made over a little table today. it used to be brown and a little raggedy, but like most hand me downs i gather, it didn’t stay that way for long. i really had no idea what i was going to do to it, but some silk fabric and a little sandpaper, glue, antique stain and an old necklace later it fit in better with the vintage feel of my house.
sometimes it just takes several days to come back home and see things with strangers eyes to realize what can be changed in your life. those days away last week were so nice~to be somewhere new everyday, adventures waiting for us~things to see and meet. but coming home was equally enjoying. getting back into the routine is nice. moving some furniture around here and there and cleaning out the fridge, doing some laundry and hanging up christmas decorations have all been so cozy. i get spoiled being at home with max. i used to think that “out there” was where all the excitement was, having the career, living the fast pace (or slow) of working. but something must have tipped my reality scale a little skewed because when i think back to those days working and trying so hard, i know that this is so much better. and being an artist, i didn’t have to give anything up. it’s still here with me.
Ralph Waldo Emerson’s grave at Author’s Ridge, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts. One day on our trip up north we made a pitstop to see the graves but it was so cold that we quickly ran back to the car, noses bright pink. Among Emerson’s gigantic rock (instead of a tombstone) there was Henry Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Louisa May Alcott. Someone had planted single yellow carnations all over the poet’s graves. Concord was really beautiful and charming, I can see why even Elizabeth Arden decided to be buried there too.
pictures of the trip up north coming soon…they are all on a friend’s laptop right now~m is going to help me make a nice page to view them.
what a week. i am home after an amazing visit to new england for thanksgiving with a pitstop to new york city. which was so overwhelming and impressive and loud and so much, i felt like i was going to fall over. we started the day off with a pastry shoppe for breakfast and then walked all over chinatown (stopping at pearl arts store, it was FIVE floors) and little italy (where i enjoyed the best vegetable calzone EVER). we hit the apple store in soho and looked at all the window displays at the stores and then finally we ended up in times square, which is incredibly over the top at night. the sidewalks were so crowded that at one point we had to shuffle our feet inch by inch and were shoulder to shoulder with other people. although we certainly couldn’t do new york in one day, i was a little sad that the christmas tree wasn’t up in rockfeller center yet, i would have loved to see that~m and i kept saying that it was strange how familiar the city seemed, like we had been there before. and we already have plans to return soon. there was so much to see, just people watching was a lot to take in.
so you can imagine how nice it was to see boston the next day. it felt clean and comfortable. containable, liveable. it reminded me of a mix of parts of chicago and seattle, but definetly having its own charm. all the red brick buildings and the old beautiful churches, the tree lined streets made it feel like a place i wanted to live. i found that i really have missed living near a city, a real metropolitan area. i could definetly see myself there. it had a draw that new york city seemed to lack. the entire day walking through new york, i kept trying to deny that fact that i had changed my long time idea that i would end up there. i’m still denying that because i feel like i haven’t seen enough of it to form an opinion yet, but at the same time, it seems like it would take a lot to change my mind. i managed to get in a little bit of sketching. but not as much as i wanted to~we walked around so much, and so quickly, that it was enough to get all the photos we did (love digital cameras for that!) the day in boston was finished off with a visit to my favorite store, anthropologie, where i found some nice things.
sigh. those are just the first two days. we also fit in a day trip to rhode island, where i finally got to see the campus of my dream school, risd. i had no idea that brown university practically shared the same place. the schools are right next to each other. providence is up there with some of my favorite places, it was absolutely gorgeous. out of my daydreams. and the amount of students carrying portfolios and design bags was just enough to put it in the little white cartoon cloud over my head. sigh. i hope to return there someday. we saw the risd museum, which had a truly impressive collection of art. i couldn’t take enough pictures and was sad when daylight was done, which was at 4:30 up there!
i have more to tell, so many inspirations over a single week that its hard to keep it all from running into one blur in my mind. i can’t wait to get painting, its so nice to be home again.
found. the search was not a long one, just anticipated for a few weeks so it felt right when i picked up a moleskine book after five minutes of being in a bookstore. it was such an easy decision, it was perfect. it felt too quick, finding the perfect something without even looking at the competition of other journals…i even tried to ditch it a few times for regular sketchbooks, but they felt cheap and bulky compared to this sleek one that has so many built in perks. like an expandable pocket in the back cover, an elastic band that keeps the book shut, and a bookmark ribbon to keep my place. i am using a uniball pen that just glides on the surface of the paper, might have to stock up on those if i like them a lot. anyway, i spent a good portion of the morning breaking into it, writing and drawing. so refreshing. so wonderful. so toteable. perfect timing for my upcoming trip to boston/new york for thanksgiving!
after working through a few ideas, my third prototype for this project is just a single piece of felt molded into an accessorized elephant head. she carries her bird friend around where ever she goes and her rosey purse full of peanuts…and i have to say that i don’t know what i am doing with a needle and thread! (felt is stuffed with tissue paper!)
“Mauve takes offense at my having said, “I am an artist” –which I do not take back, because that word included, of course, the meaning: always seeking without absolutely finding. As far as I know, that word means: “I am seeking, I am striving, I am in with all my heart.”
-Vincent Van Gogh
finally. a justification for what i always feel like i want to say. sure, when people ask me what i am and what i do the first thing that common sense tells me to say is that i stay at home with my 2 year old toddler, a stay-at-home mom is acceptable. but saying that i am an artist means so much, its complimenting and flattering myself by pronouncing that title. vincent has given me a small explanation, i am just in with all my heart.
im ready to start a series of journals that will move me from each day and keep my eye trained. it’s been a while since i have kept any type of drawing record of everyday humdrums. doodles are very wise. digital cameras are so instantly gratifying though, sometimes i feel like photography is calling my name and that i am cheating. maybe i need to ignore it for a few days till i can get into the swing of things. at any rate, this weekend will be devoted to searching for the perfect journal #1.
p.s. new (to me) song “brave” by stephanie dosen is an excellent dose of uplifting inspiring noise, listen!
my little sister is now a teenager~in high school~brilliant and beautiful~here is a shot of her new haircut~adorable!
today is just brilliant. the weather was so inviting i immediately put off my to do list to tromp through all the neighborhood leaves on a brisk morning walk with max, ipod blasting and sun shining. the house is already smelling of crockpot chicken and i think i might even finish off some of my projects today. recently marcus caught me looking for antique paintings on ebay and told me that he wanted my art in our home. flattered and brought to the obvious, i realized that my walls are probably the best gallery that i will ever have. to hang something on the wall is to prove that i am truly comfortable and satisfied with it, will have to live with it everyday, and it will prove to be a true challenge. but a house without art (and books) is like a garden without flowers.
~ happy birthday mom! ~
this morning has been very pleasant so far. m took max and i to breakfast and i’m still full with a very delicious sun dried tomato bagel with bacon, eggs and cheese and yummy orange juice to wash it all down. then i was off to vote at the main street library. i was entertained while waiting in line by the decorated elderly patriots wearing elephant sweaters, stars and stripes nylons, stickers and buttons. max got a sticker and some candy so he liked the idea of voting too. honestly, i’m ready for the whole presidential election to be over and done with. i just hope that the right man wins, we’ll see tonight if there isn’t any messy voting problems like last time. will be up late with m watching the outcome.
found this shocking story about the great grandson of Theo van Gogh, Vincent’s brother. its stunning just to think that a great grandson was alive, here and now (well, was) on earth, that i could have actually met him. that he might have known his great grandfather. that he is family. that other people knew him. strange. one of my very favorite books is Dear Theo, a collection of letters that vincent wrote his brother. i am always deeply impressed by his writings, no matter how many times i read them, its always the same emotion i understand from Vincent’s great desire to be an artist. im in amazement because much of what he wrote are similiar to things that i feel about my own art. he struggled so desperately, to find his way. if there is one person that i hope to see on the other side, its one of the van gogh brothers. and even though Vincent was extremely sensitive, always broke, and had many emotional dependance on theo, his brother always gave him the benefit of the doubt, helped him out and was really his only ally in life. i suppose i should reread the book anytime i feel like i’m getting too passionate or fretting too much over my paintings, (: and know that i am not alone.
welp, im off to start some laundry and play with max before his nap, planning on getting to get lost in Life of Pi while he drives cars around me. just the preface for this book has me intrigued.
