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.