Monday, May 25, 2015

Let's be friends....

Sometimes I like to do more realistic art.  This is a self portrait of sorts that I did using colored pencils.



The weirdest thing happened to me the other day.  I had let a friend use my art and quote me for a booth at the BYU women's conference.  Afterwards she sent me an email and told me that several women who stopped by the booth mentioned that they were familiar with my artwork. (that made me smile)  and referring to the quotes displayed they said they were glad to know that I am a real person.
A real person?  It never occurred to me that I would appear as anything different.  I always assume that people who look on my blog are only interested in getting free art to use.  Which is think is the main thing still.  But I wonder if I need to let you get to know me a little better.

Here are a few things about myself.  I'll read the comments to know if this is something you care to have me do more of in the future or not. 

First of all, my biggest secret:  My house is always messy.  I have never been good at being tidy.  While I really like a clean house, my gumption to do anything about it comes in spurts. My family is SO good at tearing everything apart so quickly that sometimes I just give up and let the house go. It's not a hoarder house by any means, but it's no model home either.  When it makes me crazy, I do a big clean and the whole cycle starts all over again.

When my visiting teachers come, (if things are in the messy part of the cycle) I only clean the places that are in eye-shot of where they sit on the couch. :)

I also hate to cook.  Or at least I've developed a complex about it.  My husband has diabetes, and my daughter who has cerebral palsy will only eat a handful of specific foods.  Nutrition just doesn't seem to make any sense in my head.  So I really struggle to come up with meals that everyone will eat.  I usually end up making several meals each meal just to feed my family.  I hate it.  If I don't have to worry about restrictions, I'm actually a good cook and don't mind doing it. 

So.....what are your deep dark secrets?


18 comments:

Carolyn Jae said...

I love that you posted this! I am a huge admirer of your artistic talent and now even more so after seeing your "self-portrait." We have something in common. My house is usually messy too. I don't mind tidying up or doing laundry - but I hate to scrub (and sweep and mop and vacuum and dust....) I hired a couple of cleaning ladies to clean my house just recently so we can put it on the market because we're planning on moving this summer. It kind of bugged me to have strangers in my home cleaning, but I have to admit, I really loved the result. So shiny and sparkling clean. Maybe I can get someone to come scrub the kitchen and bathrooms every other week or something. That would make me so happy! :)

Di said...

Hi, I'm from Sydney, Australia. I have a 14 yr old, an 11 yr old and an 8 month old. I used to keep a fairly tidy home, but these days I have become very good at closing doors ;D I have a phobia of driving, love to cook but lack the time at the moment and I teach music.

LOVE LOVE LOVE your artwork!! Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us.

Susan said...

Thank you so much Carolyn Jae and Dianna Denley! I'm so happy to have two new friends. And so glad to know that I'm not the only one whose house won't be appearing on a magazine cover any time soon. :) Carolyn - I had a lady come give me an estimate on cleaning my house, but I was never brave enough to actually hire her.lol! I always feel like it's my job to clean it and anything else is cheating. :)
Diana - it looks like you've got plenty to do to keep busy! Closing doors is a great strategy. I do my fair share of that too.

Unknown said...

I LOVE a clean and orderly house and I work really hard to keep it that way. But it comes at a cost...I don't sit and enjoy or play with my kids enough (gratefully my husband is really good at that!). I'd rather work FOR them than play WITH them - is that horrible? I have to really stop and pause every day to make sure I've given them all some good, quality, mom time - and sometimes it just doesn't happen. I wish I were more okay with clutter and untidiness because that goes hand-in-hand with kids but it just stresses me out and can make me ornery.

I really love blogging, creating invitations for family events and homemaking in general, although I have LOTS of room for improvement!

Thanks for your blog and for being a "real" person! Love your honesty, it's invigorating!

~Camille

Lynn said...

Thanks for sharing Susan! I just want you to know that while I appreciate the freebies, I am more than willing to purchase your work for my calling in primary! As for a messy house... my kids are all grown and I LOVE when the grandkids make a mess now! haha

kathy said...

Susan, I LOVE your artwork. Thank you so much for sharing. I loved to play with my children rather than clean and now my favorite is playing with my grandchildren! It is the best! There is always time to clean later.

kathy said...

Also, I would love to be your friend also.

Kelsey K. Hartley said...

I just stumbled on your blog via PInterest because my new calling is in Nursery and I'm always looking for aids to bring something to my lesson. I'm nothing akin to an artist and I very much appreciate anyone who takes the time to help a unknown person, like me, to do that! I think your illustrations are darling!

To answer your question, my weakness also falls in the cooking department. I can follow a recipe to make good food, but I lack the mysterious gift at mixing ingredients to discover or create new recipes. My passion is baking. Cookies, cake and bread are usually crowd pleasers so the pay off of baking is more satisfying. I'm thrilled when my munchkins ask for oatmeal for dinner because not only can I make that in a minute in the microwave, but it's nutritious AND I can use a paper bowl that when emptied goes straight to the trash and I don't have to wash it! I'm typically a tidy mom with the appearance of my house. However, I loathe deep cleaning. Why mop a floor that's going to get spilled on right away?!

StaciLou said...

Love to know more about you! I'm pretty sure that your Celestial Kingdom ticket has been punched regardless of the tidiness of your home or the food that is on the table. You'll never know what a blessing you are to my Primary and my family. I have a sweet little special needs nephew who just turned 8 and was baptized last month. To prepare him, we decided to focus FHE for the past six months on baptism, the Holy Ghost, commandments, and other basic gospel principles. It's always tricky to hold his attention, so we have used your art to create matching games and "Baptism Bingo" and all sorts of teaching aids to keep him engaged in the principle being taught. (One of his favorites is marching around the room holding one of your prophet pictures mounted on a wooden handle singing "Follow the Prophet!") I'm also the Primary chorister in our ward so your gifts are a blessing to our whole Primary. They know I love "Sister Fitch" for sharing your talents with us! Love and blessings to you!!

Susan said...

Thank you so much everyone! I just love making new friends. Camille, Lynn, Kathy, Kelsey, I'm glad to hear about your clean and not-so-clean houses. :) It's good to have some company. And Staci Lou - the story of your nephew melted my heart!

Packer Backer said...

I just found your blog via Pintrest as I was searching for an inspirational temple picture for a Relief Society lesson handout. Your picture was perfect and I am so grateful you are willing to share your talent! Thank you! I am a stay-at-home mom/grandma/piano teacher and LOVE sharing the talent my Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I really enjoyed your "Put on the Armor of God" paper dolls. Beautiful illustrations!

Unknown said...

I just recently discovered your blog and am totally BLOWN AWAY by your talent, and even more so, by your generosity!! Thank you SO much for sharing your talents with the rest of us. I also loved your little secrets entry! I think we all assume the rest of the world has figured out how to "do it all" and we're alone in our struggles to keep a clean house, cook nutritious meals for our picky eating families, etc. etc. How refreshing your honesty is! Thank you for being real and keeping it real!!!
- Sharon

Susan said...

Thank you! I'm so happy to meet you all!

-Mary-> said...

This is probably my favorite post. I read it when it first came out, and I read it again just now as I was scrolling through your posts. We all know and admire that you are uber talented and we love your generosity in sharing your talents with us. But it is nice to know that you have things in common with us too. I've noticed that a lot of creative people tend to be less than perfectly tidy. I've always wondered if there is a connection some how. Thanks for sharing a little about your personal self. It helps us to know and love you just a little bit more. And by the way, your colored pencil skills are amazing! Thanks for being you, Susan.

Janine said...

I'm pretty bad at cleaning too. Personally, I think people who are creative have the drive to create vs organize? Maybe not. Anyway, I love to cook, but yeah, restrictions are super hard. And, you know, cooking on my terms when I want to...it is still a job most times. I love to write and am always working on the never-ending project of making my writing a real part of my life, professionally at least. I homeschool and as a result my house is always, ALWAYS a mess. Hmm...so grateful for your artwork! I use it all the time!

Anonymous said...

We have the same secrets. Messy house and picky eaters and still trying every day. I am pretty open about them, so probably not much of a secret. :-) Thank you for sharing your talent and making the world a better place!

Trudy said...

I just found your blog via Pinterest (my avoidance tactic re: a tidy home) and have fallen head over heels in love with your work. I've never been good at keeping things tidy and, in fact, warned my hubby before we were married that I'm not an organized person. He's endured it for near 28 years, so I guess I do "good enough". :-) I've recently developed an aversion to cooking, but mainly because I dislike the clean up involved afterwards. My youngest just turned 18 but he's a social butterfly. He is always needed to install speakers in someone's car or help with wiring another person's car after school so we typically don't see him until well after dinner time, so I end up cleaning up the cooking mess. The Crock Pot has become my best friend. Thank you for sharing the talents you were given and magnifying them to benefit so many people.

Unknown said...

Wow! Amazing! (: