Take Two

I bought another canvas today (they're still 50% off!) and a tube of white paint. I'm thinking of trying my hand at Converse, but I feel really unoriginal since Kendle painted me that amazing one that now hangs above my desk (see here if you don't recall). The shoe pictures are a few possibilities.

I really enjoyed the painting I did last time, so I'm looking forward to something a little more sophisticated. And I'm thinking about changing up the little one I just did last week. Haha. We'll see how this goes!

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Let Us

I'm pretty excited about my Tuesday/Thursday schedule, because that means I'll be home before 4. The drawback is that I have to be at work at 8AM, but there's a give-and-take for everything, I suppose. Anyway, that's early enough that there is still some quality light left for picture taking! I love these little lettuce looking things. They have them in a few colors (the purple ones are really neat), and we upretty much grow them every year. They crack me up!

The Process

Today was the first day back at school. I got up before the sun. That. Sucks. But, I had some extra time, which presented me with this chance to see the sunrise. Then, I got home and saw the Pedilanthus macrocarpus (the second Euphorbia I took pictures of yesterday) looking all types of cool with the shadow of itself back there. It is fun to have something from the beginning of the day and the end of the day. The whole process.

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Requests

I got a request from a friend [kendle] to snap a few of these fun little guys in my front yard. They are both from the Euphorbia family. The first one is potted and has grown like crazy... we haven't had it for that long and it has definitely doubled in size, at least. The second (Pedilanthus macrocarpus) is of a baby one my dad planted. We have a few giant ones in the back yard, so it'll be fun to see how these grow.

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An Artist is Born

So I painted a picture! The sketch that I wanted to recreate is there (and much better looking than the end result... but that's okay) so you can see how things transferred from paper to canvas. I had a really great time painting and I really want to try it again.

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Open and Close

Okay, so I still don't know the name of these flowers, but I really really like them. They close up at night and reopen in the daytime. And my mom cut some and brought them in the house and put them in my nice, clean bathroom.

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Freedom

There isn't much better than a beautiful Saturday. No school, no work, no worries. Except I did have to clean the bathroom, but it was fun to have a gorgeous bathtub to shower in, so it's still a win there.

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Chime

My family isn't into very "cutesy" stuff. We're more about simplicity. But my dad got a wind chime for being a "valued subscriber" to a garden/design magazine. We put it up. I like it.

Professional

There is a big meteorite exhibition coming up in my department. We've borrowed a bunch of meteorite samples from various places, and I am in charge of photographing them in their original packaging, and then out of their packaging. This way, we know where they belong, but we also have studio shots if we ever make a book or calendar out of them. And I get credit for the photographs because I'm the one that's been taking them! How neat! It's really great experience if I do choose to go into photography as a career.

I'm using this beautiful Canon Rebel DSLR with a fancy macro lens. Well, I was done shooting, so I decided to get a little artsy. I loaded all of the pictures onto the computer, and when the woman in charge of the exhibit saw them (I had intended on emailing them to myself and then delete them), she loved them! Haha. It was fun to use big flashes and lights. It's been really excellent experience.

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Belated Christmas

So this one time, I made Kendle this awesome collection of photographs. They were her initials that I had found from various places across Tucson. The funny thing is that she had inspired me to do it after talking about this kind of project for someone else (which she didn't end up doing). Well, I put together her initials, and when my brother saw it, he said, "I want that for Christmas. I don't care that it will be late." That was on the 23rd or something. I was thinking about it, and so I decided to take some photographs today. Nothing is final (especially the 'T' - it's my least favorite).

(Gerard P. Kuiper building - where I work on campus)
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("Dentistry" in the Risky Business complex)
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(Irish Pub letter near Blockbuster)

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The project that inspired it all.

Thanks, Posner

I went to Posner's Art Supply today. It's this awesome little "family owned" art store that goes way back. How far back, I don't really know... but at least the 70s or so, if not longer. But anyway, they have great stuff that's pretty inexpensive. I went in there today and bought a thin canvas, a brush, and a little thing of black acrylic paint. I have an idea in mind, and since I don't have school this week, it's the perfect opportunity to give it a shot! Stay tuned to see the results.

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Here's Gary! How they grow up so fast, don't they? I've lost track of how old he is, but he sure has turned out to be a fun little friend.

Shining Through

I held up my awesome new painting to the evening light coming through my window. It is so awesome. Much cooler than the time I used my desk lamp on my Converse painting (though that one was really excellent too, see here). I am loving this painting. I seriously want to get more into art, and specifically painting.

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Let Your Light Shine

I got a new desk lamp from Target. It's simple - white cylindrical shade, slim and discreet silver stem and base, fun chain switch to turn it on and off. It's perfect. I'm at the stage in photography where little details that I used to not notice really really bother me. Like my reflection in the ball at the end of the chain. I. Hate. That. I used to love stuff like that. Now, I'm trying to display personality without actually being present in the photograph. I'm still working on that skill.

Rotation

Opening

A new year? Already? That is so strange to me. Time only moves faster, even when we want it to stop forever. But here's to a year of new possibilities and seizing the day to do something fantastic.

Anyway, every winter we grow Iceland Poppies (photos 1 & 2). They are the funniest little flowers. They look all types of excellent, but after a day they drop all of their petals at the slightest dirty look or gentle sneeze somewhere in the vicinity. But they do make for a really neat photograph.

Oh, and everything is wet because the sprinklers and wind gave the surrounding flower beds a nice little spray.

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