snow and family

christmas and cheer.

the holiday season is a great time for family portraits. so naturally i decided to take sibling portraits.

we are truly a photogenic bunch.

Merry Christmas!

"I know New York, I need New York,

i know i need unique New York."

so a few months ago, way back in October, i skipped a day of class, a gallery opening and went on an adventure. naturally to new york city. where else?

photo credit janelle
to meet up with my dear friends from IWU i had to take mega bus to ohio, and then continue the journey to NYC. and 8 hour bus ride followed by and 8 hour car ride! ooh boy being impulsive, young and adventurous is exhausting.
ya know it was two 8 hour flights that got me to Nairobi, Kenya...


photo credit janelle
it rained our one day in the city. we were brave and fearless and wet. i had never been to the city before and so i wanted to see as much as possible. highland park had to be one of my favorite places we visited. neat neat!
the rain didn't stop others from enjoying the beauty either!

photo credit janelle
we had tickets to see the premiere of the BQE, Sufjan Steven's movie. Osso performed Run Rabbit Run, and instrumental take on Sufjan's earlier recorded Enjoy Your Rabbit.
wonderful wonderful!



ending our day at a hookah bar. peach and mango flavored sheesha. oh yum.

our day (from 9 - 2 am) running about New York City was fantastic. i wish the rain hadn't prevented me from pulling out my camera like it had. but oh well, there's always time for second and third trips to the big city. though my time there was short, very short, and i did see a lot but not all of it, i can honestly say i like Chicago better.
the two cities can't be compared, they just can't, but one is definitely better than the other, that's the city i call home, good old Chicago! even if your weather is bi-polar.

oh chihuahua!

today has been quite the day. i went to the burbs last night to see my parents before they left for vacation. in the morning i got a call from one of my roommates...

"we found a dog"

it just so happens we collect strays. this time being a stray chihuahua puppy... she's cute in an ugly sort of way. hopefully we find the owner's or a nice family. as sweet as she is, we can't have a third dog in the apartment, or a puppy. but in the mean time its kind of fun.

"it" needs a temporary name.

weekend adventure

a few of my favorite memories from a dunes camping adventure with my roommates. it was my second camping experience ever, my first being on the shores of lake victoria in kenya. i've been told that i've done the camping experience thing in reverse, start small and then go to africa. such is my life but anyway...
the indiana dunes have to be one of my favorite road trip destinations. i have wonderfully sandy childhood memories of family-dunes adventures. as i've gotten older the dunes still amaze me just as that once did. so thank you lake michigan for being just so neat.






its officially fall and the fall music has resurfaced. alexi murdoch's fantastic "time without consequence" is on repeat.

i'm having a love affair

its true. with cadmium yellow paint. each time i pull out my paints to start a new project its always always always the first color i squeeze out on my palette. its simply a fantastic color. recently it has come to my attention at the toxicity of cadmium...
over the summer i began a little game in my journals and sketchbooks. i would throw down a random object on the table in front of me and draw it to size, use the grid as a guide. these are a few of the results. nothing fanstastic but a fun way to spend lunch breaks.




happy almost fall.

senior year

this week begins the fall of my senior year. wild. this year i have a pretty nice line up of classes, mostly studio art classes and then of course a sprinkling of easy-peasy gen eds. i really want to build up my work this semester. in roughly nine months i'll have no choice but to be an adult. wild.
"welcome to the real world, it sucks, you'll love it." apparently a quote from Friends?! as said by my brother this afternoon. since when does he watch Friends?
because i am already procrastinating homework... i'm posting some pictures taken from the Chicago Botanical Gardens. in all of the gardens that i've explored, the english walled garden would be my favorite. just a peaceful afternoon surrounded by natural beauty, honestly, what could be better? next time i'm for sure bringing my sketchbook and doing a little field journaling.




hey little bug friend


the colors just kill me.


mom taking a mental picture.

it's the great god bird through it all

for as long as i can remember i've had a fascination with birds. my fascination is not entirely explainable. in almost every piece of art work i've made within the past few years a bird, or some form there of, has been the predominent element. sparrows to cranes, nests to feathers, they are all equally inspiring.
in my backyard there are five or so bird feeders hanging all in the trees. one of my greatest joys while being at home is watching all the different birds that stop by to visit the feeders. with the change of seasons comes a change of birds. there is such beauty to be found in the birds.
i love finding old birding books, they have the best illustrations! i think this one came from my grandpa.

one of my favorite songs also happens to be about a bird, lord god bird by sufjan stevens. (it just so happens to be the current song playing on my computer) the song is about the ivory-billed woodpecker. a beautiful bird that i want to work into a new piece of work.

there is a high probability that i one day turn into the bird lady in marry poppins... okay maybe not.

a visit home

it mostly rained.



when i'm back home i particularly enjoy taking the 'scenic route.' i find that i don't pay attention to the roads... instead i get myself into near car meet tree accidents trying to get a picture while driving. not one my more intelligent moments. oh well.

here's just a few photos i snapped. life in the burbs is pretty slow and much quieter!



barefooted in the backyard feels rather good.



yellow flowers are the best of all others.



it didn't rain the entire time i was visting, it cleared up and finally felt like summer, it got humid. it was a 'catch up with old friends and late night denny's - watch way too many office episodes - still not to old to bring home laundry' visit. so i say it was a good visit home.

and one evening mom and i drove out to the chicago botanical gardens. i haven't been there in ages, and its just as magical as i remembered. soon i'll post some photos from that adventure.

today i was thinking how it seems that each day its beautiful out i manage to be working. and on my days off the weather is terrible. maybe a bit of an exaggeration. but this morning when i woke up i could tell by the sweet scent of the air today would be perfect and i had to be inside for it.

sure enough. the day was beautiful.



the morning light was coming through the summer leaves and resting on the windowsill so gently i couldn't help but sit and just soak in all in before heading into work.

it finally feels like summer in chicago. one of my favorite things to do on hot days is brew some hot mint tea in old ice tea jars i've collected. i let the tea cool and then stick it in the fridge so i have a refreshingly cool drink later.

if you are a dreamer, come in,
if you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar,
a hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer,
if you're a pretender, come sit by my fire,
for we have some flax golden tales to spin,
come in!
come in!
the words of shel silverstein

i felt this was an appropriate way to start something new.

on a recent trip to ikea i happened to meander across the fabrics. i am a sucker for fabric. not to mention a sucker for imitation marimekko fabric! (one day i will own the real deal and it will be fantastic) thank you ikea for bringing great prints and colors to those who appreciate beauty but have empty pockets.
little by little i'm teaching myself to sew. slowly i'm building up a collection of things i've sewn, these curtains being the most recent. not having a sewing machine i just hand stitched the curtains, surprisingly it didn't take very long. right now there is a gentle breeze coming in the window and watching the curtain sway makes me very pleased that i decided to sew curtains rather than buy some.
the fabric was not the only item purchased on my trip to ikea, a lovely aloe plant managed to find its way home with me. it was a good adventure.

the transition from dorm to apartment has been grand. never have i fully felt comfortable in on campus housing. dorm life always felt temporary, something about all my belongings stored away in rubbermaid containers just didn't ever feel like home. since moving into my place i immediately set to making my room feel permanent and mine.

so one night i got a little crafty. i tore the pages from a book i rescued from the library's trash pile (the title of the book was something about swedish contributions to plant breeding... not really something i would consider reading but the pages were yellowing beautifully and it would be a shame to waste) and made a clothesline around my room pinning the pages to twine.




i took a line from a gwen frostic book, "to those who see," which so happens to be a favorite of mine, and painted "they know each wind" on small pieces of craft paper and pinned it to some more twine.

in the end i'm happy with the results. on windy days i get a lovely breeze in my window and the pages of the books float about happily on their clothesline home. it has a calming feeling, the complete opposite of dorm life! just what i wanted for my new place.

Binker

Binker - what i call him - is a secret of my own,
and Binker is the reason why i never fel alone.
playing in the nursery, sitting on the stair,
whatever i am busy at, Binker will be there

oh, daddy is clever, he's a clever sort of man,
and mummy is the best since the world began,
and nanny is nanny, and i call her nan -
but they can't
see
Binker

Binker's always talking, 'cos i'm teaching him to speak:
he sometimes likes to do it in a funny sort of squeak,
and sometimes liked to do in in a hoodling sort of roar...
and i have to do it for him 'cos his throat is rather sore.

oh, daddy is clever, he's a clever sort of man,
and mummy knows all that anybody can,
and nanny is nanny, and i call her nan -
but they don't
know
Binker

Binker's brave as lions when we're running in the park;
Binker's brave as tigers when we're lying in the dark;
Binker's brave as elephants. He never, never cries...
except (like other people) when the soap gets in his eyes.

oh, daddy is daddy, he's a daddy sort of man,
and mummy is as mummy as anybody can,
and nanny is nanny, and i call her nan...
but they're not
like
Binker

Binker isn't greedy, but he does like things to eat,
so i have to say to people when they're giving me a sweet,
"oh, Binker wants a chocolate, so could you give me two?"
and then i eat it for him, 'cos he teeth are rather new.

well i'm very fond of daddy, but he hasn't time to play,
and i'm very fond of mummy, but she sometimes goes away,
and i'm often cross with nanny when she wants to brush my hair...

but Binker's always Binker, and is certain to be there.

- A.A. Milne

the poem we named our childhood dog after. Binker. for the past 15 years that dog has been a blessing.
goodbye dear friend.

the start of something new.