As I was running errands today I was suddenly hit with the thought of all of my incredibly strong lady friends out there. I know friends who have been in horrible car accidents, stayed strong through cancer, dealt with trauma and death, and were raped. They have gone through the tragedy and come out with scars to prove it.

Then, I began thinking about the wars that are going on right now, the genocide in Darfur, and the rapes that happen so often. This breaks my heart to think that women all over the world are being victimized by this and so much more.

I then thought about the "rape culture" in our own US media. Over sexual and oppressing ads featuring women in compromising positions and pop songs saying "no means yes" all contribute to looking beyond a woman as an individual. You all have seen the articles on Facebook about something on this subject, I am sure.

This painting portrays the eyes of a rape victim. They are sad and painful, broken and strong. I want you, as a viewer, to feel something when you look at this.

"Do You Understand?" Watercolor and ink on stretched Watercolor paper, 18.25x22.25, 2014.

Another collaboration by my 6 year old and I happened today. This time (for the first time) he started the drawing and left me space. He also directed me to draw what I wanted in the big square. So I just doodled a little bit with my new pen I just got. Collaborating with kids is just so much fun!

Today I collaborated with my 6 year old son. I started by drawing a checkerboard on the bottom third of the page in a 2B graphite pencil. I then handed it over to him and he drew over my drawing with his colored pencils. This is just one piece in a series I am doing with him. It just so happened we created one today, so I thought I would share it.

Today I created just to create. I have been dealing with some serious writers block which has turned to a creative block. I think I am putting too much pressure on myself with this project and my life. It is really hard for me to post something EVERY DAY. That alone has frustrated me. So I have worked myself up to this spiral of doubt.

This piece is a mixed media piece made out of paper I painted. It is a paper sculpture with thread. It is completely free form with no real purpose. I just wanted to see something come to life. There are 4 little cards hanging from some of the strings. It says "I am so confused lately. My mind is a jumble of thoughts, ideas and emptiness. It is frustrating. I can't stop creating, but nothing inspires me. I need a project or commission. I need to just calm down and not put so much pressure on myself. Your ideas are good enough. The right story will come to you. Then you need time." This piece isn't for anything particular. It was just an exercise to organize my thoughts. A bit of art therapy.

I made more, yes, more pillowcases. I am preparing to go to my book signing at Stone Buddha on March 7th for Silverton's First Friday.

Today I worked on making a new pair of Stilt walking pants. I have an idea for a photoshoot based on one of my paintings but I need the outfits first! The pants are not quite finished, but you get an idea of what they will look like.

I decided to begin a freeform machine quilt. This is just the first "square" and I plan on working towards finishing the entire quilt within a few weeks. This will be a great way for me to use up the bins of scraps I have laying around!

We took a day trip to Breitenbush to relax and soak. I forgot my camera but did take manage to do a couple quick sketches in my adventure book. The first is the view from our pool and the second is my dad playing piano in the lodge during lunch. We of course had a wonderful time as usual. It is always nice to get out in nature.