Thanksgiving away from home..

When I first moved to Medicine Hat I had a very hard time adjusting to being away from my family. After Neil and I started school things got a lot easier, we were always busy with schoolwork and going to classes. This seemed like a good distraction until the holidays came around. I was hired at a jewelry store in the mall (Ben Moss) and I was informed that I would be working through Thanksgiving and possibly Christmas too. This absolutely broke my heart, I was looking forward to going back home to visit my family and see all my other friends. I worked through Thanksgiving weekend, we had no turkey supper, and no family, and it really put me in a depressed state.

Hearing everyone in our class talk about how excited they were to go home really made me feel worse. I was extremely jealous, of the people who could go see their grandparents and give their mom/dad a hug.
When I wasn’t at work, I would video call my mom from time to time just to keep myself from actually going insane.

I was very upset through this past weekend, I wished I was home every waking second of the each day. To make it feel more like a holiday Neil and I ran to Walmart and grabbed ourselves a pumpkin pie and some CoolWhip, it was no turkey supper but it was the closest we could get. 

This coming weekend we will be headed over to Neil’s parents in Taber to watch his siblings play in a volleyball tournament. We will be doing lots of visiting which I’m sure will turn my mood around.. We are back at school today so being around our friends and doing some art has definitely making this grumpy girl feel alot better!

Lethbridge Windy City Tattoo Weekend ’16

Neil and I attended the Lethbridge Tattoo Convention this past weekend. We were very excited to meet some of our favorite tattoo artists from Ink Master on Spike. Joey Hamilton, BiggCeeze, and Jime Litwalk was featured in this years show. It was surreal for Neil and myself to meet some of our heroes, I know some people think it’s silly and they are “just tattoo artists” but to us they are so much more. Jime Litwalk is one of my favorite artists of all time and an overall inspiration. Neil and I watch Ink Master religiously, it was actually the very first thing we bonded over and a big reason we started seeing each other. Even when we lived in different towns we made an effort to be together every Tattoo Tuesday, (new episodes of Ink Master aired on Tuesdays on Spike) so a lot of the time Neil would take a special trip to Oxbow so he could see me and we could watch our favorite show together.

By far the best thing that happened to me through the Expo would be meeting Jime Litwalk, Neil and I were at the convention the first day (before it got super busy) we bought some prints of his, got some signatures and had a very nice conversation with him. Jime was very friendly and took the time to actually get to know us. I can proudly say I met one of my heroes this past weekend.

Overall the experience was amazing, the shows, the contests, the art. This convention has made me want to become a tattoo artist so much more. I would definitely recommend going to this Expo if you are in the area.

Jime Litwalk and I

BiggCeeze, Joey Hamilton, Jime Litwalk

BigCeeze, Joey Hamilton, Jime Litwalk

Neil and Jime Litwalk

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First week of college.

So as my first week progressed my nervousness subsided. The first few days I felt sick to my stomach every morning and hoped I wouldn’t throw up in my first hour class. Throughout the days I started to settle, but I was never confident enough to ask any questions, or go and make any friends. It has been extremely helpful that my boyfriend Neil is taking the same course and classes as me. He is definitely comforting when I’m feeling alone or anxious. I feel it is very important to have that sense of safety and security while being in a new environment.

Although having Neil by my side is wonderful, I have noticed with the other first year VisCom students, they don’t really engage with us as much as the other students. This could be for multiple reasons, they could possibly feel uncomfortable because we are a couple and would feel they are intruding. Or even perhaps because they themselves are still nervous about the whole “college” thing and are feeling uncomfortable, Like I mentioned this is the first week so I can only expect things to get better.

Our first Drawing 1 class was today, where we drew still life using only charcoals. I was initially nervous about this exercise because I was never a huge fan of still life, or charcoal to be brutally honest. I have used charcoal in the past but only for deeper shadings and other grey values due to its blending ability, but drawing with it and it being our only medium was tough for me. This particular class is 3 hours, so our instructor encourages us to get up, stretch, take a break, and even go look at others pieces. I was very impressed with the artistic ranges I have seen so far from the other first years, you could find voice in their drawings. Everyone has different styles and from what I saw today I can’t wait to experience the other pieces my classmates can produce over the next 3 years.

Over the past week I feel I have become more relaxed, I’m not crazy nervous before all my classes, and my number of anxious belly aches have decreased. Everyone Neil and I have met so far is extremely nice and easy to talk to, I see the both of us making great friends that will last us a life time. Overall, we are excited to continue our studies and expect big things from our classmates!