New Beginnings

Welcome!  A new year and a new start. I've got a lot to share with the world from causes to hobbies to favorite quotes to recipes.  My interests are eclectic and varied and I suspect all of my posts will be as well.

So who is Trinda Barocas?  I'm a happily divorced mother of two.  My son is serving in Afghanistan and I couldn't be prouder of him for standing up for what he believes in.

My son at boot camp

My daughter, aka the spawn, is finishing high school this year and will be going to IUPUI in the fall with a major in psychology. (The spawn won't let me post her picture) I also have four furry hounds who also are convinced they are my biological children.

left to right:  the puggle is Boo Boo, the basset hound is Penny, the basset-beagle is Bella and the pitbull mix is Pibble

I have lived in Indiana, New Jersey, Illinois, and Florida.  I like to cook and I'm pretty damn good at it too.  I am an artist of many mediums.  I write.  I try to grow things with a hopelessly black thumb, but I do try.  I home school my daughter.  I am also just enough of a hippy that I make my own shampoo, laundry detergents, and cleaners.  Okay, maybe not a hippy but allergic to a lot of things which made it necessary.  See what I mean about being eclectic?

Okay, let's focus on one aspect of Trinda Barocas tonight.  I am an artist.  It's kinda hard for me to say that because I am no DaVinci, but yes, I am.  I love colors and seeing how they go together and I like being the one to blend everything into a cohesive creation.

As a digital designer, I have worked for Digital Pixel Pixies until they underwent a change of ownership.  I have also designed for Arkansas Outhouse Scraps and a few other smaller stores.  My preferred program for designing is paint.NET, a freeware program that took the place of Jasc Paintshop.  I have very eclectic designs that don't really fall into any one specific category.  One of the things that I really enjoy doing is cutting out high resolution photographs to be used as elements.  Of course that has led into a sideline hobby of digital photography, which I also like to share.

As a traditional artist, I have painted murals in Indiana and Florida.  I work with acrylics and latex and do most of my own color mixing to get just the right shades.  I also like to draw.  I have done charcoals, pastels,  and of course, traditional pencil.  But I have to say, my favorite medium is colored pencil.  I am a Prisma Color fan, but I have also fallen in love with Derwent colored pencils as well for their soft leads that easily blend and rarely break.

And that is Trinda Barocas in a nutshell....until next time.