09 | June | 2013 | Mama Cormier

….my Fantasy Art and You

I can’t believe that I actually got this done on time. I’m not sure if I’ve hit the mark or am completely off. I’ll find out in the next couple of days when I get my mark back.

Close-ups:

My artist statement:

Artist Statement

Carol Cormier

Assignment: Fantasy and You

Title: My Life

My art work consists of acrylic paint, India black ink and collage done on hot press watercolour paper, 140 in weight.

In this piece I am trying to create a series of images that convey the path my life has taken. The left side of the paper is backed in lighter colours of yellow and green, representing the the happier periods in my life while on the right side the mood is definitely more somber. The top half represents the first 20 years of my adult life and the bottom half is a portrayal of the last twenty years and the years yet to come.

I’ve always felt that throughout my life someone has been watching out for me, either physically or spiritually. My early life was filled with children and pets as I did a balancing act between work and home and trying to keep everyone else happy.

At forty I experienced a very dark period in my life when death took my mother from us at the age of 61. For the next five years the ‘tentacles’ of death continued to take away very close friends and family members.

The bottom right hand corner represents the cancer that my husband has been fighting with for the last 3 years. The arrows represent the chemo trying to fight off the bad cells and the tiger jumping through the TV represents my husband’s remission.

I used to look for quick fixes for my weight problem for most of my life, hence the pill bottle. It’s only been in the last year that I’ve discovered that a healthy me involves healthy eating and exercise and a healthy mind is nourished with books and on-line courses. I’ve never been happier or healthier and I look forward to exploring the world, now and in the future.

Your input is always appreciated.

Cheers!

….today was the day

I woke up early, 6:07 to be exact. I put on my running clothes and made my way downstairs to make coffee. I checked my emails as I enjoyed my Crema and protein bar. It was lovely and quiet in the house, just what I needed before heading out to meet my fellow coaches, L and C.

We had decided ahead of time to meet at L’s house and go together in one car. There was very little traffic at 7:30 on a Sunday morning so we made good time getting to the race venue. The race this year was being held at the Vaughn Mills mall. When we got there, there was already a sea of pink t-shirts.

Our school was assigned a flag where our girls had to meet us. We handed out their numbers and safety pins and the moms and dads pitched in pinning the numbers to the fronts of their shirts.

It was great seeing so many parents get involved, not just by being there but also registering for the run so that they could run with their daughters.

There weren’t as many pre-race activities as last year but some of the moms had brought along coloured hair spray so that the girls could have racing stripes put into their hair. Even some of their teachers got into the spirit.

I’m not sure how many times I’m going to have to wash my hair to remove the pink dye. One mom, who’s a hairdresser, said that it might take three or more washes. Hmmmm!!!!!

Two hours after arriving at the mall, the race finally started and about 1000 little girls and their coaches and parents started on the 5k run.

I had set a goal for myself to run the 5k without stopping and try to do it in 45 minutes or less. Last year I think it took me about 55 minutes and I walked at least half of it. It was very warm and humid today. Before I left my husband asked me not to overdo it and to be careful not to get caught up in the excitement of the race. I know that the recent heart attack of a very close friend who lives out west was leaving him feeling a little apprehensive about me running today. I have to admit that the our friend’s heart attack was also in the back of my mind. The attack was a mild one and she’s doing much better but she’s the last person we would ever have suspected of having a heart condition.

I set a very reasonable pace for myself and was able to run the first half without stopping to walk. When I did stop it was at the water station but I started to run again almost immediately. The heat did bother me and I walked a couple more times but never for more than a minute. In the end I finished in a time of 47:27, 2 1/2 minutes slower than I hoped for but this year I felt so much better than I did last year. I didn’t experience those moments of dread like I did last year and I wasn’t as emotional….no tears.

Now that I have an official time I can work on getting that number down. I should plan to do another 5k sometime this summer. It’s good to have a goal.

Time to work on my art piece.

Cheers!