Handsome Man

There are few things I'd rather do on a fall day than sit out on our patio with this handsome man while he enjoys a cigar.  I know he's disappointed we weren't going to the football game this afternoon, but I've got major cleaning and a test to study for.

I'm super excited for fall break coming up soon.  It will be so good to have a few days off and have some adventures with J.  I'll make sure to take my camera with me this time!

Tomorrow I hope to get some time to craft a bit.  I have a super idea for Halloween that I hope to share here sometime next week.  I just have my test on Tuesday and then I'm home free for almost a week for break.  I'm not exactly sure for this bunting/banner will turn out, but I will report back either way, possibly with instructions if I like it well enough.

I still am in the process of writing a review of the Clarisonic.  I've now had it for 2 weeks, so I feel like I can give a good overall first-time review.  Maybe that will be up tomorrow.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day full of sunshine, breezy air, and football!

Drawings

I said that I wanted to find a way to show everyone the drawings I've done so far in and out of class.  There's always the issue of people stealing others' works, so I wasn't exactly sure how I could prevent that.  In comes the copyright/watermark.  Even though these photos beyond suck (taken on my camera phone) I didn't want to take a chance.  So yes, the watermark is kinda annoying, but it has to be placed that way.  And I know my photos are normally really big, but these need to stay small in order to be viewable.  Bear with me.

These drawings are in chronological order.  The teapot was drawn the first day of class.  The second drawing is a charcoal of some paper towels tacked to a black board.  I drew the artist's mannequin one night while Jarred and I were watching TV.  He's about a quarter of the size of my class drawings, yet he took me over 3 hours to perfect.  The final drawing is my most recent:  a large milk can with gourds.  I am proud to see the progress I've made. 

I know I'm my own worst critic, but honestly, it feels nice to say that yes, 100% without a doubt, I can do something and do it well.  I can draw.  I'd love to do a comparison at the end of the semester to see how much I've actually learned.  Could be fun?

I definitely have more confidence that I made the right decision coming back to the art program.  I didn't think I could stand with the rest of the students, but now I think I could go toe to toe with them.  I may not be able to make any painting look realistic, but that's okay.  No artist is great in every field.

Next up:  printmaking and weaving!

Side note:  I am still tweaking my review of the Clarisonic Mia.  I am giving myself one more week of use before I feel comfortable telling my experience.  Coming soon!

Happy

This whole school thing gets in the way of blogging.

...Is that even an excuse?

Anyway, I'm still getting the hang of my schedule and figuring out how much time and effort I need to put into work outside of class.  I'm not finding any class to be too awful demanding, but some are more enjoyable than others.  Like my drawing class.  I've found out that yes, I can draw, and no, there doesn't seem to be any da Vinci reincarnates in class.  Meaning:  I'm considered one of the better drawers, but still, that's scary.  I'd love to show some of the work I've done in the past few weeks, but I need to read up on laws regarding copyrights and registering artwork, 'cause I don't want some creep pillaging all my hard work via Internet.

I was so dreading my drawing class.  In fact, I cried and hyperventilated in front of Jarred on the first day of school before I walked out the door to drawing.  I was so nervous that I'd suck, that everyone would be amazing artists, and oh yeah, that I'd suck.

I enjoy being in class.  There are some people in the classroom that are pretty negative towards every assignment, but I try not to listen to them.  I walk out after the lesson feeling like I just spent the class period doing something I love.  

Yeah, I think art is happiness.

Sometimes I feel like happiness is hard to come by.  I truly have nothing to complain about, but there's also always something else I want.  Eventually I need to learn to let go and just be happy.

This little guy sure helps.

In fact, I think he's the epitome of happiness.  He is enough for me.


Coming up this weekend/next week, I'm going to be writing a review of the Clarisonic Mia.  Don't know, don't care?  That fine.  Just check back later to see if I've updated this thing to something interesting.

Sorries

Apologies all around.  I've been quite aware I haven't written in a few weeks.  I have mostly been psyching myself up for school. 

Oh yes.  That dreaded time of year.

Last week was my first week back and as an art major!  I enjoyed my first week of classes but it's going to take a while to get used to my schedule.  At least Jarred and I began acting somewhat adult-like once we moved into the town home and began going to bed between 10 and 11 and getting up at 8 or 9 on weekends. So the change in my schedule didn't mess me up too much!

I've also had some pretty bad health issues as of late.  After Jarred and I spent a wonderful anniversary in Nashville, I spent the next week and a half sick as a dog.  I'm not sure whether I had some sort of stomach bug or food poisoning, but I got nicely acquainted with our bathroom.  Ahem.  Anyway.

I've since been trying some new supplements to help my system get back on track.  It's been slow-going and partly responsible for the silence on this blog.  I had some nerves last week because I was excited/nervous about classes.  Unfortunately today I woke up feeling like I was dying; my stomach hurt so badly.  Not a good way to start the second week of classes.  But things happen and I've been trying to cool it for today so that I can be prepared for everything I have to do tomorrow!

At His Level

Whenever I take pictures of Louie, I like to sit down at his level.  He's generally more receptive of a clicking camera when he can walk up to it, sniff it, and size it up.  Once realizing that no, the camera won't get him, he likes to model.  I only wish I had one of his ears all perked up.

Getting on the ground to take the photos always makes me think of the photographer Tony Mendoza who is well-known for his photographers of a cat named Ernie and his dog Bob.  All the photos are taken low to the ground at the pet's eye level.  Makes for a really interesting photograph.

I don't take photos because I think I'm any good at photography.  I'm only slowly learn how to properly use my camera.  I probably post pictures that would make photo-enthusiasts scream in horror.  But I'm not looking to take photos worthy of being hung in art galleries.  In fact, I submitted tons of work to an art show a few years back and every piece got rejected.  Apparently the female judge was looking for pieces that employed classic techniques and naturalism.  Meaning no abstraction.  Which is what I did.

I did cry a bit.  I was upset that I had worked hard on all my pieces and none got in.  But come time for the open art show, my pieces had the best reception.  I even scored my first commission.  I painted a piece that would become the artwork for an album cover.  The husband and wife team even framed me a plaque with the album inside.  A proud moment for sure.

Anyway, I'm not a great photographer.  But you know what?  I love my photos.  They are absolutely my style.  I love portraits.  While I don't understand other people's never-dying propensity to photograph flowers or skylines, I won't knock it.  I simply enjoy something different.

When I look at a photo I've taken and I smile, I know it's a good one.  Because Lord knows I take plenty of bad ones.

I don't ever take pictures that don't need at least a tiny bit of editing.  That's where I am completely lost in the dark and just tweak certain toggles until I think the photo looks better. 

Regardless of whether I am destroying my photos with bad editing or not, I never want to lose the reason why I took the photo in the first place.  Take the two pictures of Louie.  I took those because of his face.  He has the sweetest, kindest eyes and cutest little tongue that always sticks out.  There's a look in his eye in the first photo that I love.  I can't pinpoint what emotion he's portraying; possibly thoughtful.  The second is simply a visual love letter to my dog and his sweet innocence.

I don't think anyone should be afraid to take photos.  The only way I can possibly get better to to learn more and try more!

1st Anniversary

Remember in this post when I said I was making some coasters and would post a simple tutorial?

Yeah, I had all the pictures taken and planned on posting the instructions on Tuesday.

But I woke up this morning to this post on the blog, Under the Sycamore.  Apparently this published and very well-known blogger beat me to the punch.  My instructions would have been almost the exact same, down to the measurements.  The only difference is I put a piece of batting in between the two fabric layers.  What a bummer.  So, if you want to know what could have been, just go there I guess.

Anyway, if one could tell from my previous post, yesterday was my one year wedding anniversary.  While I think of our wedding with happy memories, I am unbelievably glad to be on this side of the aisle.  The wedding itself was not stressful (neither was planning) but it's good to be done with it and be able to focus attention on something else.  These women who have wedding planning withdrawals are nuts.

I let Jarred do all the planning for yesterday and he did a wonderful job surprising me.  We took a day trip to Nashville where we started our day at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.  We snapped some great photos of the grounds and had fun taking leisurely strolls through the different gardens.  We had lunch at the cafe, which Jarred enjoyed.  A lot.  He got a blackened grouper sandwich and said it was the best sandwich he'd ever eaten.  I didn't want to ruin my appetite for dinner, so I had a simple Cobb salad with spicy ranch dressing.  SPY-SEE.  Spicy.  Very.  Good thing we were seated right next to the air vent, because my head was on fire.

After some time at Cheekwood, Jarred took me downtown to the Frist Art Museum to view the Andy Warhol exhibit on display.  Let's just say -- it was AH-mazing being that close to his screen print paintings of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, and Judy Garland.

And the last stop on our trip was dinner at Germantown Cafe.  Again, just amazing.  Squash fritters, Caesar salads, and plum pork with green beans and mashed potatoes.  No fanciness or frills.  Perfectly us.

When we finally got back home last night, we sliced our saved wedding cake and toasted to 1 happy year of marriage.  I guess since the first year is history, we're not considered newlyweds.  Mom says we've always acted like an old married couple anyway.

Cheers to 1 year down Sweets!

One Year

J,

How fast a year goes by. 

My normal chatterbox self is hard up for words that describe our first year of marriage.  So I think I'll let some music do the talking.

I made you this slide show using some of my favorite memories of our time together, from the very beginning of our relationship.

('You and I' sung by Ingrid Michaelson)

I love you times infinity plus one.

I take great comfort in the fact that we are one and always will be.  I have my best friend with me for life.  I made some pretty special vows one year ago and I'd say them every day if I needed too.

Husband, you are too cool for words and make me feel all mushy inside.  Year 1 has been a blast and I have a feeling Year 2 will be even better!

-M