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Soy un perdedor, an old '90's song. Sometimes being vulnerable makes you feel like a loser, so do it anyway.

8/30/2014

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OK-- so to anyone and everyone who wants to read about why, here ya go. Most of the time, I try to investigate why I'm doing something. What is my intent? My motives? Is it love? Is it to give? Is it to receive? Is it to amuse? Mostly all of those things. Sometimes I remember to investigate motives, but I do forget and goof up and goof up often... but this isn't one of those times :)

So, anyway, why do I blog? First, if my perspectives and experiences can be of service to anyone, I offer them. I make a lot of mistakes and many can be learned by just reading and pointing your finger at me. Why make your own mistakes when you don't have to? I have learned so much from relating to real people and real stories that I decided to be one, myself, no holds barred. I tell you the truth from my very subjective perspective. It won't be someone else's, but its mine. If it helps anyone or even lightly amuses, wonderful.

The point is that if there is any one thing that can be gleaned from my blog about life, art, spirituality, love, sadness or joy that will help someone become more secure in themselves to live openly and connect in their lives... then, wonderful. If someone, through my hard-nosed exploration can see the beauty in their own complexities and falliblilties, then this is worth it to me and I will continue to do it.

I offer my vulnerabilities in love and with the intent of love only for that purpose. AA is this way, my Mom's saving grace. We'd both be dead if it wasn't for AA and how they handle life. They talk of struggles openly and about what helped them through hard times and it helps new people and the cycle of giving continues.

Sometimes along the way, even with the best of intents, people's toes get stepped on. A note to my loved ones of past, present and future: Existing as someone connected to me, you will be vulnerable and this won't be comfortable to you. It will require you to be courageous when you feel you can't. Do it anyway and release the shame. It'll be ok.

This is why I don't name names, although the names are easy to find if you look. But the real issue in this blog isn't the name, the person or even the event... it is the lesson learned in the grander scheme of the human condition.

So, if these lessons of the human condition have been lost in my posts, then the person doesn't get it and they shouldn't read any more. For example, the last two posts were about manipulation by people who don't necessarily look manipulative... to us or themselves. We do it all the time, all of us, and we don't even realize it. Myself, included. The posts were also about how our roles in relationships change depending on our strengths and weaknesses.

So, about accepting our roles in those relationships... I accept being a bad-girl (blunt? insensitive?)  sometimes to make someone feel better about themselves. (Its mental gymnastics to understand why I say that, I know. I've been a "guard-dog" for people who couldn't do it for themselves was one way.)

I live based on how I'd like to be treated, adhering to the golden rule. I had rather have my feelings hurt with someone's truth than be placated with a sweet lie. I own being blamed (and criticized) for the repercussions of those things, willingly. I played a role in the victim/rescuer experience without blaming a soul for it but myself and I don't regret it or intend to whine about it. I don't want pity. I did it, I'm an adult and thats that.

But I am also an odd bird, wild. My love runs rampant as much as the other extreme. I wear my heart, my weaknesses and triumphs on my sleeve, opting to be vulnerable all of the time. This woman is my hero, my example and she fully gets why I paint and live as I do. To understand "why" fully, watch this: 

Sure, I get hurt and some judgment, but its worth it. I am human and very fallible and just like you or anyone else you come across. I just happen to be an artist with a blog. (Not a CPA, secretary or accountant. An artist. Much of what I write about becomes paintings.)

So, about this blog, I had been slightly “threatened” that someone had “something” on me that I wouldn't want “out there”. I imagine, in retalliation for what I wrote. I'm curious what someone could possibly have that I don't readily admit on my back through an exposed, soft underbelly. Can't think of a thing. 

But, I am not, nor ever will get, into the habit of hiding anything. Our weakness IS our courage and the day we get that is the day we are whole. I bless someone in their endeavors to dig dirt up on me because its already been dug a long time ago. Airing dirty laundry? There is a spiritual principle behind this. Respect it or not, but watch Brene Brown's TED talk and then make your judgment.

There's more of this post if you click "read more" down there to the right. I hope all who reads the above or anything from this unrepentant wild-child is blessed with the courage for a more authentic and loving life.




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Who knows what stagnation feels like? Not me!

10/5/2013

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Well, here is whats going on: Mom woke up. After almost 2 days of being silent, her main concerns were 1. I have canvases and I want to paint... will you bring me my stuff? and 2. I'm in hospice? What the hell for? 3. There is decisions being made for me? And its not me? WHY is THAT?! 

I have to laugh. As a fly on the wall, from an objective standpoint, its damned funny. Yes, we went through the gut wrenching series of grief stages, crying for hours, getting good and ticked off, meeting with doctors, being tired, wanting to just go hide, cry some more, call off all engagements---- all to come to this place. She's awake and is wanting to return to the rollercoaster, meaning that she wants all the life-sustaining devices she can get. This is what I wanted, to be out of that loop where I may or may not make the right decisions for her. 


And- I got to hear her say I love you one more time. I got to hear my Mom's voice again. Thank You, God. 

I understand what she wants, but there comes a time when what you're surviving/fighting for isn't worth it, imo. Maybe it always is? Is it the devil you know verses the one you don't thingy? 


Anyway, I can't say for her what that line-in-the-sand will be, as its not my decision. Like I told the doc, Dr. Weiss, she hung on for 20 years with a man who treated her as sewage, so there is no telling what she's willing to survive for.


Either way, the kidney dysfunction is causing severe nausea and other symptoms, in which she is unwilling or unable to eat. Everything, apparently, tastes like crap. So.... she's not eating. Which is what got us into this state, anyhoo. Yes, I did call her on it: eat or else you will get sicker and go on machines again and your brain will tap out. You will die. Eat and potentially puke or...... die. Those are your options. (Nausea meds don't touch this kind of nausea). No matter how much I love someone, I can't sugarcoat or placate. 

For Mom's fight and ours, this is my dedication to all of us (plus, it was an awesome experience when Charlotte and I saw them and this at Ozzfest ;): 

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The Multifaceted Life/Telling Your Story is Healing

4/26/2013

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Don't read this if you don't want your mood to drop like one of those jets with bad batteries. Read on if you want someone to relate to or just out of curiousity.

I've got so much work to do, but I'm taking a mental health evening. I read Damn You AutoCorrect! and got a good laugh. I even had a nap. I needed a mental health evening instead of working at every available minute cuz Mom had to be taken to the hospital again at about 5 a.m. this morning via ambulance. She started vomiting and had other "issues", while her hands were tingling and burning like fire. Sounded like an allergic reaction to me. I didn't take her, but that didn't mean that I wasn't up bothered, tho. Yes, I prayed. 

Today was my day. Stephen and I started switching days (one day is his work day and the next is mine) and we get a bunch more done that way. I was glad today was mine; I got to paint. It didn't help with my attitude, tho, like it usually does.

I'm just tired. Bone tired. What triggers my depression is stressful events that just keep coming, like ocean swells knocking me down over and over, and I think thats whats going on.

Normally, I'm a conqueror- I don't worry, I deal with "it", attack whatever it is head on when "it" happens and I'm not afraid of much of anything. But this shit keeps coming. Just when I think I've got a little while to recuperate, I get hit again. And I'm starting to get pissed off about it. God, fate, bad luck, whatever it is, give me a freaking break for about two months. Just let me catch my breath and get a few steps forward, ok?

Not that I think life shouldn't be this way, that these experiences are unfair, it what it is and I could be anybody. I would feel better if I could get a leg up out of this pit that keeps getting deeper. Every time I get my stuff set up to go out and network with other art sellers/dealers/interior designers, something serious happens and all forward progress has to cease. I get a project going and momentum (you know, the "flow" where its coming together and you're in the zone) I have to stop to write some dry assed complaint form with the Mississippi Board of Realtors or Dispute of Settlements and Fees. Its both draining and distracting, then there's this recuperation time (that may or may not happen) and then shit hits the fan again:

continued below this line.............

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Hey creative people out there, don't let anyone devalue your gifts to the world. 

4/2/2013

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"I took one for my creative team." Thats how I choose to look at it. We've all been there with our creative work, pearls among swine-- but how you deal with it is up to you. Confront right there, hand out a flyer, give 'em a walk off... but just don't stand there and allow it to happen to you.

My creative team is all those wonderful artists of all kinds out there who deal with this daily and can never say a word- and even for those that do say something. You're my sisters and brothers from the same Parent.

The first day I was tired and mildly annoyed. As time went on, my subconscious kept nagging at me, so I had to take the previous post and make a flyer out of it. I feel so much better now.

I wasn't as irritated with the people because they just *didn't know*, but I was really ticked off at myself for buying into that stingy attitude. I guess I was ignorant, too. Next time, I promise that I'm handing this out to people who complain because I'm not doing "free" work. Cuz.... I won't be mean, but I'm not letting it slide even tho I don't have the time to stop and discuss it right then.

If any other creative person wants the template for the flyer below, just let me know and I'll take out personal stuff and hand it over to you to change as you need. Just post a comment down there with your email and its yours.

Thank God my head finally shut up :) Moving on...


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She said they would shoot Jesus?! 

1/20/2013

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First let me tell you that...

I won a prize just for being myself!! Yaaay!

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And the reason I got the prize is....

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Oh, yes, I did say that and I said it about die-hard GOPers, too. But before anyone discounts what I have to say, hear me out.

See, as an artist, I love creativity. You can't be creative and keep doing the same thing over and over, so of course, I'm a Democrat. It doesn't mean I dislike all Conservatives, quite the contrary, I agree with much of what they believe in, but its how they go about it that is offensive to my nature. So, I'm liberal and proud of it, too.

I said it as a quick, smart-ass quip about the absurdity that "Firearms were part of God's Plan" in the first tweet, seen in the second picture. I really didn't think about it, but sometimes wisdom flies out of our mouths when we least expect it. Someone saw it:
I loved Meg@Chuckmeg's response after that: "Well GOP types killed him!" I thought about it, thought about His life and what He stood for and then it hit me how true it was. What an epiphany for me!

The story as I have studied it: a New Guy, a new thinker arrives on the scene with all his new ideas for a better way to live and to view the world. New Guy knows there is a group of people highly intertwined with the way things ARE and they are highly invested in SAME. Any change effects this group, this Status Quo, because this means for them all the things they've hitched their financial hopes and power dreams onto is in the beginning stages of reform, if this new guy has his way. (Here's a secret you already know: What they don't know is that true change happens over a period of time, not sudden.) So it was with this New Guy and his gently growing brand of change. Doesn't matter, change is not good for Status Quo and they don't like it.

And could we say this is true for the GOP? GOP stands for Grand OLD Party- representing the old way of thinking, old cigars, old money, old traditions. Much like the group that crucified Jesus (the harbinger of change), it is the change they fear. They had a way of doing things that just didn't work for everybody. But it worked fine for themselves.


Perhaps, then and now, it was the thought of giving up the power and control they are fooled into thinking they have that was just too much to handle. Maybe that finally sealed the deal for this New Guy? Sure, behind the scenes, there are additional reasonings, but "how it is" is "how its supposed to be" doncha know it?? Probably enough to kill someone over.... ? (Human nature hasn't changed that much).

So, to make a long story short, in the end, the Status Quo made sure they discredited all the new things this New Guy spoke of. They called Him a false prophet among other things. The leaders of Status Quo pressured the powers that be at the time so much so that eventually He was killed for wanting to change a system that was only working for the Status Quo. Translated: It didn't work for everybody. Translated again: Then, it doesn't work at all.

So what are we doing now? With our new firearm laws, we are bringing new reform that scares a group that has a long and firmly held system of beliefs. The problem is that this belief system puts other people in jeopardy because the ones holding these beliefs cannot control anyone but themselves... and they are in so much fear that they, themselves, will be controlled. As in the story above, fear makes people dangerous.


So, if Jesus were the one to bring about new firearm laws (since He was prone to do new things), how would the Right react to that? 

Are there some so entrenched in their beliefs that they would shoot Jesus? Want my answer?

Since so many similarities exist between both Status Quo examples, perhaps. It is entirely possible. I stand by my tweet.  

Here are the last two tweets on the subject and what I wrote in response to winning today's Grand Old Prize from the Grand Old Party: _
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OK @Takeourmedia, you can go back to your regularly scheduled program on Faux News. Have a good night!

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Revised letter edition for character limits

12/18/2012

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Dear readers, if you have suggestions of what to do about this (who to send it to, make a petition, etc) please leave a comment. I will read them all and take them very seriously. 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
TO:         Whom It May Concern
FROM:    Linda Hill, et al
RE:         Invention Proposal to Stop Mass Spree Killings
DATE:   December 18, 2012

Problem: We won’t ever control people's sanity. Solution: We can control the guns they steal from us.

The design: a removable steel or heavy plastic fingerprint-reading lock placed over guns’ & rifles’ safety so the can't get to it to turn it off.

The logic: If a gun’s safety can’t be turned off, it can’t be used. The inspiration came from my laptop's fingerprint reader that takes ONE second to scan & “unlock”. Other locks won't work because combinations can be figured out (its usually a number the family member knows anyway) & keys get stolen, but a fingerprint belongs to just ONE person.

If no one besides the registered firearm user can unlock the safety:

  • ·       Gun is safe from use by the mentally unstable
  • ·       Gun is safe from use by children & other family
  • ·       Family is safe from it being found & used against them first in home invasions
  • ·       Registered user is safe from accidental firing during transport, storage, rest
  • ·       Recreational activities won’t be limited since the authorized print has to be used to         unlock the device. Unlock it and go.
  •     Other benefit is that firearm’s use will then be  restricted to approved users & settings by the person who has to unlock it.
  • ·       Invention discourages thieves. If they can’t break it off & use it or resell it, stealing it is pointless.
  • ·       Invention won’t hinder emergency use as it takes one second to swipe the print & unlock
  • ·       It allows police & military the peace of mind when they are off duty (officer’s child here in WA shot & killed his other child with the officer's own gun)

Other ideas for print safety lock:

  • fingerprint locks can be placed on guns, gun cases, cabinets or any other gun storage container so collectors & enthusiasts can still collect
  • fingerprint recognition can be for the registered gun owner & qualified additional users. All other users of that gun can go through the same registration procedures as the gun purchaser
  • registered fingerprints could be put into other data bases (some folks will not like that, but so what)

This doesn't affect our Second Amendment rights, rather, the safety feature will emphasize a willingness to be responsible firearm owners. We, as a nation, have to take whatever action necessary to keep our guns out of the hands of those that intend to do us harm. A fingerprint is the only thing we have distinctly our own. The drawbacks: It won’t save the lives of those registered gun owners who snap or forget to lock the guns back up. It won’t stop someone willing to kill the owner to get their fingerprint; However, dismembering another person might be discouraging. This invention will cost owners, but we can keep cost down if we can find distributors willing to make it for the security of our children’s lives rather than their wallets’. For the price of a good helmet or car safety features, we should welcome this new addition.

What is asked of you is to either forward this email to people or get me a list of people you think would go forward with this project:
  • ·       inventors
  • ·       potential contributors
  • ·       potential supporters

I don’t care to be rich; I want my little boy safe. My dream for this proposal is to make this thing & put it on mass killing weapons (maybe all legal handguns, it depends) within a reasonable amount of time. If we can make helmet laws & seatbelt laws to save lives, we can apply this device to solve this issue.  I am a parent who will not take no for an answer & neither should you. I am just an artist with little resources & a proposal that desperately needs your help.

With sincerest hopes of hearing from you,

The Hill Family
Stephen & Linda Hill

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Idea for fingerprint lock letter written and sent 

12/17/2012

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Dear leaders, innovators, educators and politicians,

I am an artist with little resources and a proposal that desperately needs your help. I have an idea for an object that could very well stop firearms from being used by unstable or unauthorized people because we can't make everyone mentally healthy and we can't be on the lookout all the time. 

The design: a steel or heavy, nearly unbreakable plastic fingerprint-reading lock that can be placed over the safety switch of guns and rifles. The logic: If a firearm’s safety cannot be turned off, the firearm cannot be used. The inspiration came from my laptop that has a fingerprint reader that takes approximately one second to scan and “unlock” itself.

Because no one besides the registered firearm user’s fingerprint can unlock the safety, the positives are:

·       The firearm is safe from use by the mentally unstable

·       The firearm is safe from use by children and other family members

·       The family is safe from the gun being found and used against them during a break-in

·       The registered user is safe from accidental firing during transport, storage or rest

·       Recreational firearm activities will not be limited because the authorized fingerprint has to be used to unlock the mechanism. (Additional benefit is that use of the firearm will then be restricted to approved users in approved settings.)

·       The safety feature discourages thieves. If they can’t use it, stealing it is pointless.

·       The safety feature will not hinder emergency uses because it takes one second to swipe the fingerprint

·       The feature will allow police and military the peace of mind when they are off duty

Other ideas for the fingerprint safety lock include:

·       fingerprint locks should be placed on gun cases, gun cabinets or any other firearm storage container so collectors and enthusiasts can still collect

·       fingerprint recognition should be for the registered gun owner and qualified additional users. All additional users of that particular firearm should go through the same registration procedures as the gun purchaser

More positives include that the invention will not affect our Second Amendment rights, rather, the safety feature will emphasize our willingness to be responsible firearm owners. We, as a nation, have to take whatever action necessary to keep our guns out of the hands of those that intend to do us harm. Combination locks can be easily figured out and keys can be stolen. A fingerprint is the only thing we have distinctly our own.

This idea has a few drawbacks: This safety invention will not save the lives of those registered gun owners who snap at the expense of our innocent public. It will not work if people forget to lock the guns back up. It will also not stop someone willing to kill the gun owner to acquire the fingerprint; However, hopefully dismembering another person will discourage mass killers. This safety invention will cost responsible gun owners, but I believe we can keep the cost down if we can find distributors willing to make this object for the security of our children’s lives rather than the security of their bottom line. For the price of a good helmet or optional car safety features, we should welcome this new addition. The price of doing nothing is too high. 

What I am asking from you:

  • a list of inventors who can turn this idea into a solid object
  • a list of potential contributors to this project
  • a list of potential supporters

My dream for this proposal is to have this instrument made and in place on mass killing weapons, even perhaps all legally acquired handguns within a reasonable amount of time. If we can implement helmet laws and seatbelt laws to protect the public, we can apply this device to solve OUR public safety firearm issue.  I am a parent who will not take no for an answer and neither should you.

With sincerest hopes of hearing from you,



YOU CAN PUT YOUR NAME HERE
The Hill Family
Stephen, Linda and Devyn Hill
1096 Ellie Lane
Camano Island, WA
98282
360.926.8426
Linda@HillArtistry.com

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    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Linda Hill

    I am a life long artist, divorced from a 20 year marriage and a Mommy to a gorgeous little boy  for  3 years.

    I love God Consciousness, love to give and love the human spirit in all its forms. Nothing separates us, separation is an illusion.

    Its taken me a long time to feel comfortable in my own skin, scars and all. A past of neglect and sometimes abuse gave me issues I have to work through, sometimes here.

    What helped me most is to truly love and help others. You can't give what you don't have, but by giving, you will find that you already have all that you could ever wish for.

    My art, blog and life has been about "owning" myself along with all the mixed blessings that come with this thing we call life.

    Like the Velveteen Rabbit, I have become REAL.




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