What will I discover in the museum today?

Shell art

We have shell collections at our house, and this week I decided to use some as a canvas for art. Shells are beautiful on their own, but I think the extra pearl shine, decoupage, and gold accents make them something extraordinary. (The birds and leaves were printed on a napkin.) When I work with my hands, I am still enough in my mind to learn from the Spirit. This is one reason I think it’s so good to take time to create. Painting shells is how we celebrated Paige’s birthday. She also made some beautiful designs.

In No Particular Order

Josh and Tim in a garage with their yard equipment. Love them.
Daniel is working a few jobs and resumes school at BYU next week. He dresses up for work. So handsome.
We drove past this scene and turned around to be sure. Was that thing real?
Why yes, it is real. G.O.A.T. and he knows it.
Not going to lie, I am not working on this right now, but it is waiting for me.
My dad’s book is in the hands of the book binders now. This is a big deal.
Richard, Mark, and I have been hiking frequently in this area near our house. Mark is a speedy hiker.

Summer goes by so quickly!

Adventure stories

Easter weekend is here. The Sanchez family has been busy getting ready for the memorial for my grandmother. Mixed in with music practice, writing her life sketch, and other things, I have been editing pages of my dad’s memoir of his growing up years playing in the hills. Paige finished the illustrations for the last pages. Our goal was to finish by Easter, and we have done it. His book is a cross between The Hobbit, John Wayne Westerns, and Hardy Boys mystery books.

At times, it has been an escape to work on these stories. We included a map in the book. I think this is one of my favorite illustrations she did. The blog can’t do it justice.

We are celebrating being alive, celebrating those who have passed away, and celebrating the Savior’s Resurrection this weekend in the sunshine.

2020 photo album

Richard is on the 9th or 10th day of his bout with COVID-19. We don’t know where he was exposed. The illness has a new character each day, but his oxygen levels have been fine, so I am grateful for that. He has stayed isolated from us, and no one else at home has tested positive. The worry I have felt is a small thing compared to what others have gone through with this illness so I hesitate to even mention it. I will say that although Richard’s case can be termed as “mild” and he has not complained, this is a different kind of illness and unpleasant at best.

What is helping us get through quarantine? Entertainment. Empathy from an employee of the attendance office at the high school. Dedicated teachers who make education happen. Surprises left on our porch from friends. Sunsets. For me, it helps to have routines I can do without thinking and something to look forward to each day. On Tuesday, it was the arrival of our 2020 photo book. I wrote before that creating this album helped me see that 2020 was a great year for the Ross family. God gives us eyes to see sometimes.

Workspace

My dad as a young teen, illustrated by Paige McLaughlin. See her work at paigemclaughlinart.com

For many weeks, Paige and I have been helping my dad work on a big project for the family. He has typed a memoir of his childhood adventures in the rolling hills and rock formations near his home in Pittsburg, CA. Paige is illustrating the stories and I am editing and formatting the book. We are mailing a few stories each week to my siblings and their children, with the goal to print and bind a complete version by early April.

It reminds me of a project that I began in January 2020 to write memories of my childhood. I wrote about 15 or 20 pages before I set it aside. Living in close quarters during the past 10 months has made it a little harder to focus on writing. Plus, I struggle to define a work space. The desks are being used, the kitchen table must be cleared often, and I need extreme quiet. This project with my dad keeps some of my desire to write alive, and inspires me to pick up old projects and not find excuses to delay.

I am making a little progress on creating a portable workspace for myself. I need to be present a lot of the time, not hidden away in an office. So, my work world revolves around a book bag and lightweight storage containers more than a single desk.

Stephen King, in his book about writing, suggests a writer should not have a massive desk that dominates a room because writing is not the primary thing. Living with your family is more important. He thinks a smaller desk in a corner is best. 🙂

Artistic journaling

I have discovered traveler notebooks, which are groups of notebooks for different subjects held together inside a leather cover, and artistic journaling, which for me is just putting stickers, photos, and Washi tape on the pages of a journal before I write. This is how I am going to keep track of the Lord’s tender mercies this year. So far, I have one book for daily gratitude and one book for church notes, all inside one cover. I have kept small notebooks for different topics for years. Having them held together inside one cover seems really smart.

YouTube has a lot of artistic people showing how to create such things. It’s really relaxing for me to watch videos of people journaling. Yes, there are videos you can watch of a person writing in and decorating her journal. Highly recommended.

My basic traveler notebook was $9.99 at Michaels, and the cover is a soft coral leather and it comes with two notebooks, about 4×9 inches each, and a pocket folder for holding brochures or maps. I use the folder to hold photos and stickers. I think I will add another notebook to keep track of my ideas for writing.

I plan to leave a library of notebooks, journals, albums, and stories behind. Also, decorative plates and miniature things.

Advent Day 11

Today, here is hope in the form of dance. Covid has unleashed new ways to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. The dancers in this video are missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and this is a tribute to a sister missionary who passed away recently. It’s also an expression of their testimonies. Whether you like the style of dance or not, I think it’s a beautiful way to share hope.

I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

Doctrine and Covenants 84:88