bright light city, gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire…

Ahhhh….Vegas.

What else CAN you say?

I’m kind of mad at myself after my trip. Not for the reason people usually get mad at themselves after a weekend in Sin City. I’m mad at myself because really, I didn’t take enough photos.

I didn’t even bring my good camera. I thought about it, but who wants to lug around a big DSLR when you’re hitting up bars and clubs? You have to worry about it getting broken, lost, stolen…and it took me too long to save up for a nice camera to want to worry about that. Plus, the reason I was even in Vegas was for my sister’s bachelorette party. The weekend was all about her, and going out, and having fun (as it should be). There wasn’t a lot of down time, or time alone to go wandering with a camera. Still….part of me is a little annoyed with myself, because I keep saying I want to improve my photography. I had my little Canon Powershot and my phone camera, and I did take some pictures. I just wish I had taken more. After all, the place is nothing but eye candy, and who knows when I’ll make it back?

I’ve noticed that it’s very, very hard for me to shoot great pictures without being very intentional about it. Meaning, I have to wander off alone without any other distractions. It’s just too tricky trying to capture a moment or a scene when you’re immersed in the action. At least for me it is. It’s almost like I need to separate from it, to view it with an artist’s eye, and block out everything else. I need to stop every couple seconds, find a vantage point, and interesting angle, or combination of neon colors.  I need to wander aimlessly. I need to be slow. For me, photography is a very solitary endeavor. Maybe that’s a skill I need to improve…the ability to capture moments on the fly.

Still, I had a blast. It was the way it should have been. As much as I wish I’d taken some great shots, I wouldn’t trade the fun I had for an entire album of them.

It just gives me a reason to go back.  😉

I am SO in love with…..my garage???

We moved into our new place about a month ago now, and it’s nothing less than AWESOME. Keep in mind that I’m coming from a tiny third floor apartment, so moving into a house is quite an upgrade. It was built in the 50’s, but it was completely renovated on the inside, so everything is new, and sparkling clean, and all the appliances are functional. Oh, and we have a GAS stove, which is thrilling for someone who likes to cook, especially after years of crappy electric stoves. Oh, and now when we get groceries we can simply carried them 10 feet to the door instead of making four or five trips up and down all those freaking stairs. It pretty much rules.

Among the other things that I’m super stoked on is that we have a garage now.  Joy. A place for Christmas decorations and tools and empty boxes, and all the stuff that you want and need to have, but don’t necessarily want in the middle of your living room. The garage has a storage room where all that stuff went, which means the rest of the garage is empty.

For my car? I think not.

I probably WILL park there in the winter when it’s freezing cold, but since it’s just now turning to spring that’s a long way off. No…I shall do no such thing as boring as PARK in my garage.

(and this brilliant idea came from my boyfriend, who actually suggested it not at ALL expecting me to go along with it)

♥ STUDIO SPACE ♥

I actually LOVE this idea. The space is roomier than I could possibly need, I have an old kitchen supply rack that I bought at Target back in the day when my kitchen had no cabinet space and I needed a place to put things, which is PERFECT for art supplies. Cases full of markers, pencils, pastels, etc on the bottom. Scissors and rolls of tape hanging from the hooks. Cans of spray paint and spray mount and fixative and jars of brushes and bottles of gesso and all that fun stuff on top. And of course, my easel right next to it. I put everything together on Sunday afternoon, and honestly, it makes me happy just to go out there and look at it. I’ve been wanting to learn how to do screen printing forever, and now that I have a space to do it I got a kit for my birthday.

I can be messy. I can spread out. I love seeing all of my supplies consolidated in their own space. I’ve had them in drawers, on bookcases, inside closets, but never everything out in the open where I can see it all at once. It makes me remember how much cool stuff I have, and even better, it makes me want to dig in and USE it.

We got new couch for our living room, so we dragged the old couch into the garage. Another win. Cha-CHING! I have big plans. I want to hang up some stuff, like a bulletin board to post all of my references and sketches. Another cabinet to hold some more misc supplies. A dock and speakers for my ipod so I can play music out there. And when it’s nice out, I can open up the garage door and paint “outside.” The potential is ridiculous.

To quote Ren and Stimpy…..

Happy Happy Joy Joy!
Happy Happy Joy Joy!
Happy Happy Joy Joy!
Happy Happy Joy Joy!
Happy Happy Joy Joy!
Happy Happy Joy Joy!
HAPPY HAPPY JOY! JOY! JOY!

…like a psychedelic Cat in the Hat

The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss

Ever since I was in preschool I’ve been a huge fan of Dr Seuss. To this day I can recite “If I Ran the Zoo” word for word, in its entirety. In my freshman year English class when we had to give a speech about an author, I chose Dr Seuss. It was actually pretty fascinating research, learning how he wrote Green Eggs and Ham on a bet (that he couldn’t write a book using fifty words or less), and how The Butter Battle Book was a nod to the nuclear arms race. You never picked up on it as a child, but he actually touched on some pretty heavy subjects. Yrtle the turtle a reference to Nazi Germany? Yup…really.
 

For my birthday eight-ish years ago my mom got me a book called “The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss.” Its page after page of brightly colored watercolors that he did, just for fun. It’s actually kind of strange, because the style is definitely Seuss like, you recognize that right away, but its hard to get used to all the bright vibrant colors. Most of the illustrations in his books used two, maybe three colors to help the publisher save on printing costs. What you get in this book feels like Seuss to the tenth power. Its colorful, and silly and weird and everything I love. You really need to check it out.