An effort to make more art.

I lied a bit! I wanted to update this sooner, but last week became busier than I thought it would be. Long story short- my parents are colorguard instructors and have been since I was about seven (if you don’t know what colorguard is, now would be a good time to Google that because it’s a little difficult for me to verbalize). They teach middle school age girls and they’re doing an Oregon Trail show this year. It’s really fantastic. I’m their wanna-be groupie and I’ve been nagging at them to let me help with any art/prop projects that I can. So far, I’ve helped them to make one of their covered wagon props look worn and traveled. I’ll also be helping them with painting their flags and making their t-shirt design for this season. It’s been really fun so far and I look forward to helping people out with things like this or with play productions. So that’s what I did for a day last week and otherwise, I’ve been trying to find time to hang out with friends and family.

I want to paint and draw more, but I’d like to talk about some things I’ve done in the past that still inspire me a great deal and I would like to continue further with this subject matter and style. In my last year of college, I did two independent drawing studies with my art professor. The last series I did, I focused on the idea of home and how one can feel at home even in places that they’ve never been before.. or in places that they don’t actually reside.

I noticed that my drawings and paintings were always set at night, and usually had the same blue/purple color scheme. A variety lights were also a main focus in my work. My art professor encouraged me to think about why this was occurring and I came up with several reasons, one being where I’ve grown up. I’ve lived in more of a city area, so naturally, I feel safe when surrounded by lights and people... and I’ve always been afraid of the loneliness of rural areas at night.

In addition, I had family who lived in New York City, so I’ve grown up around the buzzing of lights and crowds of people on weekends.

As for the color scheme, I came up with what might seem the most out there and wacky explanation….Disney World. My grandfather worked at Disney while I was growing up and so I’ve spent almost every summer and school break there, and it’s something I’ll never forget and I’ll always be grateful for. As cheesy as it sounds, Disney at night is beautiful. There’s such a lovely blue/purple color scheme cast onto most of their buildings. I’ve been dying to go back, alas, I’m almost 23, I won’t be having children for while and I can’t take the time off from work to go back. But I swear the next time I do, I’m taking my camera and a sketch pad and going to town in Mickey Land.

This one is so big, I had to take a picture of it as it is in my apartment.

So in a nutshell: a lot of what reminds me of home is based on memory, which is something that inspires me so much. And it’s clearly a subject that can continue on for as long as I allow it to... so I want it to. One of my biggest fears after graduating was that I wouldn’t make art anymore because I don’t have the same deadlines as I did in school. I haven’t really made anything in a long time, so I should set my own goals. And as my professor once told me: we need to make time to make art like we make time to exercise and do other things.  I’d like to work on this at least once a week. Whether it be taking pictures, making sketches, or gathering sources of inspiration. If I have any other art friends reading this that miss making art as much as I do post-graduation, I encourage you to do some of the same process…and maybe we can all share our work with each other like we used to :)

Great Expectations for a lazy weekend.

I chilled pretty hard this weekend. I was talking to Brian last night and we discussed how necessary it is to have a hardcore lazy session at least one time a week.  This is how I can run into work all hyper-like on a Monday morning. I’m all rested and such. Anyway, Helga also had a chill weekend. She hung out with my friend Morgan before going to see Great Expectations- a play our beloved Charles was in. He was fantastic and very, very funny.

And speaking of Charles- after the performance, we got his autograph on a photo I took of him a very long time ago. I’m not sure if I’m going to frame it or sell it on eBay.

Today, Helga layed on my bed with me and I gave her some good ol' behind the ear scratches.

And of course I took pictures of her...

...And with her.

I worked on some art today for the first time in what feels like forever.

Tomorrow night, I'm planning on walking around Downtown to take pictures for future drawings.

By the way, I have a new Twitter account! I'm pretty jazzed about that.

Toys...but not! It's crazy.

So, don’t crucify me on this one because I’m going to be honest…I’m no expert at all on what I want to write about tonight. However, I’m going post a couple pictures about something I have loved for a couple years now and I had to share. I go absolutely bananas when I see the tilt-shift effect. Now, I’m no photographer... At one point in high school, I considered going to college to become one, but that’s the closest I’ve ever been to that world. To my own understanding- the tilt-shift effect is a technique in which the camera lens is manipulated to make life-size objects look miniature. It’s best used at a distance or when photographed from an above angle. However! Like many things- Photoshop and other editing programs give us the opportunity to fake whatever we darn well please. So, one way to mimic this is to capture your subject at an above angle or at a distance, and then blur the top and bottom of the photo. This adds sharpness to focus of the subject you wish to appear smaller. Anyway, if I have any photographer or graphic design friends, feel free to correct me on any of this. I’m just a fan who has attempted it a couple times.

So, if you live in Upstate, NY, and you have a Facebook…or a window, you’re aware it snowed.
This was my street this afternoon.

This is my guinea pig, Helga.

And this is my best one. I took this a couple of years ago and I’ve been trying to find it since. My aunt and uncle lived in New York City and I figured their window would be the best way to attempt this.

I love the primary colors and the small part of blue on the lower left. It reminds me of pre-school.

 Here’s two videos I like that use this effect!:

My brother showed me this one! I love the parade starting at 2:45.

I wish there was something filmed like this with only a couple people at a distance and they had dialogue. It would most definitely remind me of playing with Polly Pockets.

rolled paper flowers

"There are always flowers for those who want to see them" - Matisse

I wanted to make my first ever tutorial on something that has been blooming everywhere lately. They’re used for wedding centerpieces, bouquets, wreaths, and my personal favorite- an apartment decorating necessity. Rolled paper flowers are an easy DIY and once you get the hang of them, you can make them in large batches that can really add a unique and homey touch to any room. Oh, by the way, I’m incredibly grateful to have stumbled upon this craft because apparently I’m a plant murderer. Despite this, I'm a lass who enjoys her flowers.

These are the supplies you'll need: 

Paper ( I use different colored and designed scrapbook paper )

A glue gun

Floral Wire ( can be found at Wal-Mart )

Scissors

Writing Utensil ( optional ) 

First: Cut a circle. You can certainly draw the circle before cutting it, but there is no need to be perfect with this because it always comes out b-e-a-utiful.

Next, cut a spiral, starting with the outside of the circle and going inward. Again, if you want to draw this prior to cutting, it might make it a little easier 

 Begin rolling the paper from the outside edge until it is completely coiled in the center

This is what it will look like once it’s rolled up

 Put a line of hot glue on the inside of your bottom layer of paper and press to the rest of the flower

Your flower will start to bloom once it's glued

 Bend the tip of your floral wire a bit and attach it to your flower with glue

 Next, cut out leaf shapes and fold the bottom of them, like so...

And press your leaves onto your flower, covering the bent tip of the floral wire. 

And there you have it!

 Make a bunch of them using different paper with designs on it

and you'll have a lovely bouquet o' flowers : )

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think and if you have any future plans of making rolled paper flowers : )

Mondays.

Nothing handmade or Helga-ish (except for a little doodle) in this post. I just wanted to share our Monday nights for the past maybe, six or so months at Brown's Trivia. Our team name is The Precious Little Princesses and we even have a shirt of a small baby kitty with a mini princess sweater. You would think we're legitimately into this, but 9 out of 10 times our answer is always, 'Rebecca Black'.

Brian, Me, and that little lump is Helga squeakin'

I'm thinking about making my first tutorial tomorrow.

P.s. I switched the comments settings so that they can be posted by anyone who wishes to do so : )

Change is good (even if it's small).

Hey! I decided to switch blog sites, because I’m a little more familiar with Blogspot, and I have a few new ideas about the direction that I want this one to go in. When I was in college, my art professor instructed us to always journal about what were creating. I really want to put more time aside for making art and finding inspirations, so I’m starting anew although it will mostly be the same as my last blog.

I had a “FATurday” party last night, as a belated Fat Tuesday Celebration, so I made lots of snacks and drinks and whatnot. My friend Hillary got to spend some quality time with my guinea pig, Helga, and this was her Facebook status today…

I could not agree more Hillary.

Today reminded me of how I strategically placed my bed next to my window so that I could wake up and look at my park. I did a lot of that this weekend and it was really nice.

Sunbathing in my bed was also nice this morning.

I have a couple projects that I need to get started soon, so I’ll be writing about that this week. I hope everyone had a good weekend and is well rested for the upcoming work week : )