Mmmmmm

Oysters Rockefeller...
What a Yummy dinner!

Hey, That's Mine!!!

This has been up for a while, but I still can't help but crack a smile when I see my work on the banner of the A&D webpage! It's nice to see not only my work, but the work of my peers still popping in the art school even after we've graduated and moved on.

Woah!!!

Joe and I went cross country skiing the other day. I haven't been for about...oh....maybe 10+ years (and even then it was only once)...so needless to say I was rather awful. But I put forth an effort, and after some time, I managed to ski along and appear rather normal--minus the photo above.

It really was a great time though. It's rather inexpensive to rent skis here, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to go once a week or so....but as of now, it's about 20-30 degrees BELOW ZERO with the windchill here!!! So for now...skiing can wait until my fingers and toes won't fall off!!! I like my limbs. Thank you, mother nature. I'll wait out your wrath.

Sometimes I wish I were a Fish...

I'm back with the pictures--a bit later than expected, but are you really surprised? I thought not. Well I kept these pictures because I wanted to share how awesome the Boston Aquarium was. If you have the chance to go..you should. Although you should probably try to go during the week when there might be a few less strollers and small children. I did feel pretty awful trying to push past little kids to get to see the frogs and starfish, so it was a bit difficult to get some good pictures or even a really good look at some of the creatures. I would love to get back in there with a sketchbook and some space.

If I'm ever in another funk and devoid of inspiration, I know all I need to do is get back to that aquarium. The colors were beautiful and the weird little quirks that mother nature has developed are amazing. Have you ever seen a grouper before? I hadn't actually seen one, although I did know about their migrating eye. But to see them in person was great! And sea horses? Definitely my new favorites! They cling to rocks with their tails, wrapping along with the different contours. And then they just kind of float back and forth with the currents. It's so simple but still so cool to me!

Plus I've always kind of wanted to be a fish. Anyone ever get that feeling after seeing Sword in the Stone?
Okay...so I'm mostly just a dork. But you can't tell me that stone fish doesn't look awesome!

Stop Thief!

If you happened to check out my post from last night, you may be wondering where a few of the photos went. Well I stole them. But don't worry--they'll be back.

I decided I have a few things I'd like to chat about in regards to my trip to the Boston Aquarium and I want to save those pictures for a different post. Hopefully I'll get some time to put them up today, but if not, you'll see them very soon. I promise!

Weekend Getaway

Again with the 'holy snowflakes!' The weather out here is crazy! Joe and I narrowly made it back to Bar Harbor tonight after our weekend trip to Boston. We woke up this morning to snow falling outside our hotel window and spent 8 hours driving through a storm that traveled with us all the way back home. Enough snow had accumulated to force us to shovel out the driveway in order to park the car!

Traveling aside, the trip was a really nice break from the quiet lifestyle we've been living on the island. We were in the financial district in Boston, so it was still a bit quiet since it was the weekend, but it still had some great things to offer. Joe and I visited the aquarium and the Museum of Fine Arts during the day and then hopped from bar to bar at night. We ate oysters (surprisingly tasty!) at Ye Old Union Oyster House, which we found out is actually America's oldest restaurant--Joe just found out it was built some time in the 1700s and the King of France actually lived above the restaurant at some point. We also found a really great market out behind one of the streets. Even with the freezing temperature there were tents and tables set up, covered in fresh fruits and vegetables and along the back sides of the store fronts in basements there were small markets filled with all sorts of meat and seafood. It was really refreshing to see such a traditional event in a well built up city.

All in all, it was a really nice getaway. I ate some weird food -- for the record, never order sea urchin, ick! -- I found a new creature to love -- sea horses!!! -- and I got a pretty good taste of a new city. I would say it was a success! yay!

Who would have guessed!?!?!

I spent most of today attempting to revamp my website. It's currently acceptable enough to display some work, but it's a bit slow to load and rather bland. In all honesty, I threw it together rather quickly--can we say "graduation deadline"?. I took the time to make it without a pre-made set up, but I just didn't really know what I wanted or what I was doing.

Thinking about it now, I still don't really know what I want it to look like, nor do I know what I'm doing.

Go figure.

But I actually think things are going a lot better. I'm taking the extra step to learn css and html, and I'm creating the website from the codes as opposed to letting a program make the code for me. I'm learning quite a bit, although it's really difficult and frustrating. I'm not that good with computers and technology to begin with, and teaching myself all of this from bits and pieces gathered from different online help sites hasn't been easy. But I think it's coming along; slowly, but surely. In the end it may not look that much more fantastic compared to what I have now, but I'm actually okay with that. I'm learning a lot about what I can and can't do with websites, so I'm taking this as an experiment.

And the best part is, it feels great to be learning again. And I'm doing it on my own--which means I can still learn things outside of a classroom and without a teacher (bet you didn't think that was possible...ha). And it's actually coming together!

For the first time in a while I'm feeling accomplished. I'm painting again, I'm thinking about projects, and I'm learning css.

I guess there's hope for me after all!

What do you see?

I recently came across a bunch of these berry presses I was experimenting with a couple of years ago. I really enjoy the dialog that seems to take place between the pairs. The tension created by the white space separating the halves was something I toyed around with a lot. I also think I like the reference they make to the old Rorschach inkblot tests.

I'm not sure what I want to do with them-if anything- but I can't keep myself from flipping through them over and over again...

Hmmm

I wonder who left these behind?

Down To The River

Yesterday was one of the warmer days we've had in a while, so Joe and I went down to the creek to bring in some wood for the fireplace. Joe chopped while I gathered kindling. After about an hour we had filled our boxes and were ready to head inside to warm up a bit.

But before I came in, I ran down to the creek to snap a few quick pictures. The creek had frozen and then started to thaw from the bottom up, leaving air bubbles and organic ice forms winding around the rocks.

Happy New Year!

It's a new year...time for new beginnings and resolutions.

I can't say that I have any resolutions in particular this year. I usually wind up making mini resolutions all year long, so making one on the first of the year doesn't really have a special impact on my habits. I think my big goal is one I've been struggling with for a while now, and that's trying to figure out where I fit in the world of art--and I have a feeling that might take many more years than just one.

For now, I'm just content existing where I am and surviving and enjoying the real world--which I have a feeling is a common goal for most people these days.

So for now, Happy New Year!