Yellow eyebrows
May 20, 2010
“My sister was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease when she was in her early 40′s. By the time they figured out what she had, they gave her three months to live. She ended up living for three years, due in large part to her fervent love for her young daughters.
Her name is Kathy. She was technically my half sister, but was like a mother to me. I packed up all of my things and moved from Florida to California at her suggestion when I was in my early 20′s. It never occurred to me that anything ‘bad’ could happen to a young woman in a car alone on a three or four day trip across the country with all of her possessions in her car, including a large television more or less in plain view in the back seat; and nothing bad did happen.
She took me into the fold, made me part of her family. We would take long walks and she would listen to me rattle off incessantly about whoever I was dating at the time – she was patient with me as I painstakingly dissected every conversation and wrung my hands over every nuance of what was said.
She was home.
So I painted her. Tried to convey the strength of my love for her and the power of her courage with the color choices. Most of all I tried to capture the pain in her eyes. The resignation. The fear. And a glimmer of hope in her yellow eyebrows.
It occurred to me long after the painting was done that her eyes were green. Mine are blue.
I had painted my eyes into her face.”
-Art and story by Lisa Valle, 44, from Portland, Oregon
Pisces are good kissers.
June 27, 2009
Artwork by Emily Molloy
“This is me. Emily.
My self-portrait doesn’t look much like me. I always draw my eyes way too big and for some reason my lips too. I actually have thin lips. I think I’m in denial and that’s why I draw them big. The only time I see those thin lips are when I look at pictures of myself.
I received an email today describing the different zodiac signs. I am a pisces. And this is what it said: ‘The Dreamer; Generous, kind, and thoughtful. Very creative and imaginative. May become secretive and vague. Sensitive. Don’t like details. Dreamy and unrealistic. Sympathetic and loving. Kind. Unselfish. Good kisser. Beautiful.’
I agree with most of it. I’m definitely a dreamer. I always have been. I’m constantly thinking about the future and forgetting to live in the present. Unrealistic? Probably. But…maybe not…I usually get everything I ask for. I don’t mean materials. I mean things in life.
For example, in 9th grade I wanted to move to NYC. I imagined myself walking across the busy streets with my brief case and going to work. I wasn’t really sure what I would be doing but I had that idea in my head. A few years later I forgot about that dream… But after graduating from college I found myself…living in NYC, walking across those busy streets and having an awesome job. It just kind of…came together. I’ve had a lot more of those ‘dreams’ turn into reality. So I’m not really sure that unrealistic is the right term to describe me.
Dreamer, generous, kind, thoughtful, creative, imaginative, sympathetic, loving, good kisser (I hope so, even though I have those tiny thin lips), stubborn, and overly sensitive (sometimes). This is me.”
Emily resides in Los Angeles, California, and she started Elephant Shoes in 2008. Her pillows designs are my personal favorite. I am also a Pisces (Emily and I share the same birthday) and yes, I am a good kisser too. Who would admit otherwise?
Emily's pillow design
Scary Eyes: A portrait by Mike
June 23, 2009
Artwork by Mike Renner using Wacom Tablet, GIMP 2.6, and eco-friendly electricity
“I have a long neck, a big nose, and fluffy, blonde hair, but ‘Your eyes are scary’ is my recurrent motif; melanin production in infancy saturated my Aryan baby blues with a hazel kaleidoscope of greens and golds. In certain lighting my irises more readily refract the gold pigment, and the illuminated golden bands and halos effortlessly dominate the easel.
My eyes are scary. So, my left eye is golden-hazel, and my right eye its equal (it’s important to have a spare). But such redundancy surely disqualifies either from representing a uniqueness quantification.
Having been told my caricature resembles Gollum (prior to the tooth decay and hair-loss stemming from a steady diet of fish heads), I decided that my uniqueness quantification is something… precious. ‘there is one and only one’. Our most precious uniqueness quantification we do not keep for ourselves, but give to those we cherish the most. While it’s not uncommon to receive such a precious gift, take special care because this particular uniqueness quantification is prone to scarring, and we have no spare.”
∃!(x,y) Є [(x2+y2-1)3 – x2y3 = 0]
I’ve seen Mike in person, and I can confirm his eyes are scary … and absolutely distinct. The ladies love ‘em, right? Mike is a mechanical engineer residing in Washington, DC.
