Hey, Remember Me?

I’m back temporarily with an announcement about my husband Eric.  About a week ago he announced that he is running for US Congress! I am so excited and proud (I keep using those words, but it’s true)!

For those of you who are unfamiliar with these proceedings, I’ll explain a little about the job itself.  As a congressman, Eric would represent the 4th district of Pennsylvania in congress.  That is York and Adams Counties, and parts of Dauphin and Cumberland Counties.  The House of Representatives has 435 voting representatives that work towards passing federal legislation.

In order to be a congressman, a person has to be at least twenty-five years old.  They must also obtain 1,000 signatures in a period of  three weeks in order to get their name on the primary ballot.  That means we have until Valentine’s Day to get our signatures.  The primary is on April 24th, so until then Eric, his team of amazing workers, and I are going to be extremely busy.  This blog may slow down a bit more, but hopefully I will be back with a post at least every week or two.

If you live in the fourth congressional district of PA or nearby and you would like to volunteer, please contact us at ericmartinforcongress@gmail.com.  You can visit his website here  if you want to check out his platform.  I have every confidence that Eric will make an amazing congressman.  Not only is he extremely intelligent and well-versed in politics, he has integrity and humility.  Those are necessary qualities in a good leader.

Heart Dog

Sue brought a very special puppy named Seamus into her home a month before tragedy struck.  When her mother died suddenly, Seamus became the reason she had to get out of bed in the morning.  Being a rather rambunctious puppy, Sue had to care for Seamus and take him on walks.  Sue jokes that her siblings think she’s crazy for loving Seamus so much, but I think it’s plain to see why she does.  They have been through a lot together, and in Sue’s words, “share a special bond.”  I like what she called him in her most recent email to me.  Her Heart Dog.

I had a lot of fun painting Seamus.  It was even cooler to hear Sue’s story and to hear how much he means to her.  Here is the finished piece.

Sue described her 50th birthday as one that she will never forget.  She said, “When I was presented with your blog, it brought tears to my eyes that my family would think enough of me to give me something that mattered to only me!”

A Little About My Job

As I’ve mentioned before, I work part-time at my church in the children’s ministry department.   This “jobby” as I like to call it has been a God-send for me.  When I was hired, the woman I work for was really excited to learn that I am an artist.  The cool thing is that she has me using my creativity all the time.

I work with grades one, two, and three, and this month’s topic is Self-Control.  The illustration to go with it is video games.  I’m sure you’ve never gotten out of control while playing video games , but I certainly have.  **Tangent:  My husband Eric loves to play Zelda and I love to watch.  One time he convinced me to give it a shot.  I played for ten or fifteen minutes and at the end of that time I may or may not have yelled at and insulted Eric and stormed out of the room.  I was horrible at it!**  Anyway, for the stage backdrop I thought it would be cool to do something video-gamed theme and I chose my favorite:  Mario.

The back wall of the stage is already a blue-violet color so it worked for the sky.  I used craft paper and permanent markers to make everything else.

I apologize for the horrible pictures.  My camera hasn’t been the same since I dropped it.

Anyway, I’m curious about you.  Do you play video games?  If so, what’s your favorite?

Seamus

Today was quite a productive day for me.  It is the first time I’ve really painted in mine and Eric’s new house.  Admittedly, my studio space leaves a lot to be desired at the moment, but it is functional and I am grateful for that.

But enough about my studio.  Here is the work I got done today:

I chose a solid background so that the attention is on Seamus.  I still have a little work to do on details and proportions so that it looks more like him.  For example, his nose is too wide in the painting.  Also, the colors of the collar and background can easily be changed if Sue prefers a different look.  I may not get a chance to work on this painting again until Friday, so I’m glad that I got a lot done today.

Ahhh, it feels good to be back!