Done with swimming in the sea of agitated animal doubt

This semester has actually been great so far. I am a teacher's assistant to one of my favorite art professors, I have two art projects that will actually result in money, and God continues to bless me with a wonderful and caring girlfriend (even though she is overseas).

I must say that, on January 4th, my outlook for this semester was pretty bleak. But God has completely (and miraculously) changed my heart. He has removed all my doubts and fears, replacing them with excitement and resolve. There were quite a few hard nights in the beginning, but I survived and now I know for sure that I can do this. I am going to punch this semester in the kidneys, and then not apologize.

"When God takes our legs he expects us to fly."
-jason

UPDATE

Well hey there. I am still alive and keeping it real in good ol' Siloam Springs.

Some interesting events in the last few days:

-I am switching workstudies at JBU. My new position will require alot more work but will be infinitely more beneficial to my artistic career.

-I got hired as a lifeguard at the JBU pool, which is great because it is basically the perfect part-time job. (even if it isn't technically "off-campus" like I originally intended)

-School started! Thank God for ways to stay busy.


Also, thanks to some creativity (and a healthy dose of Photoshop) I was able to visit Grace at Oxford! As you can see here:






So romantic.

And now for some ART! Here are some things that I have been doing in my sketchbook lately:





An old man who was swimming at the pool.



A vampire that I started drawing on Halloween. Just now decided to finish him.




random character sketch. Inspired by some Mike Mignola stuff I saw.


well, that is all for now. I gotta go get ready for a cookout party with the men.

-jason

2009: So Far, so good.

The year of 2009 started out pretty dang well for me. I was lucky enough to be in Hot Springs hanging out with Grace and her family for about 4 days. It was such a blessing to be there with her, and really was the perfect way to spend our last few days together before she leaves for London.

But then, of course, we had to say goodbye.

Needless to say, the last few days have been a little rough for me. At first i didn't think that being away from Grace for a long would really affect me that much (I don't usually have much of a problem when it comes to "missing" people). But during my drive from Hot Springs to Conway it really hit me hard. And I was pretty shaken up from about Sunday until Monday evening.

I am doing much better now (although still missing her alot, obviously). Thanks to friends, prayer, and also this neat little poster that I saw on the wall of my friend's room:


I am usually not a huge fan of Andy Warhol (i think he was kind of a huge prick), but this quote really comforted me and actually helped me get excited for this next semester. Instead of moping around because Grace isn't here, I have resolved to be in a constant state of excitement because she is going to be here. Instead of seeming a million years away(like it did on sunday), May has become a goal for me. Something to look forward to...like Christmas. haha...

In other news: I made some goals for this semester.

-Enter a piece of artwork in the JBU student competition.
-Sell A piece of artwork
-Get a part-time job off campus.
-Swim/lift weights at least 3 times a week.
-Do not become a hermit (this will be hard).
-Start reading my bible/praying consistently again.

Also. Tomorrow I begin my whole "not shaving" experiment. So we'll see how that goes.


Guess what??? My new headphones from Urban came in today! Here are pictures:









So exciting.



Well, that is all for now. Hopefully soon I will actually have artwork to post.

Please keep Grace in your prayers, as she will be traveling quite a long distance in the next few days and then will have to begin the process of adjusting to a completely new lifestyle.

Goodbye for now,
-jason