Long Time No Blog

It's been FOREVER!  A lot has happened since May so I'll update in list format:

*     My weight has stayed stable.  I've given up my powerlifting aspirations for now due to laziness and injury...mostly injury.  I recently dislocated/jolted my left shoulder/arm so that has to heal before I even think about whether or not I'll pursue powerlifting seriously again.

*     I am going to be in the Rosewood Arts Festival (yay!).  I'm still prepping my work.  Stay tuned for updates.

*     Dark Soul's Flight finally got framed!  I'm entering it into the SC State Fair this year (professional division).  She's beautiful too :-).

*     I am now teaching acrylic painting classes locally.  Here are pictures from my very first class:

 The demo (left) and my piece (right).  I deviated a little bit because if you're going to do color...do color!  Also clouds are loads of fun.  Seriously.  They really are.

 One of the attendees...she surprised herself!

The class portrait.  Just half as some had left already and some weren't confident in their piece (although everyone's ended up looking great!)

I call this a very successful first class!

*     I picked up a part time job as an education coordinator at a local arts and crafts store.  My job is to hire/train instructors primarily but also includes other store f unctions such as cashiering, stocking, and creating displays.  PLUS I get a great employee discount.  Dream. Part-Time. Job.

This is about the gist of it.  I'm busy prepping for the arts festival...10 MORE DAYS! Yikes!

I'll try to update more often.  Lots of stuff happen in absentia, no?

My Various Interests Converge...

Okay, so my ultimate goal is to compete in a powerlifting meet in the 148 pound weight class.  I am much closer to meeting that goal than I anticipated.

Wednesday, April 30th lifts in SQUATS:

1 set of 12 @ 45
1 set of 10 @ 45
1 set of 10 @ 55
2 sets of 10 @ 75
1 set of 4 @ 95

Today was an off day for benching.  My shoulder was just too gimpy.  I couldn't even do a simple lat press.

Oh, well.

Progress!  Oh, yes, how far I've come from when I first started working out in October until now.  SIX WHOLE MONTHS.  My girls are freaking out saying that I'm trying to be a "fashionista."  No...can't blame me for wanting to look nice sometimes.  Usually I prefer sneakers and sweats, even now as I'd rather be comfortable than turn heads but I change it up every so often.  Those squats are doing a body right though!  Give or take five pounds, I am at a satisfactory weight.

I did eat strawberry ice cream and marble coconut cake this entire weekend though for my baby's birthday but an off day or two shouldn't hurt considering.  It really wasn't all that great...I kept waiting for the sugar high that never came and left me feeling jilted and wishing I hadn't indulged in the first place.

Study for Symphony 5"x5"

So May 1st was the Opening of a local art exhibition called "Smaller Beckons" at Tapp's Arts Center in Columbia, SC.  All pieces of work in this exhibit have to be 12" x 12" or smaller.  I had 3 pieces chosen for inclusion (yay!), my more recent black and white oil painting studies, and a piece completed last year that was included in a similar show at the Columbia Museum of Art (ONEx100).  It was a great opening night.  I'm glad I took my pictures early because it was standing room only just an hour or so in. 

Saturday, May 3rd, was National Free Comic Book Day!  Yay!  Yes, I love comics btw.  That's how I first learned how to draw people from the book, How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way.  One of my favorite artists these days is Siya Oum.  I give her support for being a female comic book artist in a male dominated field and for being such a great inspiration to my daughter.  My daughter loves to draw and any female artistic inspiration I can give her (other than myself), I welcome wholeheartedly.  Here she is waiting for her sketch from the artists who were at the comic book store.  The kids were surprised when I told them of my love for comics.  Sure they've seen me read them but they had no idea I grew up drawing my favorite Marvel heroes (very well too).  I'm more geared towards fine art but I still dabble in comics here and there.

It was a busy past couple of days but well worth it all!

Another Art Study

Before I go crazy in kitty land I decided to do one more oil study for a larger piece I am considering in charcoal.  The name of this piece is Symphony.  I have a coming of age story in mind revolving around a young character named Symphony as well so the two would be in tandem.

I chose a slightly different approach with this piece.  I am using water mixable oils, mostly for convenience purposes as I don't have the facilities for the chemicals/smells involved with traditional oils.  These still are technically oil colors they just have an additional option.  The previous study was done with just water.  The paint was hard for me to manipulate and control.

Then I remembered that I have oil painting mediums that can make my life much easier.  I dug them out a played a little bit. and the results were dramatically different.  I also changed my approach.  I did an acrylic underpainting in umber which still shows through in some places.  This is fine...it's only a study.

I tried to take progress pictures of each step.  First there's the drawing.  Some argue that pencil should not be used, perhaps charcoal or even paint but not pencil.  I don't know their rationale for that and when I studied with a portrait painter in my youth I did everything in charcoal but these are tiny.  I'll worry about archival issues when they arise.

The second step was the acrylic underpainting to help me establish the lights and darks.  The third step is when white is added to the piece.  I was taught to fill in the the piece with the middle tone and background first but this was tiny so I figured altering my usual approach couldn't hurt.

The fourth piece shows the final results.  It's much smoother and more refined than the other piece as the oil painting medium gave me more control.  Obviously I deviated a bit from the sketch but I have to do what "moves" me.  It's only a study, after all so might as well play!

Switching Gears...

This is an oil painting study I worked on last night.  It is on canvas and is ACEO size (2.5" x 3.5").  Pretty darn small.  I can't seem to get as much detail with oils as I can with watercolor  and ink but I'm happy with the results .  I made some changes when I got home from work that I am happier with.

It is only a study and not a finished piece after all. I am NOT an oil painter.  I prefer mixed media working primarily with charcoal, watercolor and gouache so this is a serious deviation for me.  I really just felt like messing with the oils last night though.  I personally do not want a refined look to my art any more these days.  I think I did so much of that anal retentive nitpicking in my younger years, I just want to be free and just draw these days.

I have an idea for another painting...I'm going to do several thumbnails today and see what I can get done tonight.  A show is coming up locally in which all of the pieces have to be 12 inches or smaller.  I participated in a similar show last year at the Columbia Museum of Art that opened on my birthday (woohoo!).  This one opens on May 1st and I have to have my pieces sent for approval by April 26th.  I'm cutting it thin but I only have one piece that is ready to hang.  The rest are unframed/matted and I won't be able to get that done before May 1st.  Before leaving home this morning I gessoed a 5" x 5" wood panel so I can be ready to go when I get home.

Fitness wise?  I'm hurting but in a good way.  Apparently I can do my chin-ups with more ease and less rest in between.  2 sets of 5 chin-ups every workout day (including leg day).  By the time I get to the 5th I'm a little beat but hey, progress.  I thought I had accomplished something until my husband kindly reminded me that I wasn't actually doing pull-ups but chin-ups.  Pull-ups, the real ones are a completely different animal.  The difference is in the hand position.  Chin-ups are underhand which uses more biceps and arms while the pull-ups are overhand which puts your back to work a little more.  I managed to hold myself for 5 seconds before I just couldn't any more.  A far cry from the 70 second hold that marine women have to do.  So my new goal is to do real pull-ups and not pull-up lookalikes now.  My next goal for chin-ups is to do them without touching the floor.  Baby steps of course.

New Stats

I achieved a goal I wasn't actively going for.  On the captain's chair, I can now do the leg raises with straight legs instead of bent knees.  My abs have gotten stronger!  They hurt right now as I've been working my abs extra hard yesterday and today but obviously it's been working out.  I did ten of those before fatigue set in.  I'm so happy!  I remember when I could barely hold myself on that thing.  Progress!


Duck walks are the business.  A painful one but no joke.  I've been slacking off on my 125 bodyweight squats a day so I'll get back to it tonight.



*********


Stat time!


Here are my stats from February 21, 2014:


Height: 5'3
Weight: Fluctuates between 154 and 156...I'll claim 154.
Body Fat Percentage: no idea
Muscle Percentage: no idea
BMI: 27.3
Waist (at belly button): 30.5 in (down from 31 in.
Waist (bellow belly button, aka, my pooch): 33.5 inches (down from 34)
Hips: 41 in. (down from 42)
Chest: 35 in.
Thighs: 24.5
Arms: 11.5


It's been almost 2 months exactly.  Here's where I am now:


Height: 5'3
Weight: 148-150
Body Fat Percentage: no idea
Muscle Percentage: no idea
BMI: 26.2
Waist (at belly button): 30 in (down from 30.5 in.)
Waist (bellow belly button, aka, my pooch): 33.5 inches (no change)
Hips: 41 in. (no change)
Chest: 35 in. (no change)
Thighs: 24.5 (no change)
Arms: 12 (up from 11.5)


Not too much change other than my weight and another half inch off my waist.  Didn't lose a thing off my pooch although it is 32.5 inches when I first wake up in the morning (weird).  I'm working on controlling my water retention.  Amazingly enough taking grains out of my diet (a two week experiment) has seemed to help that.  I've also started drinking two cups of cold water first thing in the morning as well.  It's helped me feel better during my workouts.  I'll have to update how all of this makes me feel overall especially at the end of my two week experiment.  Today makes 1 week no grains. 

A Picture Is Worth....

Ok, so I'm in the room cleaning up and I find a pair of pants that I haven't been able to wear since 2012.  So I decide to try them on and guess what?  They fit!  Perfectly.  Hey, don't just take my word for it:

As a bonus, here is a progress picture from January 2014 at 159 pounds wearing size 12 pants:

Down a total of 17 pounds from my heaviest at 167 pounds!  These pants are a size 10!  Five more pounds and I'll be completely happy.  Those arms are looking good too.  I could afford to lose a little bit of for the abs as well but overall I'm happy for now.

Remember the Give It 100?  Ok it's been roughly 60 some odd days and I can do 25 pushups and 3 pull ups!  Total of 30 before I'm through and 5 pull ups before my arms say no more. The real ones too.  Progress!

I finally made it to a Zumba class last Thursday.  It was a lot of fun and requires a lot of endurance and very little inhibitions for dancing in public. I have both. I just neglected to bring a towel and water which had me drinking over a gallon for the rest of the night and first thing in the morning. Lesson learned.  I've never sweated that much. I'll probably do it once monthly so it doesn't take away from my weight training.

Feeling Good, Getting Strong

Somehow my crafting blog became my fitness blog.  Go figure.  I am still crocheting and knitting but have yet to actually master the art of completing.  Projects have either been left undone or frogged.  I did put together two 1000 piece puzzles and pinned a bunch of stuff on Pinterest so I was a bit creative...somewhat.  So, yeah.

I got an upper respiratory infection from my youngest around the 26th of February.  Misery.  The kids all caught it and recovered after a day.  I caught it and was sick for a week, even missed a few days of work.  Hubby caught it and it knocked him down too.

THEN because life wasn't eventful enough, the alternator in the car died and left me stranded on the one day the temperature dropped from 60 to 30 in a 15 minute span and left me waiting an hour for a tow truck.  Why do alternators give NO WARNINGS whatsoever?  Things just stop working.  I'm driving along.  It's pouring rain and the windshield wipers stop working.  I try calling my husband to fuss him out but he doesn't answer.  Then I noticed the lights on the dash were dim and after a quick test of the interior lights, I knew the battery was dying.  I quickly turned into a Dollar General parking lot and cut the engine which was apparently a smart move, not letting the battery completely die.  I've had a dying alternator before so I knew the signs.  It was rainy and cold but the tow truck driver was nice and pretty darn cool.

The rain finally cleared up over the weekend...heavenly seventy degree weather!  Could it be that spring is finally here?  I certainly hope so because my muscles aren't feeling the temperature rollercoaster South Carolina's been on the past couple of weeks.  Speaking of muscles...

I've decided to put my powerlifting aspirations on hold temporarily.  Why?  I would rather have muscle definition.  I'm strong but nothing about my physique screams it.  I want defined arms and legs, especially arms.  They are slender now but where is my Michelle Obama muscle definition?  Nonexistent.  So my husband is changing up my routine to that of a body builder although I am still doing some of the powerlifting development routines. 

So I got back on the bench today.  I can bench press the bar ten times with perfect form.  It isn't wobbly or falling to the side.  Not the 45 pound bar.  The 50 pound bar.  I don't know what happened but somehow I got stronger.  While enthused, I wish it would bring muscle definition.  I upped my cardio and will go to a Zumba class on Thursday.  I'm writing it here to make sure it gets done.  So far I haven't been able to do them for the following reasons:  snow, illness and injury.  Yep, I aggravated a groin muscle (irritating) last week, I was sick the week before that, and it snowed and shut down South Carolina the week before that.  If something happens this week, I'll take that as a sign to leave Zumba alone. 

That is all...well not quite.  I did try an Arabic Bellydance Fat Burn Cardio workout yesterday (all four parts on YouTube).  I haven't tried those since I first started working out in October/November.  They were torturous then.  I have a bit more endurance but they are still hard to do.  Worked up a crazy sweat.  Got up this morning and was a bit confused as to why my calves were so darn sore.  Then I remembered.  That workout is no joke so I may do that twice weekly as my cardio in case Zumba doesn't work out.