Oil Painting

On Sep 2008 I started taking Oil painting classes with Chris Jordan, it has been a really neat experience I always wanted to do this, so much, that I even studied art...well art history, but was always too chicken to try it myself, but not anymore!! Thanks to Wyatt's encouragement, and that one talk by Elder Ballard telling the women of the church to take time to develop their talents. So here are some pictures of my first two paintings, they are both copies from paintings found in Art of the West and Southwest Art.
This one is called "Lost Opportunity" the original was done by Luke Frazier I thought it would be neat to try out a landscape as my first painting, after all our home is filled with beautiful outdoor pictures taken by Wyatt, so I thought I could add to the same theme.


And this is the original that I used



For this next painting I lost the reference to the original artist, that's too bad, since I think He or She did all the work, I'm simply trying to learn from them.



And this is the original that I worked from



My next painting is going to be truly original, this time I will be working from a photograph that Wyatt took of the Cardston Alberta Temple, here is a preview, here I am working on the under drawing.

FHE

Does anyone have any good ideas for Family Home Evening with a 15 month old????? I want to involve Maija, but I don't know how, any help will be welcomed

Olson update and family portraits

This is not a New Years resolutions, but I thought it would be fun to update all our friends out there on what is happening with our little family. Maija is almost 15 months! and doing great, she is a great eater, she sleeps well (although we did have our ups and downs there for a little while), honestly we have very little to complain about, even through her teething she is mostly a cheerful little girl. She is learning all kinds of skills...just like her daddy 'she got skillz" like Yoga (downward dog), and Kickboxing (she has a mean front kick ;) Maija is also a big reader, well at least when it comes to books like Dr. Seuss' ABC, and Hand Hand Fingers Thum. It is great to see her grow, one of my favorite moments in watching her grow up, has been to see her learn how to pray. When we all sit down to eat and she hears the word 'Prayer" or 'Oración" she quickly folds her arms, and she even says "men" at the end, it is adorable! Here is Maija this past summer sitting in Winchester bridge

Wyatt is still with the same company, which by the way had a really fun Christmas party, it was a treat to go away just the two of us, and hang out in Banff with his co-workers, thanks to Ama (that's what Maija calls Grandma Olson, for always helping us with Maija, and letting her have sleep overs so Wyatt and I can hang out on our own)
Wyatt has been working VERY hard on our belated Christmas present, we got a wonderful new bathroom for Christmas, and we are really looking forward to it, once it is done I will try to post some pictures. I am really proud of how little by little our house is becoming more our own. I was not too convinced on the idea of buying an 'older' home, but I think it is neat to see it improve....Although if you had asked Wyatt about that while he was trying to replace the Flange in our bathroom his reply would not be a positive one. In the topic of Skillz Wyatt has had to learn how to put lino, do some plumbing work, put up drywall, etc, I'm very proud of all the hard work that he has put into our place.
Wyatt is also really getting into his photography, here is his web page. He mostly specializes in outdoor photos, and he is working on his outdoor portraits now. All the photos in this post were taken by Wyatt.
Here is one of Maija in Fish Creek Park

I usually don't like to post pictures of me, but I think Wyatt did a good job on this photo

As for me, I too am getting some new Skillz, in Sep 2008 I started taking Oil Painting classes with Chris Jordan, you can check out his page here, he has an art studio near by, and I have learn a lot. He is a really good artist, and mostly works with realism, which in my opinion is the best form of art. I have finished one painting, and I'm very close to finishing my second. Also in Sep I started working part time at Southland Leisure Center, as a babysitter, it is very different from Intuit, which I do miss at times, but I can bring Maija to work, and she gets to play with other kids, and I can also use their gym, pool, etc, so it is not a bad deal. Well guys I hope this message finds you well, Happy 2009!

Happy 2009

OK, so it is finally time to set up those New Years resolutions: So here they go...I hope I can do it
1) Reading 5 Classics (Don Quijote, Les Miserables, Crime & Punishment, Christmas Carol, Sense and Sensibility)
I am currently working on Don Quijote, we will see...this is about it for my reading goals, I know it sounds like a little bit, but I am somewhat of a slow reader.
2) Exercising at least 3 times per week.
3) Continue my Oil Painting from 2008
4) Read the Book of Mormon in English, French, and Spanish at least once this year, and the Doctrine and Covenants.

Well wish me luck!
Happy New Year!

Che Guevara

I just recently finished a book about the life of Ernesto Che Guevara. I don't know if I agree with his political ideas, in fact I still don't have a true idea of what my own are. But I have to admire his determination, and the role that he played in Latin American history. Here is a quote from his book, this is from a letter to his children:
"Study hard so that you can master the technique that permits mastery of nature...Above all, always be capable of feeling most deeply any injustice committed against anyone, anywhere in the world. This is the most beautiful quality in a revolutionary (From My life with Che by Hilda Gadea.
As I watch little Maija grow up, I have felt an urgency to learn more about my own culture so I can pass that to my little one, not only the language, but also the people, that in one way or another shaped Latin America to what it is today. If anyone has any recommendations about Latin American books, and music that you love, I will like to know of them.
Adios Amigos

New Year's Resolutions...

So as the New Year approaches many of us are thinking about how to better ourselves in 2009, I was looking up some articles, about ideas on how to keep your New Years Resolutions, and found this great list of tips...the one that surprised me the most, was tell everyone about your resolutions, apparently the more people that know about your resolutions, the more likely you will find encouragement to keep them. So here they are...not my resolutions, the list of tips:
1) Aim Low... (So loosing 30 lbs is out of the question????)
2) Don't overload yourself (Does 20 different goals count as overloading?)
3) Tell everyone you know
4) Reward yourself
5) Wait until spring ("Sometimes the best way to accomplish a New Year’s resolution is to make it at a time of year of your choosing, rather than the one dictated by the calendar. May 1 is a good alternate date, since the change of season will neatly coincide with the change you’re hoping to accomplish in yourself").
So I think the blog could be a great way to announce to everyone what it is I am planning on doing, and better yet improving in 2009, but first I have to decide what to do???? Any ideas??? or success stories????
There are a few areas that are the obvious "needs improvement"
1) Spiritual Fitness
2) Physical Fitness
3) Mental Fitness
Some ideas that I have been toying with are:
Reading 5 Classics (Don Quijote, Les Miserables, Crime & Punishment, Dante's Inferno, Sense and Sensibility)
Excercising at least 3 times per week...but actually do it! ;)...that seems to be my monthly goal
Continue my Oil Painting from 2008
Work hard at family scripture study (that's more of a family goal...)
Better personal scripture study
Better FHEs
Read 5 artist's biographies (Picasso, Rembrandt,Dali, Goya, and someone more comtemporary...I need to start gaining more respect for comtemporary art!)
Loose 30 lbs.....oh wait....
Be a better mom...wait I have to do that for the next 130 years!!
Stop making so many lists
Make more to do lists....aka be more organized
Well I know many of you have made, and accomplished many good, and worthy goals, also if anyone is making New Years resolutions themselves, and might be interested in having a "Check up on me buddy for 2009" let me know.

Learning to Fly

I just finished reading a really neat book, Learning to Fly by Roxanne Henke. It is a well written novel about motherhood, with a Christian twist. It follows the stories of two moms, along with their husbands as they parents their girls from childbirth, the terrible twos, to the oh so emotional teenage years. It had some good lessons, and it gave me some light in what might be ahead.
A few pointers I picked up from this book:
1) Parenting is hard work...DUH, but it really is, just letting your kids do whatever they want is actually much easier than setting boundaries, and sticking to them.
2) Use common sense!
3)Put yourself in her place, when your baby, toddler, and someday teenager starts acting up, and you have no idea what planet they might come from, try putting yourself in their place, it'll help you help them.
4) Moms always worry, and often feel helpless, but it is not only about being worried, is about doing something about it!!!
When it comes to my family here is a good theme to follow, pray as though everything is up to the Lord, get up, and act as though everything is up to me...I don't mean to say forget about the Lord, I mean, actually take action...Hopefully you guys know what I mean ;)
These are just lessons from a book, I'll let you know how practical portion of the lesson goes, the theory is great, it is the practice that takes time ;)
If anyone is interested I picked up this book at the Fish Creek Branch of the of CPL.