Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Missin' My Ladies

(a drawing my friend Mel did of a bunch of us girls- I'm on the far right, can you tell?)

I've been really terrible about blogging the past couple of days- mostly because my life is pretty boring and I have done nothing but work and have had nothing to blog about. But- I am feeling super lonely here in Richmond and am missing all of my awesome girl friends like woah. Such is life..

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Modish

I recently discovered the blog Modish- it has since become my new obsession! Jenna, the creator, started the blog in April of 2006 and has since become a professional blogger! She describes her blog as "a daily design and style blog full of art, craft and inspiration". She posts several times a day and always has something interesting to say! Check it out!

Friday, June 26, 2009

Sage Brown

Sage Brown graduated from VCU last spring (2008) with a BFA in Graphic Design. He has since moved to Chicago where he worked as an intern for Firebelly Design. Sage has a wonderfully simple approach to graphic design making his work that much more effective. Aside from his graphic design, he is also known for this photography and his cycling caps. While living in Richmond, Sage began to screen print fabric or find old fabric to make fun, fashionable cycling caps. He has received several commissions to make caps for stores, families, benefits, etc. Here are a few pictures of my favorites, but you should check out his website and flikr for a wealth of other great art!

Several of the Ciclo Urbano Hats

Love this fabric!

I know, I know, you're thinking this is a rip off of the Louis Vuitton print, which it is- but the logo used is NJS- a Japanese form of track racing ( I don't know much more than that...)

Hats for the whole family!

He screen printed this fabric- which is great!

And I had to include this one since this boy is just so handsome:)

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Michael Jackson


I was never a hardcore fan of Michael Jackson. I will admit that I do love to dance to most of his hits and my favorite memory of my friend Sarah Heidel is her dressing up as him and lip syncing to "Black or White" at my 12th birthday party. Beyond that I can't say much more- other than his death is a bummer and I was shocked and a bit saddened by the news.

I do, however, find it intriguing that Facebook is flooded with people mourning the death of the King of Pop. My friend's status says it beautifully: "
Holli Flowers never realized so many of my “friends” were so close with Michael Jackson… I feel like a celebrity by association! My condolences to you all" ... Now I'm not mocking his death, life or anything of the sort- I just always find it interesting and somewhat unfortunate that all of a sudden when someone dies the most random people "suffer" deeply from the loss of someone they didn't even know.

Blog Award!


Thanks All Things Fabulous for the award!

Here are the rules:
  • Each blogger must post these rules.
  • Each blogger must list ten random facts/habits about themselves and pass the award on to other recipients.
  • The award recipients then need to do the same.
  • Don't forget to leave a comment telling the recipients about the award!
My Q&A:

1.
i hate hate hateee it when people bite hard candy before its ready, it actually hurts me. i also hate it when people bite metal forks... yikkesss
2. children make me smile always, their view of the world is so honest and untainted- its amazing. two-year-olds are my favorite
3. i'm training for a half marathon and it feels amazing!
4. i love to look at things and see how they are made. i love to create.
5. i am a very aggressive driver
6. i love being domestic. i love to decorate, cook, and bake. i love to take care of people... i guess its a way i show them i love them. actions always speak louder than words
7. i grew up with mostly boys and i loved it. i have a boy's sense of humor and love gross jokes.
8. i spend the most time in the produce section of the grocery store. i love and crave fruit all the time. green beans and asparagus are delicious too. oh. pretzels are my guilty pleasure
9. even though they're completely crazy, i have the greatest family in the world
10. i will always always always be a ghany girl- it truly changed my life.

And for the Awards...

1. Emily Wright Designs
2. Be Sage
3. Holiday in Spain
4. Growing Like Weeds
5. Lexington Daily Photo

Never Going Back


They say "once you go Mac, you'll never go back"... SO true! This past week I was babysitting overnight and didn't have my computer with me. Using a PC was terrible! It was as if I had completely forgotten how to even use a computer. It was so bad that I must apologize to those of you who read my first two posts before they were edited. Oh well- at least I have found my soul mate in the world of computers!

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Johnny Utterback

In a post back in April, I mentioned my friend Johnny Utterback. Johnny and I did a collaboration piece this past semester- he took an incredible photograph and I printed it on fabric and embellished it with embroidery. I really enjoyed the process and would love to work with him again.

Now enough about me- I thought Johnny deserved his own post because he is just that amazing. Johnny is a wonderful friend and talented senior in the Graphic Design department at VCU. In addition to his eye for graphic design, Johnny is both an incredible photographer and talented musician. I love to stalk his flikr page as it never disappoints- you should absolutely check it out!

Here are a few of my favorites of his most recent photos but you should absolutely check out his work.

(Johnny has several webpages- he has a blog, flikr, and a myspace page for his music- please browse through his talents!)

an awesome self portrait!

beautiful

johnny's attention to texture and detail has inspired many of my pieces

another great one!


Getting Back into the Swing of Things

So I've had a nice break from creating and am ready to get back into the swing of things. I feel my creative juices flowing and can't wait to create some of my visions! I will have some free time next week and am planning on filling that time with lots of screenprinting and emboirdering- I hope stay motivated! Stay tuned for some new work!

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Cute Shoes!

I love driving mocs, especially these adorable ones from Banana Republic. They are definitely on my wish list for the fall!

Monday, June 22, 2009

Grace Johnston

Being in the art program at VCU, I have encountered many many talented people. It's amazing what people can come up with and create. It's so inspiring to be around such creative people. One of the most talented people I have been around is my friend and Rockbridge County native, Grace DuVal Johnston. Grace is very talented in many artisitic fields including photography, graphic design, sculpture, etc. But she is most known for her fashion and wearable art. Grace has won many competitions in the field of wearable art and is travelling to New Zealand in September for the international Wearable Art show. Here are some of my favorites of her wearable art pieces, but you should definitely check out her great new website and blog!

Wooden dress in which the skirt is movable (as seen in the picture)

The tomato dress!

Rubber glove dress

And for the infamous peacock dress!

An Eventful Weekend

This past weekend was busy but super fun. On Friday night we went to Friday Cheers and saw Lucero, it was great seeing everyone and catching up with my friend Holli from work. Then on Saturday, Evan and I drove to Suffolk for Maggie's barbecue which was so much fun! Although it was disgustingly humid, it was great to see everyone and spend some time with Maggie, who truly is the sweetest baby in the entire world- she was passed around like a football all night and never cried. She's such a little snuggle bug! And for some pictures...

Holli and I at the concert

Evan, Matt and a random guy

And for the barbecue...

Uncle Scott, Dad, William, and Forrest enjoying cigars

Evan and my brothers hanging out with Finn

All of the Hanson children and their spouses

Forrest feeding sweet Maggie

Saturday, June 20, 2009

A Family Get Together


I'm headed to Suffolk, VA today to celebrate the newest addition to the Shaw/Hanson family! Margaret (Maggie) Anne Hanson was born back in April and while I had the luxury of meeting her at the hospital when she was just a few hours old, much of my family has yet to meet her. So my Aunt Babs and Uncle Scott (Maggie's grandparents- so weird) are hosting a barbecue for everyone to get together and meet Maggie. I'm super excited to catch up with my family it should be great!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Lucero: FREE!


Tomorrow night, as a part of Venture Richmond's free summer concert series, Friday Cheers, Lucero will be playing at 6:30 at Brown's Island. Friday Cheers is presented by Coors Light and Yuengling and will be its 25th season! You should definitely come out- what's not to love? You have Lucero, beautiful Richmond, and lots of smiling faces! Hope to see you there!

Woohoo!!

After a few days of feeling HORRIBLE and lots of sleep I feel much better. Now I'm ready to bounce out of bed and step out of this tiny lonely apartment to a beautiful weekend! YAY for being healthy!

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Skull A Day

While looking at Quirk's website (one of my favorite galleries in Richmond), I came across Noah Scalin's work. From June 15th-August 22nd, Scalin will be showing his series of work entitled "Skull A Day". It is described on Quirk's website as such:

"beginning on June 4, 2007, Noah Scalin made a skull a day for a year. The project is at once humorous and serious, with kitschy undertones and real meditations on life. Noah took the ordinary and turned it extraordinary making skulls out of rice, vegetables, acorns, shoes, keyboard keys, bubble wrap, condoms, bandaids, and more. His website skulladay.com won numerous awards, garnering international attention, and in 2008, he publishe a book of the fabulous creations, Skulls. Each one inredible well executed, innovative and originial, this exhibition freatures a selection of the original 356.25 skulls as well as several new pieces made specifically for the show (and offered for sale for teh first time). The show features larger pieces as well as new (and more permanent) materials, and promises to leave you seeing skulls everywhere you go."

What a great concept! Scalin is very creative in places and ways that he both finds and creates skulls. Here are a few of my favorite skulls:




Monday, June 15, 2009

Necklush

In between naps today I have been surfing the internet looking for anything that might catch my eye. While on Etsy I came across Necklush, a fun accessory. You should definitely check out their Etsy shop where they give an indepth description of what exactly a Necklush is and what is involved in creating them. Here are some of my favorites:




Sick Monday


I had a wonderful night last night with my Dad, Jayne, and Evan. We had a delicious dinner and watched the Lakers game. I came home and felt great. Finally around 12:30 I forced myself to go to bed (as I wasn't tired) then, at 3:00am I woke up feeling terrible. I had the chills, a very upset stomach, a killer headache and my whole body was super achey. I was up for the rest of the night thinking that I actually might die alone in my apartment. Thankfully that wasn't the case. It turns out both Evan's Dad and brother are sick as well and Evan is starting to experience all of the same symptoms. This is truly terrible- there's nothing worse than running a fever in the summer. Hopefully this bug will pass quickly!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

And I'm Bored...


So we spend all school year longing for the summer and when it rolls around, it is inevitable that at some point, we are all bored. This is my last summer- next year I graduate and hopefully will enter the real world. I have had every intention of living this summer up, yet I find myself SO bored! My closest friends aren't living in Richmond this summer and those that I talk to on the phone (with the exception of my mom and Chelsea) are out of the country... sheesh. I have GOT to find something to entertain myself. Until then, I shall be bored.

Another Graduate!

We headed to Poquoson this past weekend for Evan's youngest brother Ian's high school graduation. As always, it was wonderful to go to Evan's home- his parents are always so welcoming and fun to be around. Since both of Evan's grandmothers were in we stayed with Rowan, the White's "oldest son". The graduation ceremony was very nice and we had a nice low-key party afterward. It was great to be in such nice company. After the party we headed to the Marina where Ian works to look at a boat that Evan's parents are hoping to buy. They have been looking at boats for several months and have put offers on a few- but this one is the best yet and just feels right! So we have our fingers crossed, the sea trial is this Friday!

Ian passing us after receiving his diploma

Evan relaxing at the party.


And the boat! You should see the cabin! If they get it, Carol and I are going to redecorate:)


Sonya Clark

Being in art school, I have attended many lectures, listened to artists speak about their work and why they make it, and look at the work. Of the many artists I have listened to and spoken with, Sonya Clark sticks out the most. Sonya is the chair of the Crafts and Material Studies department at VCU (the program I am currently in). Her work and concepts are incredible and she as an individual is inspiring. Sonya is very confident and well spoken. Any time I have gone to her office with a concern or when I have the "what am I doing with my life?!" freak out, she always encourages me, while challenging me at the same time. She's a great influence and I feel fortunate to have her as the chair of my department. Aside from being amazing, she creates beautiful work and her area of focus is fibers- what a coincidence! She does branch out, however my favorite work of hers entails fabric.

My most favorite project of Sonya's is her Prayer Beads project. This project traveled around the world and held workshops in which people would create these little pouches and place a prayer or worry within the pouches. The people would make two pouches- one for them to keep and one for the exhibition. This project has been in progress over the past ten years and have literally accumulated thousands of pouches. It is truly astonishing to experience as these vibrant pouches containing thousands of people's wishes or dreams cover the walls of a room. Below is a photograph from Sonya's website of a small portion of the pouches. This exhibit is absolutely something to be experienced!


Sonya has a wonderful website that you should absolutely check out! Enjoy!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Craft Time

A few weeks ago when I was babysitting for Jeb and Mosby for the entire week, we had a craft Sunday and made t-shirts! This was something they had never done before and they really enjoyed it. I had to peel the puffy-paint tubes out of Jeb's hands... he went a little crazy, it took his shirt several days to dry. Needless to say, it was super fun and the boys are very proud of their shirts. The other night, I babysat for the boys so their parents could have a night out and they insisted on sleeping in their shirts. Here are some pictures...


Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Who Doesn't Love A Great Beard?

I have always had a thing for guys with scruff. It has to be maintained, obviously, but I'm totally into that mountain man look. Tonight, while surfing the web, I came across and artist based in Portland by the name of Erin Dollar and she MAKES beards. I googled her to do a little further research and found her great blog. I love it when artists bring a little humor into their work. Trying to understand an artist's heavy concepts in which they try to make world changing points get's old. Dollar's work is so much fun! You should absolutely check it out! But here's a sneak peak...


Loving These Bathing Suits

J.Crew always has the cutest one pieces! I haven't bought a new bathing suit in since freshman year so I think its time. I love this deep charcoal that J.Crew is offering! Now for which style- I'm leaning towards the first since the straps can be worn in multiple ways... we shall see. J.Crew has a lot of cute stuff this season- check it out!