Craft Talk

Today, in my senior crit class, I was talking to my professor about how I'm struggling with walking the fine line between arts and crafts and fine craft- something that people within the craft world face on a regular basis. My teacher encouraged me to embrace craftiness (as in arts and crafts) and push it really far- which will maybe will set it outside the realm of arts and crafts, giving my work a sophistication. Hmm? Oh art. After seeing that she hadn't completely convinced me and freed me of my worries, she drug me to her office where she made me watch this ridiculously hilarious video that she said would cure my issues. This video is pretty silly but as a crafts and material studies major, I really appreciated it and it lightened my worries. Enjoy!

RVA Rap Video

I just discovered this hysterical music video on Young House Love, a blog about DIY home decorating based in Richmond. The bloggers were trying to give their readers a glimpse of the city they call home. The video is too great to miss out on, especially if you live here in the beautiful, RVA. Please, enjoy!

1st Day!

Today was my first day as an intern at Anthropologie and I absolutely loved it! It was so much fun to be in a creative environment with peers who have the same design aesthetic as I do. Emily and I spent hours cutting magazines and maps up and making paper airplanes (I swear I'll be doing it in my sleep). The thought of spending hours folding paper airplanes seemed really daunting but there's something nice about doing something so methodically mindless. We were folding the airplanes for the window display which is already looking great. I promise to post pictures when they are finished (hopefully they will be tomorrow). It feels really great to have this internship I have dreamed of for months now and I have a feeling a lot of inspiration will come from the experiences. Stay tuned!

Too Cute!

This adorable video just makes me smile. Enjoy!

Internship

I cannot be more excited to tell you that I officially have an internship with Anthropologie! guh! I am completely ecstatic! I will be working on visuals and displays for the Richmond store at Stony Point Fashion Park with their visual team and two other interns, my roommate Emily and friend Mari. I know it will be a lot of work but I look forward to spending many long hours working with such incredible people exercising our creativity. I can't see what we come up with! I head into the store early tomorrow morning (technically this morning) to learn the ropes, get my schedule, etc. I will keep you posted on how things go and hopefully have pictures of some of the work I do this semester! Yay!

House of Harriet

How fun are these mugs?! Harriet Darnave is an artists who lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. She has an Etsy page that displays her incredible work and tells her story.

For years I worked as an illustrator for books and magazines, only the last couple of years I use tableware and tiles as my canvas. I paint with glazes and fire the pieces myself in my kiln. Most of my products are designed for everyday use and are dishwasher proof, food safe and can even be used in the microwave.

You can even contact Darnave to have her customize a piece for you! Just sent her a pic and voila!

World of Wearable Art

My friends Grace Johnston and Melanie Hearn flew to New Zeland last Friday and will be there for a week to compete in the international fashion show, World of Wearable Art (WOW)! Its an amazing and huge opportunity for these talented ladies and I couldn't be happier for them. Grace has been really good about updating her blog so that all of us in the US are updated. Check it out!

Eat. Drink. Be Married.

What a fun weekend! Timothy and Katharine had a beautiful wedding. It was so much fun to be together with my family to celebrate Timothy, Katharine, Taylor, and future baby's life together! Friday night, my Dad and Jayne had a party where we had a great talent show. Timothy and Taylor performed a song, Emma read a poem, Katharine's mom Valerie recited a Scottish poem, Evan and I sang a song and many other toasts were given. It was so much fun to be around such great people and celebrate everyone's talents!



Saturday, we woke up bright and early for a kayaking trip with most of the family. It was so much fun but rather exhausting! We went home for some lunch, helped set up for the wedding and then took a little rest before the wedding. Around 6:00, we headed down to the beach for an intimate, beautiful ceremony and a great reception afterward. Congrats Timothy and Katharine!

A Wedding Weekend!

I'm heading to Sandbridge, Virginia today for my step brother Timothy and his fiance Katharine's wedding. It's hard to believe that this date is finally here and that they will be married! I'm super excited for this weekend, it should be lots of fun and I am so happy for them to start their new life together. Congratulations Timothy and Katharine!

Some Great Advice from a Fellow Blogger

One of my favorite blogs to read is 500 Pieces of Prudent Advice for My Baby Daughter. This blog isn't updated that frequently, but when it is, there's always great advice that most people probably overlook. Some of my favorites...

#203 Return your shopping cart.

Abandoning your shopping cart in the middle of the parking lot implies a sense of entitlement. Someone has to put it away, that someone should be you.

#202 Accept the invitation.

Just go! Go visit your Peace Corps friend volunteering in Guatemala; go wear a fancy dress to the Daytime Emmys; go chat with the boys at the Ghanaian Soccer Academy benefit. When you get an invitation to do something out of the ordinary see it as a little microcosm of life’s possibilities and say “yes” even if you’re tired, nervous, or uncertain. At least when you’re older you'll be able to reflect on your adventures instead of regretting the shiny bubbles of opportunity that floated away while you were moored to the couch.

#201 There’s no need to give disclaimers.

When you present your work (a research paper, a painting, a song) don’t be tempted to qualify it beforehand with a verbal laundry list of possible flaws. Learn to fight off that natural insecurity and present your work for what it is. Let it be judged on its own merits at face value, then critique it afterward with feedback from the group.

#200 Only take what you need.

When things are free, it’s easy to overindulge. If you take ten bananas because the bananas are free, you’ll likely end up with eight rotten bananas covered in flies while another person is left tragically bananaless. Take what you’re going to use and leave the rest for someone else.

#199 Wear bikinis while you can!

There will come a day you realize that you’ve traded in your youthful body for a whole other one; you’ll look down at yourself and think “When did this happen?” That’s the day a bikini stops being appropriate. Don’t worry about that day – I promise by the time you get there you really won’t mind – and in the meantime have a blast in adorable two-pieces.

So please, read, enjoy, and learn from this great blog!

This Semester's Work

For the past week, I have been working on a proposal for my senior critique class. The proposal was due today and was meant to be what we wanted to spend the rest of the semester working on. Each proposal was to consist of drawings, sample, inspiration, a list of adjectives that describe our work, and obviously, a written proposal of what we want to do this semester. I have been brainstorming like crazy! I have decided to take old furniture (which I love and appreciate) and rework it- repair it, refinish it, add and subtract certain areas, reupholster, etc., etc. But- I hope to do a lot of this using non-conventional materials, giving the furniture a sense of newness. My professor approved my proposal and is excited to see what I come up with. So now, I will work work work work! I'm excited to finally be able to do what I want to, and my work not be dictated by assignments.

Ironically, Modish blogged about Spruce today, based in Austin, two people refinish and repair old furniture and give it a more modern look while still maintaining the vintage feel. Spruce also designs one of a kind pieces. I'll definitely be looking to them as a reference, but hope to push my pieces a little further.

Dan Phillips

I came across Dan Phillips a few days ago and am in complete amazement! Phillips, a 64 year-old man with quite a background, lives in East Texas town and builds low income housing using found objects or in other words, trash. Phillips began building these houses because "he was disturbed by the irony of landfills choked with building materials and yet a lack of affordable housing". Not only is Phillips recycling materials but he is creating art. He pays close attention to every detail in each of his houses and the pattern and texture created by hundreds of the same thing is captivating. Please enjoy these photos and read The New York Times' article on Dan Phillips, he truly is incredible!

Artist Statements Schmartist Statements

Writing an artist statement is something I have struggled with and tried to avoid since I've been in college. Now, it's an assignment for my senior seminar class and I hate it. I have written two artist statements within the past several weeks and am no where near happy with them. It's hard to brag about myself and talk about my philosophy when there isn't really one behind my work... at least not that I'm consciously aware of. I know that I'll get there, I just hope its soon.

*photo courtesy of grace duVal

Kanye = Not Cool

Regardless of my feelings for Taylor Swift (I love her), Kanye jumping in and grabbing the mic in the middle of Taylor's acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards and saying that Beyonce should have won was completely uncalled for. How immature can you be? Beyonce was mortified and poor Taylor didn't know how to react- there's nothing like ruining an exciting moment for her.

A huge thumbs up to Beyonce for giving Taylor her moment after winning Video of the Year.

Bon Iver

I discovered Bon Iver this summer while riding in a friend's car when Skinny Love caught my ear. I have since gotten their CD and learned a lot about them. There are four band members, Justin Vernon, Mike Noyce, Sean Carey, and Matthew McCaughan and their story is an interesting one.

It wasn't planned. The goal was to hibernate.

Justin Vernon moved to a remote cabin in the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin at the onset of winter. Tailing from the swirling breakup of his long time band, he escaped to the property and surrounded himself with simple work, quiet, and space. He lived there alone for three months, filling his days with wood splitting and other chores around the land. This special time slowly began feeding a bold, uninhibited new musical focus.

This slowly evolved into days filled with twelve-hour recording blocks, breaking only for trips on the tractor into the pines to saw and haul firewood, or for frozen sunrises high up a deer stand. All of his personal trouble, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss and guilt that had been stock piled over the course of the past six years, was suddenly purged into the form of song. The end result is, For Emma, Forever Ago, a nine-song album comprised of what's been dubbed a striking debut by critics and fans alike.

Bon Iver (pronounced: bohn eevair; French for "good winter" and spelled wrong on purpose) is a greeting, a celebration and a sentiment. It is a new statement of an artist moving on and establishing the groundwork for a lasting career. For Emma, Forever Ago is the debut of this lineage of songs. As a whole, the record is entirely cohesive throughout and remains centered around a particular aesthetic, prompted by the time and place for which it was recorded. Vernon seems to have tested his boundaries to the utmost, and in doing so has managed to break free form any pre-cursing or finished forms.

For Emma's tracks consist of thick layers draped in lush choral walls, with rarely more than an ancient acoustic guitar or the occasional bass drum providing structure. Vernon sings the majority of the record in falsetto, which painfully expresses the meanings behind its overt, yet strangely entangled words. This newfound vocal path acts as each song's main character and source of melody.

Despite its complexity, the record was created entirely by Vernon with nothing more than a few microphones and some aged recording equipment. This homemade aspect shows itself in sections as creaks and accidentals are exposed in the folds of the songs, but is hidden well by the highly impressive and almost orchestral sound that Vernon managed to produce by his lonesome, within the creaky skeleton of his father's cabin.

I hope you enjoy their music as much as I do! Check out their myspace and webpage!

Sadly, I can't get the video to upload of them performing Skinny Love live on The Late Show, but you can see it if you click here.

Finished Piece.

I had my first project due yesterday for my senior critique class and I am so happy its over! We critiqued the piece I posted about a few times last week. I've been feeling quite frustrated because my vision didn't really come out in the piece and the colors of the fabrics changed a lot once hung in the light. So, the critique went alright, I got lots of advice and have some great ideas for the future... I guess I'll have to see what I come up with. So here are the promised photos of the final piece, but keep in mind that its true home is in a large, old window.

A Little R&R

Evan and I had an amazing weekend in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. I can't begin to tell you how much I needed it. Before we left, I found myself so stressed out that I couldn't think straight- literally. Evan drove and gave me some time to unwind on the way up, which was so nice. I have never been to New Jersey before and the northern most beach I've been to is Ocean City Maryland which was not so impressive. Stone Harbor was absolutely beautiful, an adorably quaint town out of a movie. We spent the weekend laying out in the sun, swimming in the ocean, jet skiing, taking afternoon naps, hanging out in good company, watching movies, etc. It couldn't have been better! Sunday night, we headed out to our friend Liz's 7th (I think) annual White Party. Costumes are encouraged so Evan went as Dr. White (he had to, considering his last name is White and he will be a doctor come May) and I went as his nurse. I searched high and low for a non-skanky nurses costume and still bought an XL to gain an inch in length. Needless to say, we had a great time and won Best Duo! After 8.5 hours in the car on Monday, we finally pulled into Richmond a few minutes before midnight. Upon returning, I hit the ground running but it was so worth it. Yay for great weekends!

Happy Labor Day and a Hiatus

I obviously haven't been around much for the past couple of days- its hard to believe that its only the second full week of school and I can't remember being this overwhelmed and overworked in quite some time... I hope this isn't representative of the way the whole semester will be. If so, it'll by a DOOZIE. Regardless, I'm heading to the Jersey shore tomorrow with my honey to visit some friends for some much needed R&R. But- I am leaving knowing that when I return I will hit the ground running, probably feeling even more exhausted at the end of next week. Such is life. I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day, and I promise to be back to blogging full time (which I'm missing like woah) at the end of next week. Adios for now! xoxo

The Farm Chicks

I came across The Farm Chicks a few weeks ago. Its a super cute blog full of fun ideas and beautiful photos. Every time I look at this blog, I can't help but smile. Please enjoy!

Crazy Life

It is clear that I am back into the full swing of things... life is crazy! so much fun, but so crazy! I am excited for my senior seminar class tomorrow to get some more serious work done on my project that is due next Wednesday, yes, one week from tomorrow. So here's my plan for the fabrics I posted about yesterday- it may be hard to visualize but just bear with me. Thoughts?