Tag Archives: Art

An Idea or Two About Blogging More Often

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! I have been attempting to blog more on the regular basis. One of the ways I had planned on doing this was taking a couple of WordPress’s free courses. I started out with doing their Intro to Poetry but kind of stopped doing it for various reasons and I plan on starting it back up again or at least where I left off. I was also going to take a course on photography to help me blog more often and still plan on doing it after I finish the Intro to Poetry course. My plan with the poetry and photography courses through WordPress is to help keep you, my reader, more interested in reading my blog.

Another way I plan to blog more often is something I have done in the past and it appeared to work. That is every Sunday to blog about my weekly plans. Just so you have an idea of what an average week is like for me. Somethings else I plan on doing is my weekly check-ins on Saturdays. Just to tell you how my week went. I guess if I do both of these things it might help me blog more regularly. I hope that I can follow through with this just like I hope to follow through with the WordPress courses.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope you all have a great Sunday. I also hope you all have an awesome week ahead of you. You guys are all awesome in my book. Peace Out, World!!!

Challenging Times + Creativity = Peaceful & Positive Messages

Posted on by Gertie

At the beginning of the stay at home order with this pandemic of Covid-19, I noticed places like bars and tattoo places boarding up to protect themselves. I noticed that they decided to create the awesome art work of murals. Murals that are extremely beautiful and worth protecting.

For those who are sight impairs I want to remind you that I did add captions to the pictures I posted. I hope you are able to see in your own way this the captions.

A mural created shortly after the stay at home order was in effect; saying “Seattle Strong.” During the protest for George Floyd many people of color and their ally’s stood guard to protecting this lovely art work of a mural.
Another mural done shortly after the stay at home order became in affect.This mural says “Catch you on the flip side.” Again, people of color and their ally’s stood guard of this mural. But sadly some of it got damaged before it was protected.

When the peaceful protest started happen due to the murder of George Floyd may people of color decided that they would protect small businesses no matter what especially the ones with boarded up murals as they felt the message was what our community needed; Peace. Peace that we can all get through this. I love the fact that people of color and ally’s such as myself can march peacefully and to protect each other’s property even if we are not customers for the place of business.

As I end this post I just hope that people of color and their ally’s are doing their best to have peaceful protest in hopes that racism will be start being discussed more especially for white folks me. I say this because I need to have serious conversations with my white friends and have started them. Some didn’t end as well as I had hoped while others ended extremely well. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great day. Peace Out, World!!!

A Pre-Work Post

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! I am now awake and about to get ready for work. Part of me doesn’t want to go to work. The part of me that doesn’t want to go to work is the part where my depression symptoms are acting up. I know ultimately me going to work will help with my depression symptoms. As much as I do not like night shifts, I am grateful to have a job for several reasons. One such reason is that working does help with my mental health symptoms.

The part I don’t like about working is the fact, I am away from my cat, Billie Dean. Billie is my emotional support animal (ESA) and helps me a great deal. On a plus note, coming home from work or any other place, having Billie greet me at the door is always an awesome feeling.

As I type this blog I realize that I need to put my art supplies in my backpack so I can take them to work. Specifically, my coloring supplies. I take my coloring supplies so I can color at work to help keep myself busy. I have a lot of down time at work. I love to color. It is a type of meditation for me.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I want to thank you all for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of thing that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great rest of your weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

The Art of Depression

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! As stated in my last post, I have been fighting off some symptoms of depression. Dealing with depression sucks shit but it is a part of my life even if it is not fun to deal with.

Dealing with depression has helped me find out what I love. I love my cat and art. Something I have been doing the last few hours since my last post is art work. Specifically, I have been combining genre’s of painting and collage. I am creating an art piece of my cat, Billie Dean, and my beloved adopted city of Seattle. It is not coming out I like but I know it will eventually come out okay. Okay enough to hopefully, put on my living room wall. I feel like putting up artwork on my wall makes my home a home. I do have artwork hanging on my wall from friends, neighbors and family. For me art helps me with my depression. I hope that when I am finished with this particular artwork that I will share it with you fine folks.

Now that I have bored you to death with my talking about artwork and depression, I will end this particular blog post. It is time for me to go to bed. Yes, I know it is seven in the morning here in Seattle but I work a twelve plus hour night shift tonight. Before I go, I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope you all have a great weekend. Peace Out, World!!!

Fighting My Way Through Depression Symptoms

Posted on by Gertie

Good Morning, World!!! Right now I am dealing with increased depression symptoms. Symptoms that have prevented me from working on my Intro to Poetry course I am taking through WordPress. I will start back up the course on Sunday morning. Poetry is quite helpful for me and the symptoms of the handful of mental health diagnosis I am diagnosed with.

The thing that has been helping me through this bought of depression is binge watching television shows since I haven’t been writing poetry. The two television shows I have been binge watching are. The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross and M*A*S*H. The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross has quite a calming affect on me. There is something about watching Bob Ross painting that is soothing or at least he is soothing to me. As far as M*A*S*H; the humor of the comedy of the show has me laughing. Laughing so much that I almost pee my pants. The soothing of Bob Ross and comedy of M*A*S*H is helping lift my depression symptoms and for me that is a great thing.

Since I have updated you on what is going on, I am going to end this blog post as I do not have much more to write about. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great weekend ahead of them. Peace Out, World!!!

Update on Life the Last 24 Hours

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! I just want to update on life in the last twenty-four hours. First lets start off with my job interview yesterday. Overall, I think it went quite well. There were many awkward moments in the interview but went well. If I get the job, I will like the schedule for the most part. I will have to change some things with my volunteer job but it is workable. Even though the interview went well, I am not holding my breath that I will get the job. I just do not want to get my hopes up too high.

Now back to a couple of hours ago. I took my cat, Billie Dean, into the vet. Don’t worry Billie is just fine and dandy. He went to the vet to get his nails trimmed. It took longer than usual because the vet techs and vet wanted some cuddle time with Billie. The vet even took two dollars off the bill for letting her and her vet techs have cuddle time with my “love bug.” I cannot deny that Billie is a “love bug.”

Now on to a previous post in the last few days about me taking a couple of courses WordPress does for free. I signed up for the courses a couple of days ago and have assignments that I will start on tonight. I will be posting those assignments starting tomorrow. The courses I am taking our: Writing: Intro to Poetry and Photography: Developing Your Eye I. I have done both of these course before and loved them. So I am doing them again. Plus, I feel like if I do these courses again they will be of help to me to blog on the more regular basis. I want to blog on the regular basis to keep you my followers and regular readers engaged.

I do not have much more to discuss in this particular blog post. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great rest of your Thursday. Peace Out, World!!!

Middle of the Night Thoughts & Ideas

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! It is the middle of the night and I am unable to sleep once again. I wish I knew why I am unable to sleep but I realize that trying to figure it out will just frustrate the hell out of me.

As I sit here at my laptop, sleepless in Seattle once again, I am trying to figure out ways to blog on the regular basis. One thing that came to mind is to do free courses that WordPress does. I have decided to do their Writing: Intro to Poetry course as well as their Photography: Developing Your Eye 1 course. I figure if I do the courses it will help me get more in a groove of blogging on the regular basis. I know some people set up schedules and I have tried that which is something I will try again with the help of the WordPress courses I take.

I have officially signed up for the courses but I personally most likely won’t start them for a couple days. I am planning to do this so I can have time to work on the assignments. Of course when I work on the assignments, I hope to include my cat, Billie Dean in a couple of them. Most people love cats and hope including my cat, Billie will have new people reading my blog. I also want to incorporate Billie because, I love Billie and he is apart of my family.

I have also thought about other ways to blog on the regular basis. One of those ways is to discuss topics, you my reader are interested in. So, I guess I am asking you to do is comment on this post on what you would like me to discuss. I realize that my request appears to be a wee bit odd but I hope you will comment on this post on what you would like me to discuss.

I do not have much more to discuss. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things for reading my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog even though it is not interesting most of the time. I hope everyone has a great Tuesday ahead of them. Yes, I realize Alaska and Hawaii are still in Monday as I write this and hope they too have a great Tuesday ahead of them. Peace Out, World!!!

The Words of A Child

Posted on by Gertie

Good Evening, World!!! So far today has been a quiet stay at home day. It has been a day that I have not done much but binge watch television with my cat, Billie Dean on my lap. The Seattle weather has been quite helpful in that as it has been the typical Seattle gloom.

I have spent most of the day with my cat Billie Dean in my lap. Billie sat in my lap as I watched The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. I really enjoy this show for several reasons and am thrilled that Billie spent most of that time in lap as I watched it.

After watching The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross as Billie was curled up in my lap I decided to get on social media. Specifically, I went on Facebook as it is the the only social media account I have under my given name. (I do have a Facebook account as well as a Twitter account under my pen name of Gertie. You can find me under Gerties Journey on both social media accounts.) Anyway, when I was on Facebook under my given name, a friend of mine in the peer counseling community posted a quote from one of her children came up of a quote that I feel is great. My friends, child’s name is Avenlea Margaret. (Yes, I was given permission to mention my friends daughter’s name on here by both my friend and their daughter.) Avenlea Margaret is a creative person which doesn’t surprise me that she came up with the quote she did.

Avenlea Margaret’s quote is: “There’s no such thing as ugly. There’s just different ways to be beautiful.” I personally love this quote as it is an honest quote that comes from the mouth of an innocent child. A child that sees there are different ways to be beautiful and different ways to see beauty. Avenlea Margaret is wise beyond her years and hope to read more quotes she says on her parents Facebook account. It is my hope with posting this that you are able to see that there is only beauty in this world and it just looks differently just like Avenlea stated.

I do not have much more to say. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great rest of you Monday. Peace Out, World!!!

A Memorial Day Post

Posted on by Gertie

Good Afternoon, World!!! The weather here in Seattle is a bit gloomy which is fitting for it being Memorial Day. Today is Memorial Day here in the United States and is a holiday that we remember our fallen troops. The one thing I do not understand is many people here in the United States don’t really understand what Memorial Day is all about and that saddens the hell out of me. I just wish I could do what I normally do on Memorial Day; put flags on the grave of fallen soldiers but sadly I cannot due to Covid-19.

Since it is a gloomy day here in Seattle, I will be spending it at home with my cat, Billie Dean. If Billie has his way, he will be spending Memorial Day in my lap and he will be getting his way in this aspect as he and I both need it today. I think we both need him to be in my lap today as it comforting to the both of us.

While Billie is in my lap sleeping, I will be watching one of my favorite childhood shows; The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. I do not know why but for some reason this show puts me at ease and calms me down. Maybe it is how he speaks or how he paints or maybe a combination of both. I also think the reason why I like the show so much it that Bob Ross makes the painting look so easy. I just love watching the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross.

I do not have much more to say in this particular blog post. I want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone enjoys your Monday. Please do not forget to take moment of silence for those who lost their lives fighting for our freedom. Peace Out, World!!!

A Midnight Post

Posted on by Gertie

Hello, World!!! It is midnight in my corner of the world. I am staying up all night due to the fact I have to sleep all day. I need to sleep all day on Saturday’s because I work a twelve and a half hour night shift. I really enjoy my current job with the exception of it being a night shift. I am not a big fan of it being twelve and a half hours but I think if it was a day time shift I would be more accepting of a twelve and a half hour shift. My colleagues are great and it feels like a family type environment. The clients I work with are awesome. My supervisor is super supportive. I think the reason I have stayed at my current job for so long is because of my colleagues and supervisor as well as it being a supportive environment. The main reason I am looking for a new job is I don’t do well with a night shift.

Speaking of looking for a new job, I mentioned in an earlier post, I have a job interview at a local mental health agency. I hope I get the job because I love working in supportive housing. I also love being employed as a peer support specialist also known as a peer counselor. I am trying to not get my hopes up high about getting the job because if I don’t get it, I don’t really want to be let down. No matter what if I don’t get it the job, I will be let down but if I keep my expectations low then the let down won’t be so hard. I am looking forward to the interview because I will consider it practice especially if I don’t get the job.

Anyway on to something completely different. One of the ways I will keep myself from falling asleep is doing some art. I will be doing different mediums (genres) of art. I will be doing some coloring, painting and some collage. I most likely be combining the collage with some painting. I love my completed art work when it combines painting and collage. It is very interesting. I also enjoy giving my art away. People wonder why I don’t sell it. I don’t sell it because I don’t think its worth very much. I also love being able to give people hand made gifts.

The best part of Friday nights is that I get to spend the entire night awake with my cat, Billie Dean. I really think he appreciates when I don’t sleep at night because that way I spend the night playing with him and being awake with him. I love my cat so much. I really enjoy the fact that he is a cuddle bug. I think if it were up to him, he would spend all of his time in my lap.

I do not have much more to say. I just want to thank you for reading my blog. It is greatly appreciated from my end of things that you read my blog. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading my blog. I hope everyone has a great Saturday. I also hope everyone has an awesome weekend ahead. Peace Out, World!!!