a long post with lots of pictures. you've been warned.

So basically Houston rocks my socks off. Spending time with two people I love dearly and their three beautiful children was just exactly what I needed. And even though I didn't really want to leave Texas, I feel more rejuvenated to live life and make decisions. It was good for my soul.

Anyway, after we hit up Galveston we moved on to the zoo and spent the day taking a bazillion pictures of different animals. Lions, tigers, leopards, chimps, lemurs, jellyfish, sea turtles, giraffes, you know the drill. Sometimes I think I could go to the zoo every day.

After our crazy zoo adventures that involved terrorizing various wild animals and sketching giraffes while eating pepperoni pizza, we felt like we'd been run over by trucks. It was time for a nap. And also some Shipley's donuts.

On Thursday Joel and I hit up the Museum of Fine Arts. Holy buckets, you guys! I could have stayed there for days. Days I tell you! The Picasso Black and White exhibit was there and if it hadn't been 17 extra dollars I don't think we would have looked at anything else in the whole building.

But as it was, we walked around looking at all of this historical painting! Good gravy there were rooms upon rooms of all this amazing artwork. I almost couldn't handle it and I'm pretty sure I took pictures of almost everything just like an art crazed teenage girl. I mean, I got to look at pieces of art created by masters. Masters! People who lived in the 1700s and the 1800s and can you just imagine for a second what that is like? To stand in front of a painting that van Gogh himself created. Van Gogh is my BMW of the art world. It seriously doesn't really matter what it was that he painted and I will still love it just because it's van Gogh. For real. There wasn't much of his work though, so I took pictures of everything else. And then I collaged them on Instagram like a wannabe hipster. I'm the coolest.

there is a tunnel that takes you from one building of the museum to another and it is crazy awesome. it changes from red to violet lighting and it was probably one of my most favorite parts of my visit!

this is a detail shot of that awesome skull artwork. the whole thing was filled with all sorts of crazy awesome stuff. I think we stood in front of it for at least ten minutes finding different gems. It was fantastic!

i wanted to buy this mug so bad!!

Friday night was my last night in good old Texas, so we spent it watching Wreck-it Ralph, eating ice cream and soaking in the hot tub. Saturday morning came way too early and saying good bye to the Humans and Joel and Mandy was not something I really wanted to do. The week flew by too fast!

i had to take a picture of the stop lights. they are sideways! which is super weird!

7:00 in the morning came waaayyyy too early. But the sunrise was gorgeous.

Monday got here way too quickly bringing with it the start of the work week. But here we are, back to the daily grind. Basketball and library books, high school students and homework. Gearing up for the start of the 4th quarter and ultimately the end of the year. I can't believe how quickly time is flying.



So Monday, hit me with your best shot. Let's do this.

bow-ties are cool

Hi.

It seems I don't know how to blog anymore. And leaving comments? Dudes, I'm so bad at it. Between student teaching and heading to Moscow to visit that one boy, it's like I don't even know what to say anymore. 

So I'll try and give you the skinny about everything. It could be long, so take a deep breath. In through the nose, out through the mouth. You know the drill. 

But first! My seester! She is the best, right? I mean, really. 

And now, the stuff. And things. 

Navigating the rough waters of student teaching is proving to not be as difficult as I had originally thought. At first I was like "all my students want to be here! yes! best semester ever!" And then I started teaching lessons. And then I started pushing students to work harder, to give it their best shot. Use the wooden pencil instead of the mechanical. Add value because this is not just a line drawing! 

And I encountered some resistance. Which at first I was like *blink*blink* lol, whut? What is this madness? I kind of wanted to cry a little bit because I felt kind of like I'd failed, and then I mentally kicked myself. I went back over to his table and tried to explain it a little differently to see if maybe I could change his mind? But then when my mentor teacher told him the same thing today that I had told him on Friday and he gave her the same attitude, I didn't feel so bad. 

I knew I was going to be blessed with these sweet moments. However, they still catch you a little off guard at first. Maybe he will like the next project? We'll see. 

Moving right along, you'll notice the walls of my room have changed color. That is because I spent a week painting. It was a long and involved process consisting of multiple trips to the paint department at Home Depot and developing a great relationship with a certain employee who was more than helpful and deserves a plethora of gold stars and awards. Phew, that was a long sentence. I'm glad you made it through. But seriously? I feel like painting took forever and I'm glad it's over. 

I might enjoy oils and watercolors, but friends, interior paint and I do not really get along all that well. I mean, let's be honest here. There's just too much to think about and it all has to be even. Although, as long as we're being honest, I did enjoy strategically placing hand prints on my sister's shirt and the fact that I still find flecks of teal paint in my hair. It's what all the cool kids are wearing, right? 

And then there's the boy. He's good. I'm good. We're good. Long distance sucks. We had to keep posing for this picture until we got it just right. It took like four or five tries. Not that I'm complaining...duhh :)

The upside to getting up early in the morning is that I get to see skies like this. I actually really enjoy being a morning person, I have so many hours in the day to do things! It's exciting! Even though it's not always easy to drag myself out of bed, I'm always glad when I do. 

Ultimately I'd like to wake up early enough to work out before I shower and get ready, but I'm not quite there yet. It would take an extra hour, so my plan is to build up to that. Well, that's the plan anyway. I mean, I have my own room now, remember? So I can totally work out in the mornings if I just find the time...which is really the only problem. Excuses, excuses. Right. 

This week is spirit week for homecoming on Saturday! What up! So I played dress up tonight with my mom's closet. I feel obligated to inform you that sadly she no longer wears this awesome 80s outfit, but she almost convinced me to wear it on Wednesday for decade day. I have opted to go with something a little more subtle than this rad red outfit with the complimentary bow-tie. Although, I make it look good. You have to admit it. 

Okay, not really. But seriously. 

Bow-ties? 

They rock my socks. 

Spring Break 2012

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I didn't want spring break to be over. Ever. 

questionable fashion sense

I knew my painting class this semester was going to be difficult when I found out who the professor was supposed to be. I had been dreading attending for weeks upon weeks. And then Monday showed up bright eyed and bushy tailed, making me want to punch it in the face and go back to sleep.

I was so not ready for school this semester. I didn't want summer vacation to end even though it had been the poorest summer of my life. It was just starting to get good! I had been so scared all summer long to let go of PC for fear of what else was out there waiting for me, that it took me three months to finally step away from him and realize how good life could be for me. 

When we broke up I couldn't imagine what it would feel like to be in a relationship with someone else, and when that opportunity arose - I freaked out a little bit. I flipped and flopped back and forth between hanging on and leaping forward. Ultimately, I leaped forward with wild abandon and so far it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made. 

And then it was time for school to start. It was like unto blinking and everything was different. Basically it was as though my summer had completely slipped through my crooked fingers and was gone forever. So there I sat, in front of an easel, with people that I had seen just three shorts months ago. It was my first class of the new fall semester, and as I sat talking with my friend about prospected outlook of our respective class schedules, in walked our professor. 

The professor that I had been so scared of. I looked at him in a way I had never looked at another professor before, and I'll tell you why. These artist types can be so flighty you know, and I will admit that they have questionable fashion tastes at best, but this man. He was amazing unto me. 

His hair was cut short, making his glasses a more prominent feature on his face. Not only were his spectacles rather large, but also they were a translucent sky blue color. They looked plastic and cheap, but necessary. And they were perched on his rather bulbous nose. He was wearing a grey sports coat over a black dress shirt paired with black slacks that were just a tad bit too large for his frame. 

But what really got me was his choice in footwear. You'd think the sports coat and trousers would be accompanied with some nice black or charcoal grey dress shoes, right? Or perhaps a pair of boots, since after all, we are in Idaho. However, on his feet were faded purple crocks. You know, those shoes that were made for use in a garden or lounging around your backyard not to be worn in public. 

I sat for a minute just taking it all in. Purple crocks. Grey sports coat. Who knew? 

He spoke for all of 15 minutes and then dismissed us to pursue whatever else we had planned for the day. I still haven't decided how I feel about this class, being as that I detested my intro to painting class with amazing irritability. I guess we'll have to wait and see just exactly how this class plays out. This semester is already proving to be a new experience, but definitely in a good way. 

lately, june

I have been thinking an awful lot about the future lately. I wonder where it will take me? I wonder what I will do with my life? I don't think I will be a teacher forever. Mostly because I don't want to be a teacher forever.

But I do make awesome chocolate chip cookies...so you know. There's always that.

However, I am thinking that I would like to just be a housewife. And raise some kiddos and sell artwork from my own handcrafted/vintage decorated beautiful house. I think that sounds perfect, but don't you?

I have also been thinking about names. I have always liked Gabriel for a boy and no one, but no one can talk me out of that one. But girls names have always been difficult for me. I fall in and out of love so easily with girls names. And I don't want one that's popular! No thank you! I will not be naming a daughter of mine Emily or Madison or Taylor. Those are not bad names, but everyone is named that it feels like.

However, I do like Tenlee. I'm not sure why, but I do. Tenlee Jane? Maybe? I don't know. It will be a long time before I have to use it though, so oh well.

This is a doodle I created at work the other day while it was slow. And then Prince Charming and Pengowen came to bother me for some fruit smoothies and a hot chocolate. I love it when my friends come bug me at work. It seriously makes my whole shift that much better.

But oh I do love my job. And now that summer school is done hopefully I can work more? Except that only time will really tell. But I have been filling out job applications too, so maybe something will turn up soon? One can hope. I am tired of being broke.

But I am not tired of thunder storms. We got our first one of the summer the other night. I was sitting on the back porch painting when the wind started to move all of my supplies anywhere it wanted and I ran around gathering up my stuff and hoping my pencils didn't fall through the cracks of the balcony.

The sky, however, was mighty gorgeous. I mean, vibrant! And pink! I just wanted to sit on the porch and stare at it until it went away, but I had to finish my painting instead. So I left window open and painted while I listened the deep rumble of the thunder. When I moved to the couch I could watch the lightning for a bit and then count to see how "far away" the thunder was, like I learned from a book I loved in elementary school. Thunder Bread? Thunder Cake? Something thunder and there was a Babushka and I read it over and over and over again.

But here is my painting, all finished. I posted about it over here on my art blog, but this is the final final painting. It's the biggest one I've done all semester! A half sheet of watercolor paper. A half sheet!

Except well, beautiful. Really. I love the little bumble bee. Too cute.

How is your summer?

I Haven't Used Watercolors Since Elementary School

It's no secret around here that me and painting are just simply not friends. I documented my oil painting class progress, but ultimately I was never really happy with any of my paintings except for my good friend Davy Jones and my final project.

So when I was making my schedule for next fall, you can imagine my disheartened attitude when I decided that intermediate painting was a better fit than intermediate printmaking. Because some of my education classes were only offered at one time and that conflicted with the only section of intermediate printmaking, and well Bloggies, it just wasn't meant to be.

And in addition to my intermediate painting class come the Fall 2011 semester, this summer I have been enrolled into a watercolor painting class. I was actually kind of excited for this class, because it wasn't oil painting, but also I was a bit worried that I would hate it also. Besides my apparent love for mixing colors with a brush, I'd also heard things about my professor. I had heard that a lot of people didn't like him. I already took a class last semester where I hated my professor, and please oh please I didn't want my only summer class to be that way too.

So imagine my surprise when I decided that I actually liked watercolors, and I liked my professor too. Granted, we are only three days into the semester, but it's already less painful than oil painting ever was. We'll see if the fun lasts, but I'm ready for a studio class that I actually enjoy going to again.

This is the first watercolor painting I did this summer. I hadn't used watercolor paints since I was about six, it feels like. Plus, you always give the little kiddies cheap watercolors that don't really work very well anyways. Also, at six you don't really know how to use them correctly anyway - so I actually kind of hated them when I was little too. Anyway, this picture turned out fun and I really like the lamp post.

This was meant to focus on the clouds. It was starting to get stormy out, and the sky was really moody. I kept getting compliments on this painting though. One of the guys in my class took a particular liking to it for reasons that I'm not really sure, but I'm not going to complain. They say you aren't really an artist until someone outside of your family is willing to pay and display your stuff in their house.

This is our painting from today. There is a field of cows on campus, and this building is over by where they graze. It's an old creaky chicken coop looking thing. My favorite part of this painting is the tree though, to be honest.

It wasn't even by the building, I just wanted to paint it. And that's something that I absolutely love about this painting class, is that you can move things around and decide to not paint other things, it's really up to you. That's a freedom I didn't really have in my rigidly structured oil studio class. I wish I could take intermediate watercolor next semester. Maybe they'll let me use watercolors anyway?? You think? Me either.

This Painting Took Forever And I'm Glad I'm Finally Done With It

My latest project.

I have been thinking of selling my artwork. My mom said the other day that someone asked her if I was selling what I made and sent me into "what if" mode. My printmaking instructor last semester even suggested that I sell some of my prints.

I don't know exactly how Etsy works, or really anything about it other than you can sell your handmade products on its website. Also, I have no idea how much money I would list my work for anyway. I mean, I have paintings and prints and drawings that I could potentially sell, but how much do those things go for anyway? 

Besides, I get attached to some of my work and I don't want to let it go! I don't know if I could bring myself to part with some of my artwork, but I suppose maybe if the price was high enough? Who knows. Unless I make it with the idea in mind of giving it away or I end up hating it, generally I don't like to part with my stuff. 

Giving things to family is different though, because I know I'll see it again and that it's going to a good home and that it's loved and cherished and cared for. Not that someone who pays money for it would be any less careful about how they handle my artwork, but really, I would be parting with it forever. 

Who knows what will happen, but maybe someday I will sell my work. Maybe it will be sooner rather than later. At least I'm considering it, right? 

It's A Process

I had to paint ice cream. Well, first I painted the ice cream cone before class started so that it would be dry by the time I had to paint to actual ice cream.

Then, as we were painting our ice cream, naturally the ice cream decided that melting all over the place was a fantastic idea. And so then my painting just had to evolve and change with the ice cream.

It's a little more difficult that one would think, painting ice cream. Especially when it's three different colors all rolling around and melting together and getting all up in each others' business.

Towards the end of the painting process, my ice cream more closely resembled some sort of thick soup rather than delicious chocolate/strawberry/vanilla goodness.

It transformed from a ball of ice cream into a puddle, and I had to put in a background to show where the ice cream was collapsing.

This was an Adventure with a capital A if I've ever had one.

And the final product:

Mmmmmm tasty.