vrobison

I am a wife, mother of two, art instructor, animal lover, horse trainer and avid gardener. I was born and raised in the mid west. I truly love small town life and the advantages it bring but sometimes dream of visiting such places as Paris and Australia(I need a passport first). I am not a morning person, love the calm before a storm and the strong colors of the sky. I have suffered for almost ten years from migraines.

I have two children: a daughter who currently serves in the Army as a radiology tech and recently completed a 15 month tour in Iraq and a son who is a high school junior.

I have taught art for 19 years in the same school district. The first 14 years I taught k-8th grade, the last 5 years I have taught secondary students. I seem to connect with them more than the wee ones. Sometimes I dream of just producing art but I would miss the interaction and inspiration I receive from my students. I try to stay current with trends and vocabulary. Here are a few that have interested me lately: zentangle, mail art, ephemera,steampunk, ambigrams and typography. I really like mixing new techniques with anything vintage.

My personal art involves drawing, and painting with a focus on photorealism but I love abstract work that focuses on texture and values. Horse images play an important role in my work. I would like to give a serious attempt at collage. I am drawn to strong lights and darks and you could say that is my style. My favorite color varies but orange/pink, teal/brown, natures colors(rust, stone, wood, water) and black seem to speak to me. But all colors have there place. I don't usually work with pastels but the light blue color of a robins egg is so soothing. And I love all animal prints especially zebra!

My husband and I ride and train barrel horses. In the summer we travel throughout the mid west competing. This gives me an opportunity to take lots of photographs. We live on 30 acres and I have huge flower gardens. My favorite flower is the iris. I think it is because it reminds me of my grandmas garden. I grow mostly perennials and experiment with color arrangements, textural interesting plants. And in the middle of our gardens we have a large koi pond.

I recently read the Shack and all the Twilight series. I have enjoyed such books as, The Left Behind Series, The Hidden Children, Artemis Fowl, and all the Harry Potter books. I keep a list of recommended books and next on the list is The Secret Life of Bees.

I have all kinds of music on my ipod(ok NO rap), but if I had to choose it would be top 40 country music and 80's rock.

I enjoy scrapbooking, and card making. Sometimes I will work for hours and hours and then maybe not do a single thing for 9 months. I can knit and crochet. I have tried cross stitch, quilting (mostly I have looking at fabric colors, prints and textures), and calligraphy. Sometimes I try something and enjoy it but don't feel the need to ever do it again. I have an art studio that is to die for and I collect supplies. I love going to auctions and finding buttons, silverware, spools, jewelry, old advertisements. But I sometimes don't have a plan for how to use those items. I often feel guilty that I don't use it near enough. Sometimes life just gets in the way of creativity.

I recently started a blog to share my art with others. http://whitehorseranch.blogspot.com/ If you have a moment and are out and about on the web please, please stop by! I love to share my work. And in my complete profile I have numerous artist's sites I enjoy. (I should be creating work now instead of surfing.)