"Frisco" Oil on Canvas 24x30

Rebuilding Ruins- Ezekiel 11:19

"I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. " Ezekiel 11:19

I've always been a work in progress. Years ago, I completely destroyed my life. I would like to say it was the fault of abuse among other things, but I can't. Ultimately, I was the one who messed up. I chose the wrong path and I've been paying for it ever since. I sat, wallowing in the darkness, alone and full of hate. I was a despicable creature who only cared for myself. But He saw me, He saw something in me, that I didn't see. A beauty.... Change that I didn't know was there. So, God fought for me. Slowly, I found Him. He had been waiting for me all along. Despite myself, He loved me. Now, these desolate ruins are being restored, slowly but surely because of His enduring and powerful love. I will never be the same. Now, I love life, because He has given me purpose. I'm so different than who I once was, it's amazing. I want you to know that it doesn't matter what you've done, Jesus loves you. God created you for a purpose. No one can take your place.

The Mind-boggling Game of Chess

Game day- the most exciting waste of a class period an elementary school student can have. It was on one of these very days that I was introduced to the mind-boggling game of chess. The teacher reached into the cabinet and emerged with a pile of abused board games. The kids swarmed around him. I was slow to get over there and the only thing left was chess which made me very sad. It has an unfortunate reputation of being nerdy and I had no idea how to play. However, I quickly learned how from a classmate and it became one of my favorites. I was amazed how fun it was. I've been playing it ever since. I'm not good at it, I've been beaten by children before, but I absolutely love it. Thus, this painting was born. I wanted to use colors that I wouldnt normally use (brown) in a painting to push myself. I think it turned out quite well.

Everyone's a Critic

Being an artist is hard sometimes. It's humbling. Everyone's a critic. I've been getting a lot more criticism about my work lately. The fact is that everyone is not going to like my art- and I'm totally cool with that. It's not about whether people like it or not. I don't do it for the adoration of others. I do it because I want to do it. There's something inside me that drives me to create. I love it. It's my outlet. Don't get me wrong- people liking my art is a definate plus. I like to submit my work to shows because I want people to enjoy it. If I can just get the viewer to feel something- I have accomplished what I've worked towards. I like for my paintings to tell a story, to entertain and evoke some emotion. Every painting tells a story.

My sad attempt at pop art

What is pop art really? I'm still not sure. It was one of my assignments, so I attempted it. I've always had a fascination with dinosaurs ever since I was kid. I had the priveledge of volunteering at a museum awhile back. I was in heaven. When I was done with demonstrations and working in the paleo lab, I would wander around the museum and take in everything... These paintings are an omage to that. The painting with the velocoraptor in the purse is my lame attempt at "making fun of materialism"- one of the classic characteristics of pop art. :) Anyways, enjoy.

The Heart of a Servant

This painting has a lot to do with the soul. Water represents life.

Scholarship Show

The scholarship show at the Arts Gallery went very well. I was glad to be a part of it.

Captain's Log- Stardate: Tuesday

Summer has been really boring and slow. It's weird... I am addicted to re-runs of "Star Trek" and "Family Matters", I'm not going to lie. "Family Matters" makes me laugh, it's such a great show. I wish I had someone who is devoted to me as much as Steve is to Laura (even if he is a nerd). My accomplishments for this summer include completeing Super Mario Galaxy 2 and my first ever Bob Ross painting. Haha- I need a life. I remember watching Bob Ross when I was a kid and I thought he was the most talented artist ever, so naturally, when I saw his DVD at the library, I rented it. I really enjoyed it although it took me all night to complete the painting. Bob Ross is awesome!!! Now I have a beautiful seascape hanging in living room. Ta-Da! Life is good.

School and Stuff

I've been super busy. I haven't really had time to write. A ton of stuff has happened though. I had my first painting show! Ok, so maybe it was just a small thing at my community college- but it still counts! I'm planning on doing a schlarship show over summer also. That should be fun. Anyways, more to come soon!!! God Bless.

Snow!

I've lived in Arizona most of my life. So naturally, when I moved to Texas, it was like moving to another planet. Everything was green and snow was a foreign concept to me. Everytime it snows, I am amazed. It's so beautiful. It's been snowing a lot lately and I am loving it. I've been enjoying the snow days hanging out with my siblings and friends. We built snowmen and snowrobots, had epic snowball fights, and made snow angels. I feel like a kid again. It's a nice break from my busy schedule. Sometimes you just need to stop what your doing and really enjoy life. I get so caught up in work and school that I forget why I'm doing what I'm doing. Honestly, I feel like a zombie sometimes, mind-washed and just going through the motions. That's not what life is about. Life is an adventure, don't waste it.

A Random Ramble...

I wish I had something really amazing to say, but I don't. I haven't been able to sleep well the last few days. I don't know why. I think that maybe my mind is too busy. I have a lot of stuff going on. Classes are still going well. I was walking from class to class yesterday and it started raining. The painting that I was carrying got wet. I think it will survive though. :) I'm taking a weight training class and I'm loving it. It feels good to work out. I have a lot more energy. They have the weirdest machines at my campus. It seems like there is one to work on every muscle of your body. It's cool. I'm currently working on getting a mural business started. My mom and I love painting. Art runs in the family. We are doing this insane mario mural in the game room. It's turning out well.

Captain's Log- Stardate: Friday

I just finished my first week back at school. Im a sophmore in college. I'm taking some pretty fun classes; art appreciation, world literature, painting 1, government 2, and weight training. Everything is going really well. My professors are cool and life is great. Even though I have a busy schedule, I'm still making time for art. I'm working on portraits of people at the moment. If anyone would like a free portrait, feel free to let me know. I like to practice. Well, I think that's it for the day. God Bless! :)

Captain's Log- Stardate: Sunday!

Here are some pastel drawings that I just recently finished. I apologize for my crappy picture-taking skills. :)

Highlighters

So I was sitting at my desk being bored and I had the sudden urge to draw something with just highlighters. I love the florescent color of a highlighter. :D

Bound for Life

I joined the bound for life movement in 2007. I was involved in a silent protest a couple years back in front of a courthouse in Arizona. Abortion has always been an issue that troubles me......

Mario Sketch

My brothers are obsessed with mario. I love Super Mario Bros myself. We got it for the Wii and it seems like the kids never stop playing it. It's so much fun. I drew this picture for my brothers.

Random Sketch

I thought I would try something different.. It's not really my style, but it's kind of cute. I love designing clothes. It is so much fun. I especially love bright colors.

Community College

I quite enjoy it. I love my classes and the professors are great. Plus I have friends from high school that go there. Still, I feel like I’m stuck. It kind of looks like I’m not going anywhere. I don’t have direction. I’m majoring in fine arts, but what kind of job can I get with that? I’m not sure that I want to teach, so what other opportunities are there for me? I guess I’ll find out in the future. For now, I’m enjoying the simplicity and fun of my beloved community college….

Epic Fail- Confessions of a Defeated Dieter

My New Year’s resolution crashed and burned. Dieting did not go as well as planned. I’ve been really sick. Stupid flu. When I’m sick, I’m lazy. Sigh... It’s a poor excuse. I binged on junk food over the past week. I had Ben and Jerry’s ice cream two nights in a row and a big greasy Mooyah burger for lunch today. Bleh… I’m so bad sometimes. It makes me mad that my sisters eat the same stuff that I do but still remain horribly skinny. Ugh. I have made the decision that I am going to be healthy though. I am going to turn my life around and one day I’m going to be the skinny one of the family. I’m going from flab to fab!! Yeah!

The Thing about Me….

Obviously not everyone is going to like me. It is normal for everyone. Some people like you, some people don’t. Get over it. No big deal…. I have an issue with that fact though. I tend to like everyone. I find every individual intriguing, even the ones who treat me like crap. I want to know the way someone thinks. People are all unique and I enjoy everyone’s differences. The thing about me is that when I know that someone does not like me, I see it as a challenge. I try hard to win people over. It’s kind of fun. Someone randomly dislikes me and I work to show them that they’re wrong about what they think towards me. My enemies become my friends. It’s somewhat rewarding. However, I don’t know when to quit. There are individuals who are set on disapproval of me and I let myself get beat up emotionally over and over again because I don’t want to give up on them. I need to let them go and stop trying to change them. I want people to see me as something worthwhile, but I can’t force them to change their minds. Usually I can wear people down and win them over, but not always.

Art House and my Sketchbook Project

I heard about Art House from a friend. The place is AmAzInG!!!!! They build art projects and basically anyone can participate. I joined the something called the Sketchbook Project. It is a huge collection of sketchbooks with different themes from artists all over the world. The theme for my project was "Danger, Danger". I completed drawings relating to the theme and sent it to the gallery. Now my sketchbook is going on tour with several others. It's going to be at the Art House Gallery in Atlanta, GA (January 29-30), 303Grand in Brooklyn, NY (Febuary 19-21), Art and Shelter Gallery at The Salvation Army Alegria in Los Angeles, CA (April 8-11), Soulard Art Market in Saint Louis, MO (April 16-18), and then it is going to go to the home gallery in Chicago to be part of a permanent sketchbook library. I am extremely excited about it. It was such a great oppurtunity. The previous post contains some project pictures.

link to my Art House profile: http://www.arthousecoop.com/users/chemburlie

The Sketchbook Project

Who Needs a Baby When You Can Have a Cat?

I'm 21 and single. Sigh... I absolutely love kids and I can't wait to have some of my own. I think that I'm almost more excited about raising kids than I am about falling in love with prince charming. How weird is that? For now, I am quite content because I have Jake. He's all the trouble of a kid with all the wonderful perks. He eats stuff that he shouldn't, makes messes, and drives me crazy BUT at the end of the day he's there to keep me company. I never thought that I would ever like cats, but now that I have him my views have changed. Here is a picture of Jake sleeping with a berry stuck on his nose. I tried to take it off, but he was persistant on keeping it there. Enjoy. :)

My Goals for This Blog

I'm just getting started. Seems like everyone has a blog now-a-days, so why not me? I have a couple goals for this blog. First, I want to upload new sketches once a week. I've been trying to make myself more motivated about art and I figured that it would be a good idea. So, you will hopefully get a chance to see my artwork evolve. I love feedback, so feel free to comment. My second goal for this blog is to document my weight loss. I'm starting a diet.......again. Sigh...... This time will work though (with God's help). I'm planning to start a video blog series over it. We will see how that goes.

One Thing 2009

It seems like everything was going against me. I thought for sure that this trip was not going to happen. I had no money and the little money that I had was suddenly stolen from me, but God pushed me forward. I was going to go. God miraculously provided and at 5:00 am on December 28, 2009 I was headed to the One Thing conference in Kansas City with a group of people that I didn't really know. I had been to One Thing before and I was eager to return. The moment I walked in that auditorium full of 20,000 people a hunger arose in me. I felt the Holy Spirit and I realized that I had missed Him. It had been too long. Conviction swept over me. I had been so distracted by the stupid things of this life that I had become a lukewarm Christian. However, at that moment, I felt whole. The worship was amazing- 20,000 voices united in their adoration of the most high God. A woman prayed for me. I felt the Holy Spirit in her hands, like liquid fire. People were laughing, crying, and shaking. God was pouring out His love on each and every one of us. Later, I could feel His Presence so thick that it felt like water. I paced back and forth and waved my hands through it. I never wanted to leave that place. Many people were healed during that conference, emotionally and physically. There are so many more testimonies. Believers felt His love for the first time. Praise God. My Jesus is alive and well.