Flower Girl

The last year or so, I’ve been painting a lot of animals & drawing a lot of animals. Absolutely no people. In January 2014, I decided to give up drawing and painting people forever. I made peace (kind of) with the fact that I can’t draw people, and animals are going to be my thing from now on. I can look at animals as shapes more successfully than I can pictures of people.

Well, ya’ll, I was wrong. While perusing Pinterest for work inspiration, I came across an image of a girl I just had to draw! I drew her and it wasn’t terrible, so I painted her. I’m pretty pleased with her. I felt like my usual geometrics weren’t going to work on this delicate girl, so I scoured Pinterest (again; I love that site) for something a little more delicate. I think the flowers are perfect for her. 

I’m truly pleased with this painting. I’m proud of how far my ability and work have come in the past year. Although I have a lot to learn (I don’t think it ever ends), I’m excited as to where my art is headed!

Get some lions, tigers and dinosaurs!

Helllllo. I hope you’re having a lovely day. 

The past week or so, I’ve been working hard to get some of my favorite paintings scanned in and posted to my society6 page. I’ve had people ask me about prints and things, and while I want to be printing my own, I do not have the time for that right now. Society6 will just do all of that for me and you can benefit with a print, tote bag, phone cover, ect. 

I want a tote. Other than being awesome (especially with my adorable animals on them), I never have enough totes for my knitting projects. It’s how I schlep my work all over the place. My current two totes are dedicated to projects right now and while the reusable grocery bags are ok, I’d like to move all of that over to a tote bag.

If you’re interested, here’s the link. With THIS link, you get free shipping until March 8 at midnight.

Thanks for supporting my dream :) And, if you're interested in an original work, please just email me. You may find my contact information in the menu bar.

Life List: 2015

I’ve been working on this list for several years. It’s nice to go through it in January each year and see what I’ve accomplished. 2014 was awesome and weird and hard. Moving not only to a new city, but to a completely new part of the country where the culture is completely different was amazing. I’ve been in New York for a year and a half now and I’m moving back to Atlanta in a couple of weeks. With the impending wedding and marriage, I’d like to have a savings account. I can’t afford that here. I’m sad and excited for the future. It’s a little heartbreaking to leave the life I built for myself here. I’ve never had to built my life from scratch before, it’s been a lesson of a lifetime. I’ll forever cherish the friendships I’ve made while in New York. 

At this time last year, I made a promise to myself to do some huge art project based off the life list. I made two pieces, hated them and threw them away. However, instead of giving up on it entirely, I painted, sketched and reached out to other artists all year long. I’ve grown so much as an artist in the past 12 months. Now I have an artistic drive and focus I didn’t have before this year. I’m excited to see what comes.

Here it is! Newly abridged:

100 Things To Do Before I Die

1. Graduate from graduate school
2. Get a job I don't hate
3. Procreate
4. Marry (Soooooon)
5. Travel to Russia
6. Travel to Greece
7. Live in England
8. Live in New York
9. Go to a family reunion 
10. Appreciate myself
11. Get in really great shape
12. Hot air balloon ride
13. Go to the Grand Canyon
14. Visit San Fransisco
15. Visit Portland
16. Visit Seattle
17. Visit Vancouver
18. Spend a winter up north 
19. Have a Roylls
20. Love thyself
21. Humble thyself
22. Let go
23. Act in a play
24. Sing in a band
25. Learn the guitar
26. Learn the violin
27. Metalsmithing
28. Become a Master Knitter (it's a real thing) 
29. Publish a novel
30. See aurora borealis
31. Move out of Atlanta for at least a year
32. Speak another language fluently
33. Get an MFA in creative writing
34. Get paid to sing
35. Get paid to write (something that I want to write)
36. Stop smoking 
37. Accept Average
38. Be a graphic designer
39. Let go more quickly
40. Learn to sew (I have a sewing machine and I’m working on it)
41. Visit Stonehenge 
42. Camp out in the haunted graveyard where the Bell Witch haunted
43. Go to the monastery in Conyers
44. Go on a cruise
45. See Machu Picchu 
46. Use that geocache app and geocache some stuffs
47. Own a Chanel purse
48. Take my grandmother's life writings and convert them into one cohesive tale
49. Know embroidery
50. Get rid of stuff
51. Become proficient in HTML and CSS
52. Host and effectively design my own blog
53. Do stand up comedy
54. Become flexible (physically)
55. Master (is this possible?) meditation
56. Visit India
57. Visit Norway
58. Visit Japan
59. Go to the Metropolitan Museum
60. Stop feeling victimized by the past
61. Get 10 years
62. Finish my cross stitch
63. Become a full time artist
64. Set up boundaries

Have you been to Monument Valley?

Have you heard about Monument Valley? It’s a beautiful new iOS game by ustwo. I’m not sure where I saw this, but somewhere I ended up clicking on this link to The Verge yesterday and seeing the beautiful features of Monument Valley’s whimsical landscape.

This type! I'm swooning all over it

I’m not one to talk about iOS games, they’re usually lacking. I haven’t found one particularly amazing since Little Things Forever by Klick Tock. Unlike LTF, Monument Valley doesn’t repeat the same motions over and over again and each scene is breathtaking. Seriously, I’m not just using this as a form of speech. If you’ve ever looked at colors and shapes together and thought, “Hmm, that’s pretty” you’ll be awed. This game is awesome; it truly inspires awe (rare).

The use of color and shape and the M. C. Escher-like landscapes and playing style are so original and amazing I can get the game out of my head. As a graphic designer and artist, Monument Valley is some of the best work I’ve seen in a long time (I’m mean there’s a lot of amazing work out there, this games just has it all). The type is beautiful, the titles are beautiful, the scenes, the characters, everything. And, the game is very simple. You just move the scene to connect seemingly impossible pieces together to form a path for Ida.

If you look closely at the picture on the right, you can see the crow blowing Ida's dress back

 Brilliant, I say!

(Also, there is mention of sacred geometry, a deep love of mine, and concepts I work with in my own art.)

It’s $3.99 and I finished most of it while sitting in the vet’s office for 3 hours with Chico. It goes by fast, and I replayed some of it at home. I’ve enjoyed going back through it a second time, I’m not trying to win the level now and have time to enjoy the scenery and beauty of the game. There are only 10 levels, but I’m hoping many more wonderful games come out of ustwo. I’ll have my eye on them.

Art art art artiste

This is some jewelry I made and it's the only picture of art I could find at the moment. I did comb my old blog for a picture and see bad memories and embarrassing writing

I make art. But, I haven't made some real art for myself since this group show where I didn't have time to put my piece together and so I threw something together at the last minute and it was terrible and humiliating. That was almost 3 years ago. I love painting and making things. I have a hard time getting into something unless I know it's going to be great. Unfortunately, art isn't like that. As Macklemore says, "The greats were great because they paint a lot."

I'm committing right now, on here, to do a personal art project. Whatever I want, combining traditional art with writing and all that. I have had several traumatic relationships with men and I want to do something around that. These relationships run the gamut and I think it'll be helpful and cathartic to do a project around my feelings. A healing.

I need accountability. By this time next year, I'll have something to show. It may be shit, it may be awesome, it will most likely be somewhere in between. I'm going to do it!

BSTW vol. 25

This week has gone by quickly and was not extremely stressful, so that's good. I went to Rebel Bingo with some friends and it was totally awesome. I encourage you to go if it comes to a city near you. While this week was uneventful, I did learn the importance of buying holiday plane tickets waaaay ahead of time. Those fares are no joke.

1. Cute and lovely ad campaign for an all girls' school.
2. Designer looking for work intentionally loses her passport at her favorite agencies in New York.
3. An artist in Boston, MA interviews the homeless and replaces their sad cardboard signs with beautiful and eye catching ones.
4. Carrie Anne's cats have a tea party, all of these pictures are amazing. For reals.

Saturday, a couple of my cousins from down south are going to be in Brooklyn  Yayayay! I can't wait to see them and next week I'll be in Atlanta for Thanksgiving. 

Have a wonderful weekend.

Three Years Reflection

Pictures from the amazing going away party my friends threw me

One of my friends IMed me last week that she wants to be a graphic designer. And live in New York. And have a cute dog. And a blog.

This got me thinking. Three years ago this week, I lost my job. Chico's dad and I broke up a couple months earlier, and I was still having a hard time with the break up. I had no idea what I wanted to do with myself. I was simply floating through my life grabbing onto one this after the next and I felt as if I couldn't get my head above water. Day after day, I perused job listings. The only thing was, I didn't know what I wanted to do. Two years before, I'd dropped out of my feminist rhetoric graduate program because it wasn't what was promised to me by the school (not to mention I wasn't mature enough for it). I'd planned on getting my PhD in writing for so long I felt it defined me. I was no longer pursuing that dream and I didn't know who I was without it.  I was a nobody with a shitty prospects and no hope and now no job and no boyfriend.

For about a year, I'd been toying with the idea of going back to school for design. I knew it was going to be difficult for me to "find my thing" with an BA in english. Let's face it, it just means you have been trained to do a little of everything and a whole lot of nothing; not to mention planning on getting your PhD is a lot less cool than actually having one.

I talked with many many friends and family members. I went to check out a couple of design programs in Atlanta and chose one for me. And I've never looked back. Even when I hadn't slept for days and I was having anxiety break downs, I knew I'd made the right decision. I didn't have anything to go back to.

Going to the school I did forced me to take a look a myself in ways I'd never been desperate enough to do before. I'd never struggled or work as hard as I did in that school. I learned sooo much about myself (this lesson was more valuable than all I learned from design) and what I'd been doing before wasn't working for me any more. I pretty much changed everything about my life and myself. I threw out the bad and kept the good (this includes people, clothing, character defects, beliefs, ect).

It's amazing how much has changed and how much happier and fulfilled I am now. In just 3 short years, I have almost everything I've ever wanted for myself: happiness, peace and meaningful friendships.

BSTW vol 22

This week has been trying. Blah. But, making that hobo pic of me and Chico and having an awesome job I really like made it better.

1. This video is a satirical explanation of why girls love fall so much (including pumpkin spice lattes). It's amazing, watch it. 
2. Awesome Buzzfeed post with cute gifs. I love me some Buzzfeed.
3. My roommate and I watched Skew this week. It's a very interesting and original thriller. Give it a watch. I believe it's on Netflix.

Chico and I are going to the park tomorrow. That is where we'd like to move. Then we can go there more often. He needs some green and I need some cleanliness. I need it. I'm willing to live in the ghetto again if there is green a few blocks away.

Have a great weekend!