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!

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!

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:

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!

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!

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...

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!