The Confusion Abounds
23 May 2012 6 Comments
in bizarre, writing, personal insight, awareness, 2012, differences, epilepsy, seizures, life, medical, medicine, health Tags: bizarre, personal insight, arizona, amy ronhovde, 2012, epilepsy, health, doctors, medical, medicine
So if you read my blog regularly, you know from a post at the end of March that I have been having seizures and was diagnosed as Epileptic. Well, like any reasonably intelligent person, I sought out a 2nd opinion. After rounds and rounds of testing, tons of electrodes, a week in the hospital, AND another grand mal seizure, my 2nd neurologist has decided that I am not at all Epileptic and that my 1st neurologist is an idiot.
So now I have two diagnoses–each at the opposite end of the spectrum from the other. I do have very severe anxiety issues, and it’s difficult to keep those under control, so my 2nd neurologist thinks my psychiatrist should be the one to “fix me.” But my psychiatrist doesn’t deal with seizures, and I’m on pretty much as much anxiety medication as the law allows.
Now I’m left confused, because I have two such drastic different diagnoses. Do I go back to the 1st neurologist with my records from the 2nd? Or do I seek out yet another neurologist, a 3rd party, and see what he/she has to say and then go best 2 out of 3?
I’m taking the rest of the week to think about it, but I’m leaning towards returning to my 1st neurologist with the report and records from my 2nd.
I know, this is hardly interesting reading material, but just like most bloggers, I blog to make myself write, to make myself look inside, and to help myself figure out confusing situations.
Thanks for reading, if any of you did. I guess I’ll keep ya posted…woo hoo? 
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Artwork of the Day: Time Flies
19 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in 2012, amy's art, art, art collectors, artisan crafts, artists, beauty, collage, deviant art, etsy, found object art, found objects, galleries, indie, indie art, life, love, mixed media, mixed media artwork, painting, paintings, personal insight, recycled, recycling, small business, time, Uncategorized, up and coming, vintage Tags: 2012, 3D art, amy's art, amycreates, art, birds, etsy, found object art, found objects, mixed media artwork, painting, paintings, pink, purple, time, time flies, up and coming, wings
I feel that I need to get better about self promotion. I spend a good deal of time on my husband’s website and FB page, promoting him as much as I can, and I see the positive results it’s yielded. Obviously, guitar lessons are probably an easier sell than artwork, but still.
So, today, and most likely once a week hereafter, I am promoting one of my works of art.
Today’s piece: ‘Time Flies’
I chose this particular piece as my first feature because 2012 has flown by for me (not in a good way…still not ready to blog about that). Here it is late middle of May, temperatures here in AZ are in the triple digits…and I feel like it should be February.
Time doesn’t just fly when you’re having fun. My concept of time feels so warped now…it’s difficult to explain. It’s just very different than before my car accident in January.
But let’s look at the upside of the artwork! ‘Time Flies’ is 16″ x 20″ on stretched canvas, so it’s ready to hang or frame. It’s currently hanging in a hallway in my home, but I feel I’ve held onto it for myself for long enough, and I’m finally letting it out to live a new life somewhere else.
It’s for sale in my etsy store, amycreates.etsy.com, right here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/97578532/time-flies-original-mixed-media-collage.
This is just a sample of the bulk of the artwork I create. I call them collage paintings–you can also call them mixed media paintings or mixed media artwork. I like to use found objects as often as I can–yes, I do FIND a lot of objects in parking lots and such, but I also find a ton of treasures at places like Goodwill and Savers. And when I don’t have everything I need for a piece from all those spots, I do actually hit up the craft stores and purchase new items as well.
So a lot of my artworks would be perfect for traditional brides on their wedding days–”something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.” :’D
When I created ‘Time Flies,’ I honestly didn’t feel like I was following a purpose or making a strong point. This is common in my work. I follow some direction laid out in my head, but the life doesn’t come into the piece until it’s finished. And for me, sometimes, it takes several years to finally understand fully what my artwork is about.
I don’t like to get too heavy on what each piece means to me, because artwork is really about what it means to each of YOU–the viewers. That’s the beauty of artwork– 1000 different meanings all wrapped together in one piece.
So, does it speak to you at all? Does it say anything or give you any ideas or strike up any memories? I’m rather curious, so do take a moment to let me know!
A Wonderful Weekend to You All! Did I mention my marriage is turning 7 tomorrow, May 20th? Well, IT IS! We’ve been together 9, married 7, and I think it’s safe to say that Torey and I both love each other even more now than we did 7 or 9 years ago.
Happy Trails,
-Amy-
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Let’s Just Talk About Lip Gloss
11 May 2012 Leave a Comment
in 2012, beauty, fashion, just us gals, life, makeup, personal insight, pop culture Tags: avoiding the truth, beauty, fun, gals, girls, light, lip gloss, makeup
Well. 2012 has turned out to be an incredibly HEAVY year for me. Times are tough and things are rough and so much just sort of hangs in the balance overhead…but it’s just too much for me to blog about right now. By “right now” I mean tonight. Today was pretty awful. So, to end the day, I decided, you know what? Let’s just talk about Lip gloss!
A while back I completed the boring chore of emptying out everything of all my old purses and handbags. I don’t know about you, but when I get a new purse, all my good stuff goes inside, and the old purse is left with all the junk and trash still in it and thrown in a closet somewhere.
So, cleaning out these purses made me realize something…I’m a bit of a Lip Gloss Addict. I don’t have an addictive personality, but I do have a bit of a hoarding problem. Finding all those glosses made me search through my studio, bedroom, purse, and bathroom to gather up all the other glosses I own. It is quite the impressive collection, no:
I have high end fancy glosses (those are usually gifts…I never spoil myself with spendy glosses, though apparently I should since I like it so much!), glosses that taste like WATER, gloss that tastes like Dr. Pepper, and a HUGE supply of Lip Smackers.
Finding all of these actually made the purse cleaning chore kinda fun! It was like I just got a new gift…of like 500 different lip glosses. SWEET!!
Even sweeter: My mom-in-law knew that I was headed into hospital for a week recently, so she gave this to my husband to give to me:
It’s the Paris ball from Twist and Pout! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Twist and Pout. I only own 2 of them, both from my mom-in-law, so I have no clue what they cost. But I LOVE the Paris ball! And the gloss flavor…yum!
So, even though life can punch you in the face and kick you in the kidneys, at least there’s Lip Gloss, right? Some small little beacon of happiness and fancy-free, a reminder that things won’t always be (so bad).
I’ll get into the Heavy Stuff soon. I need to let it out and I suppose this is my own personal forum for that, so…we’ll see.
Happy Glossing!
-AMY-
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20120404 - Haiku
20 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in art
seized by a longing moments we feel outside time old clock starts ticking
Embracing Our Differences 2012…My Quote!
18 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in 2012, acceptance, amy's art, art, art shows, awareness, diversity, Embracing Our Differences, florida, goodreads, life, love, peace, public art, sarasota, society, Uncategorized, writers, writing Tags: banners, culture, embracing our differences, equality, event, fl, florida, humanity, quotes, sarasota, sarasota bay
Okay, so it’s hard to see, but on the left bottom side of the banner, there’s MY QUOTE! ”Sometimes Gifts Appear As Flaws.” — Amy Renee Ronhovde
How freaking cool is that? A blog that focuses on life and culture in Sarasota Bay, Florida, has been covering the Embracing Our Differences event, and they took just a few pics of a few banners. I got lucky! And look at the photo my quote is paired with. I could NOT be happier or feel more privileged.
Thank you Embracing Our Differences 2012!!!
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Art Takes Times Square – Click My Link!
10 Apr 2012 1 Comment
in 2012, amy's art, art, art opportunities, art shows, artists, collage, competitions, contests, galleries, global art, indie art, new york, NY, Uncategorized Tags: amy ronhovde, amy's art, amycreates, art, art contest, art show, art shows, art takes times square, artists, artists wanted, arts, contest, global art, indie art, new york, pop culture, questlove, times square
Click this link, see my gallery, click “Collect Me” at the very top of the page. And then, go make your own portfolio and tell Me to collect You! Amy Ronhovde.
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The Fashion Scene: I’m SO Over It
10 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in acceptance, amy's art, arizona, art, artisan crafts, artists, bargains and sales, charitable art, charity, economy, etsy, fails, fashion, finances, functional art, indie art, life, personal insight, small business, society, Uncategorized, young adult Tags: amy ronhovde, amycreates, artists, arts, boutiques, charitable, charity, clothes, clothing, consignment, design, designer, designs, etsy, fail, fashion, fashion designs, fashion shows, fitting clothes, goodwill, great fashion, internet consignment, naive girl, pirate jenny, shopping, style, teen fashion, teens
Most people, when considering something like a profession or job or hobby or religion or insurance or phone plan, say, “Eh, I’ll give it a year and see how it goes.” Others are more generous and say they’ll give the new fill-in-the-blank 2 years, and then make a decision.
Well, I’ve been hocking my fashion designs all over the internet, consignment shops and art shows in Peoria, Glendale, and Mesa, fashion shows, runways, and boutiques in Scottsdale and even the East Coast for 6 years now. SIX years. Yes, I’ve had customers and yes, I’ve gotten compliments, but enough to warrant a gigantic wardrobe of merchandise that just keeps growing year after year? No.
And yesterday was the last stand. Or the last straw. Or the last whatever. I tried one more consignment shop, it was a bust, so I took my stuffed-to-the-brim trunk of the car over to Goodwill and donated it. ALL of it. The purses, the jewelry, the wallets, the handbags, the jeans, the shirts, the skirts–everything.
Looking into my closet filled with merchandise was making me so sad, so frustrated, so angry, so depressed–I just had to get rid of it, all of it. I had to get rid of HER. The naive girl that thought she could design clothes and actually make money at it. I’m so sick of her.
So, I’m not making any money off of all those clothes I designed, and obviously I’m losing a ton of money in the process, but at least I know that at some point in the future, random gals out there with great fashion sense and no money will be scouring the Goodwill and come across a prize. Being a gal with no money who scours the Goodwill frequently, I know how it feels to come across something so awesome, so unique, so new, so different, so me, when you’re surrounded by crappy ill-fitting clothes and you’ve got next to nothing in your wallet.
Yesterday when I got home I deleted almost every item from the Pirate Jenny shop. There are still some bookmarkers and ties (I forgot to pack the ties up when I went on my unloading journey yesterday). I also deleted a TON of items from the flagship AmyCreates shop, as that’s where most of the clothing was up for sale.
I’m not sure what to do about the remaining ties (in both stores) and the remaining baby items (lots made, most still need to be photographed and listed, and still lots undesigned completely).
Sales on Etsy have been embarrassingly few and far-between the past couple of years, as the once-indie boutique site has exploded into internet fame. But I do tend to sell the ties on a somewhat-regular basis (there’s really no “regular basis” with any of my sales on Etsy). The baby items…the few I’ve listed haven’t moved at all, so I’m hesitant to do all the work to photo and prep all these other baby items just to list and lose money on. So I’m thinking the baby items are gonna go the Goodwill route as well. None of the baby items sold when they were fresh on Etsy, at the top of the search results, when I blabbed about them on Twitter and annoyed my friends with the listings on Facebook. So that tells me they just aren’t going to sell.
Anyways, back to the main story here. Last night I looked into a studio closet with almost nothing hanging in it, and I also saw a closet floor with actual empty space. It was freeing, and it felt good, but at the same time I was sad. You put enough hours of work into anything and you’re sad to see it go. But the whole thing is just too exhausting for me. And that growing closet of merchandise and clothes? It just kept weighing down on me heavier and heavier, and finally, yesterday, I did something about it. I took control, made a decision, got rid of pretty much all evidence of me being a fashion designer, and now I feel ready to start on an actual work of art. I haven’t felt that way in a really, really long time.
-Amy-
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Talenthouse: Go Vote for Torey and Get Yourself Involved, Too!
09 Apr 2012 Leave a Comment
in art, art opportunities, artists, bands, celebrities, celebrity art, competitions, contests, indie, indie art, music, rockstarguitarschool, talenthouse, Uncategorized Tags: art, art contests, competition, guitar, guitars, indie music, instrumental, instrumental music, music, music competition, music contest, rock and roll, rock music, rock n roll, rockandroll, rocknroll, snazzy, talenthouse, talenthouse contests, talenthouse.com, torey ronhovde, voting
http://www.talenthouse.com/creativeinvites/preview/afb47a28d3ed541b9b4260af5c62eeca/488
So, talenthouse.com is this cool website I found a while back that offers random opportunities to artists of all types. Some opportunities are bigger than others–like, seriously BIG, but pretty much all opportunities are cool. I entered Torey in a music contest and today’s the last day to vote (he’s my husband, to those of you that didn’t know it). He’s in the Top 5! If you could hop over to that link up there (as long as you have facebook and/or twitter), and click on both the Facebook and Twitter buttons (if you have both) to Vote for Torey, I would forever be grateful! A vote on Facebook counts as 1, and a vote on Twitter counts as one, so if you have both, please vote with both!
You can listen to his instrumental piece there at the link site, and you can listen to some of his other music at http://www.rockstarguitarschool.com and http://www.facebook.com/ToreyRonhovde. And I’m working slowly on his soundcloud page (I guess I’m sort of his manager or something)…the avenues of self promotion on the internet just do not end!
http://www.talenthouse.com/creativeinvites/preview/afb47a28d3ed541b9b4260af5c62eeca/488
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Young Adult: Kind of a Movie Review, Kind of a Life Reflection
06 Apr 2012 2 Comments
in acceptance, celebrities, charlize theron, film, Hollywood, life, movie reviews, movies, patton oswalt, reviews, Uncategorized, writers, writing, ya, young adult Tags: alternate universe, charlize theron, critique, empty life, film, films, life, loneliness, lonely, me, movie review, movies, myself, patton oswalt, sadness, ya, young adult
So Torey and I recently watched ‘Young Adult’ starring Charlize Theron as a lonely and unhappy writer of YA fiction with trichatelomania (no clue how to spell it, and the computer dictionary ain’t helpin’). Patton Oswalt is also in the film, and both actors did a fantastic job playing their respective parts.
I believe this movie was marketed as a comedy, and I think that was a big mistake on the part of the studio marketers. This was NOT a comedy.
This was, however, an excellent film.
It was also a very clear and precise portrayal of who I would be right now had I not found Torey, my husband. If I were single right now, I would be, almost to a T, Charlize’s character in the movie. And that made me cry a little. I haven’t ever given much thought to who I’d be if I hadn’t met Torey, if I hadn’t gotten married, but this film forced me to focus on that, to psychoanalyze and dissect that alternate reality.
Charlize as Amy in an Alternate Universe
I used to write all the time, and I assumed I’d write novels and fiction one day. But then I met Torey, and I just flat out couldn’t write any more. I still don’t understand why.
I run my fingers through the hair at the nape of my neck, detangling it and ultimately pulling out some hair. It’s not noticeable, and I do it because it feels good. But I do have severe anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, major depressive disorder, and possibly a touch of bi-polar type II.
At a certain point in the film, and I’m sorry–I cannot remember what point that was, the light bulb above my head switched on and I realized loud and clear that this was a film about ME in an alternate reality. I cried for their characters–for Charlize and Patton (sorry, I don’t recall their names-my seizure medicine has nearly wiped out my short-term memory all together at this point), and I cried for Me, for that alternate Me that exists somewhere on some plane in the infinite level of universes that exist.
I truly enjoyed the movie, but it made my heart heavy. For the first time I really thought about who I’d be if Torey wasn’t in my life, and that made me deeply sad. However, Torey IS in my life, and my life has taken a much different path than that of the main character of ‘Young Adult.’
I do indeed highly recommend this film–just go into it not expecting a comedy, okay?
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Determining the Future Direction of This Blog…and My Life
30 Mar 2012 9 Comments
in 2012, acceptance, accident, agoraphobia, amy's art, animal awareness, arizona, art, artisan crafts, awareness, collage, destruction, differences, diversity, employment, epilepsy, etsy, fashion, fibromyalgia, indie art, life, personal insight, seizures, Uncategorized, unemployment, work, writing Tags: agoraphobia, car accident, epilepsy, fashion, life, purple, seizures
Wow. I’m surprised I even posted anything in March (last post was 3/8/12). We’re still quite early in the year, but thus far 2012 has drastically changed my life. I’ve tried to stay private about everything that’s gone on–of course my family and closest of friends know. But everything that’s happened to me this year has made me really reevaluate myself, my creativity, my art, my future, my world. On January 12th, my world drastically changed and suddenly became quite small.
I don’t mean to be cryptic, but I feel like I’ve told the story so many times to so many doctors and nurses and friends and family members, and it’s run through my head every single day, over and over and over again.
So here’s the mostly short version: I totaled my car on the freeway, slamming into the median then spinning across 4 lanes of traffic until I slammed the sound wall on the opposite side. Lots of hospital stuff, lots of pain. We replaced the ’99 white Honda Accord with an ’02 sparkle silver Accord using the money from the insurance company. During my 2nd hospital visit I had a tonic clonic (grand mal) seizure for the first time. I’m 31 years old. I continued to suffer seizures while in the hospital, and when finally released, was diagnosed as Epileptic and put on anti-convulsants. State law mandates that I cannot drive until I’ve been completely seizure free for 3 months. My 3 months keep getting pushed back as the seizures continue. Smaller ones, different ones, accompanied by massive short term memory loss. 
I actually want the state to take my license away. The doctors think the reason I lost control of my car and have no explanation for it is that I had a split-second partial seizure. While I greatly miss the freedom of being able to drive whenever I want, being able to drive my NEW CAR whenever I want, being able to go to stores whenever I want, I’m far too frightened that while driving a seizure could happen and I could hurt someone this time. On 1/12 I hurt only myself and my car. How that managed to occur is beyond me, and beyond the EMTs and police officer that witnessed the entire thing.
So here’s where I am now: I had to immediately quit my job (obviously can’t drive 50 minutes to get to work when you’re banned from driving, and can’t expect ANYONE to drive you that far and back each day), and I only go places when my husband goes places, or when my parents come pick me up.
I go grocery shopping with Torey, I beg him to take me to the craft store, to Starbucks, to Kohl’s, to movies. I feel like a huge burden even though he says I’m not. My parents are now both super busy with work and other stuff, so I rarely see them. Mom doesn’t have the free time she used to to come take me to Starbucks or the dollar store or wherever.
And, to top it all off, my best friends live in Mesa while I live in Peoria. For those of you outside the Phoenix area, that’s a good 45 minute drive. So I haven’t seen them since I was in the hospital in mid-January.
Dammit. I wanted this to be a short post but I never know how to be brief.
I’m reevaluating myself as an artist. Teaching drawing and painting to others for so many years took away all my creativity. Now that I’m not working, it’s coming back. But I need to be honest with myself, and I need to see the world around me, the fashion world, the art world, with realistic eyes instead of get-famous eyes or make-money-finally eyes.
Seeing all the clothes I’ve designed hanging in my studio closet makes me feel sad and depressed. They are beautiful clothes and I’m so proud of them. A lot of them I never even put up on Etsy, because the photography sessions with a giant mannequin outside in the heat became quite tiring. But, I just can’t keep looking at them and feeling forlorn. I have to get rid of them–all of them. The flouncy skirts and shirts, the just-right jeans…It all has to go.
So, I’m no longer a fashion designer. I recently had the strength enough to crank out some designer neckties, and I’m slowly getting them listed on Etsy. I also have baby clothes that need to be completed, photographed, and listed. So my exit from the fashion world will be sadly slow.
I made a review of every single thing I’ve ever sold on Etsy, and one thing became clear to me–my small format 3-D found object art collages ALWAYS sell. And for good money, too.
Also, I like to ink and color. It relaxes me. So I’m headed back around full circle to where I started as an artist.
The title of this particular post–Determining the Future of This Blog, etc, etc…I’m trying to decide if I should keep this strictly art related or if I should include stories of my new life as an anxiety-ridden, depressed, home-bodied Epileptic with Fibromyalgia and 7 cats and a beautiful husband. 
I’m very private and as such am wary of sharing my life details, but I wonder if it would serve to be cathartic and helpful to me.
Dad took me to see ‘The Hunger Games’ on Monday, and it was great and I wanted to blog a movie review, but then I just was too disinterested. It was great to be out with just my Dad. It’s been a LONG TIME since it was just the 2 of us.
So, I don’t know. Do any of you have an opinion? Should I share my tiny-world life experiences along with my art and art news? Have any of you even read this far in this stupidly long post?
I’d like your feedback if you have some. Do any of you even care one way or the other?
Still thinking about it, and realizing this post title is a bit misleading…
-Amy-
PS: Funny that the ribbon color for Epilepsy, Fibro, AND Animal Awareness is Purple. ALL of them. And the day of the accident, I was wearing purple.
