Merry Christmas to all!

This has been an exciting year filled with many laughters, some tears, great joys and some sorrow. I have reaquanted myself with a few old friends each of whom I hope to remain in contact with for many years. I was blessed this year with both a new sister-in-law and a beautiful baby niece. I started my small business, CoraLeigh designs, which has taken off and is growing each day. CoraLeigh designs is my outlet and my opportunity to create beautiful one of a kind pieces ( hats, scarves and jewelry) for people to enjoy. It got off to a slow start but it is growing. We lost a family member, Pappoo, in September. The next month I won KY Middle School Art teacher of the year. We gained 2 additional family members, Frankie B and Chloe Bella. They are adorable... our 2 new additions are RABBITS.
This has been a great year. My pain from my Fibromyalgia, ovarian cysts, endometriosis, migraines and arthritis is finally manageable. I still have pain but overall I feel better than I have in the past few years. My depression has also been controllable and I no longer feel like it will ruin my life.
So, to anyone who reads this, thanks for the support and I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Thanks for all the support

Thanks to each of you, and I hope you know who you are, for helping me become the person that I am today. I have been very blessed with friendships (old and new) and new accomplishments/ successes. I do not take any of that or those people for granted. I know that it is through their friendships, support and some amazing teachers and the God given talent that I am where I am today. I know that God gave me the talent, friendships gave me encouragement, and my family gave me everything I ever needed and more. So with each award I receive I try to stay humble and true to myself and family because I know that none of this would be possible without their support. Sometimes I take you and all that you have done for me for granted; please accept my humble apologies. I try to make it known that without you I wouldn't be who I am today.

However I know that there is one person to whom I wish I could share my blessings and successes with... Dad. It is so funny the minute I won my teaching award he was the first person that I wanted to call and then it hit me, like a huge hit in my stomach, that I can't call him. Saturday the 15th will mark the 4th anniversary of his death. I pray that I made him proud! I know he shares the joy with me in spirit but I wish so badly that he was here to share. He always knew that I would be an art teacher, way before I did, and told me that I would be a good one. But I continued to shrug him off for years. Now that I am an art teacher I pray that I made him proud.

Enough of this, it has made me cry.
anyway, thanks to all of you who helped me along the way.

To all the old friends that I haven't seen in forever

Hello to all my old buddies from high school; I am so glad that I got to see each and every one of you. It has been so long yet when we got together at the reunion, besides some of you having kids, little has changed. It was as if we had never been a part.
I just want to say that I hope that we can stay more in touch.
It was great seeing you all...

15 Year Reunion

I can't believe I have been out of high school for 15 years... my goodness where has the time gone? I am excited about seeing many of my old classmates, most of whom I have not seen in about that same amount of time. I am most excited to finally see my very best friend through all of middle school and high school. I haven't seen her since she graduated from college 10 years ago. Goodness, that boggles my mind when I think about that and the amount of time that has gone without me seeing, speaking or hearing from her.
Let me just say Lesley, you have been missed and I can't wait to see you! We have so much to catch up on:)

Art Show

Well I am currently working on new artwork for my upcoming solo show in May 2009. I have been continuing with the organism inspired artworks using mostly color pencil and black India ink pens. They are very organic in nature. This work has even more influence from the infamous Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October. His lyrics are very influential to me in the fact that we have very similar demons that we face each and every day. Blue October will be releasing their new album in March but I have heard some of the tracks that will be on the next album. There is one song that is very influential in my life and sums up a lot of the beliefs that I want to hold on to each day. The song is called "Blue Skies" and some of the lyrics which I think are life changing and very powerful are as follows: " I need a fresh start on the roller coaster made for coasting, its time to wake, time to make up, time to shake these memories, its time to leave the past in the past and lace up a new set of shoe strings.... I've broken every bone and fought through what felt never ending, I thought my head was made of sadness but my heart is mending, I scream at sunsets, give applause to what I can't control and then somehow laugh at how the moon divides in ocean soul..."
I have many daily struggles; my mind is full of thoughts, fears, regrets, uncertainties, anger, doubt, and uncertainty. But thank goodness I have my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, my art work and my daily dose of Justin and Blue October. Their lyrics speak to me so passionately because I feel like he is talking about me and my trials.
Anyway, pictures of the new artwork will hopefully be posted soon.

Ideas behind my new artwork

The idea behind my new work has been more biological in nature. I have become extremely fascinated in the biological systems of man, animals and underwater species. Rather than take these systems as a precise interpretation I add the human element of emotion. My drawings subconsciously took on these interpretations after all of my recent illnesses and devastating infertility. I began reading all the materials, books, leaflets, and internet information that I could and realized during this exploration just how amazing our biological systems are in the human body. The cellular and biological images that I became so familiar with began to take over my mind both consciously and subconsciously. I began to associate my feelings and emotions with these biological images. Before I knew it these images had taken over my mind and became a serious part of my continuing exploration of self. Some of my works are purely emotional in nature while others take on the similar cellular images but emphasize design and color combinations. Sometimes my images speak for themselves while others open up the door for viewer interpretation.

New Drawings

Introducing CoraLeigh Designs

Introducing: CoraLeigh Designs
Handmade, one of a kind hats and scarves for babies, infants and toddlers.
Each hat and scarf were designed and inspired by the little girl that I have always wanted.
Hats and scarves are unique in details and color schemes. Pictures will be available soon.

New drawings

I have been working on a new series of drawings that are similar to my recent series however the new drawings look more biological and cellular. I have begun to work in pastel pencils which deliver beautiful, bold colors. I have also reverted back to old media and have started drawing in black and white again. Again the black and white drawings are more "cellular" in nature but also incorporate "systems". The drawings are more about connections- interlocking the cellular systems together. Hopefully I wil get some of them scanned and up on the blog soon.

Professional artist statement

Professional Artist Statement:
Jennifer Fritsch, Art teacher & professional artist

My art has taken a new and complete twist into the realm of the unconscious and conscious mind. I would describe my art as Surreal Expressionist Abstraction because it is a combination of all of those styles; not particularly pertaining to any one idea or style, thus really creating my own genre of painting. My art has developed recently as an outlet for my emotions, inhibitions, dreams, thought, feelings, fears and anxieties. My paintings and drawings have taken a glimpse into the inner world of my soul, my breadth, the self deprecating view of myself and sometimes the torture that I put my mind through. They are an extremely personal area or my exploration often pushing myself to take a deeper and closer look into the secret side of my whole being. Some of the paintings and drawings reflect my innate desire to become a mother and the heartbreak of my confirmed inability while several take a look into the loneliness of my heart after the recent passing of my father. Still others take a look into my inner demons, the secret side of me.

From time to time my art does not require interpretation, often the title says it; and yet sometimes I choose not to provide it, for without it the audience can find their own meaning in my work. I want the viewer to think about the possibilities of my visual language as well as the interpretation of my symbols and metaphors.

WELCOME

Well I am officially up to the 21st century. I have no MySpace but I have a blog. Yippee!!!
I hope you visit often as I will begin to include much more information about me, school and my art. I hope you all get as excited as I am to finally be able to be in tune with the rest of the world.
Be patient with me. I just started and am slowly learning.
Pictures to come soon!