Papermoth

I love Papermoth's designs. I bought an 8x10 of the print just below for my best friend's birthday a couple of years ago, because she is always picking up dandelions that have gone to see and making wishes as she blows the seeds away.

So the image above is the only one I've purchased, but I love so many of the designs, including the ones below.

50 Things

Swismiss posted a lot of great things today.

This amazing inflatable iceberg that I want to buy and take to the lake house for the Knight family reunion, and this list of 50 Things Every Graphic Design Student Should Know, from Jamie Wieck.

This one above is my favorite. I'm so prone to comparing myself to others... so this is good for me to keep in mind.

I thought the advice given was really great. Maybe I should set a reminder for myself to read it weekly. :)

I want one. But not for $50.

Genuine Genius Necklace from ModCloth

So eventually I might try to make one myself. Should be suuuuuper easy. Loop some suede cord through itself around a nice smooth ribbon (so I don't scratch the back o' my neck), and voila. A nice bib necklace that's just the right length and color scheme for my proportions and skin tone.

Yes? (Yep, I think so, too.)

Could I be any happier? Maybe, but not much.

Okay, Kiwi Fresh'ins should pay me for how much I am going to talk up their shoe inserts right now.

In Paris I bought a similar product--a disposable shoe liner--to wear in all my ballet flats that I didn't want to wear socks with.

I have wanted to buy them ever since I've come home, but never found them in the US. Well, today I found them online at Kiwi for Women!!

Seriously, if you like to wear shoes without socks, and you hate the tiny footie socks (since they fall off half the time anyway), you should get some. Find them here: Kiwi Fresh'ins (a.k.a. every girl's lifesaver). They are only $3.99 for a six-pair pack.

I haven't tried this particular brand before, but I think they would have to be seriously unfortunate to disappoint me.

Hooray! (And you're welcome in advance.)

St. George and Zion National Park

A few weeks ago some friends and I went to stay at my parents' condo in St. George. I went down a day early and spent some time in Zion National Park. Deeee-lightful.

We stopped by the temple for a few minutes, and then drove up above the city to catch the glow of the sunset on the red rocks.

Beautiful, no?

All pics by me.

Back in 'Business'

Image Credit

So, I may be starting up the Thursday Night Supper Club again. But it will be on Fridays, since I won't have Friday classes during summer or fall semesters (nice, right?).

I'm excited to get back into the kitchen and start experimenting with new recipes again.

Visual Nocturne, Musical Nocturne

The last little while I've been really inspired by this painting by James McNeil Whistler.
It's called Nocturne in Black and Gold : The Falling Rocket.
It's an impressionist piece depicting fireworks and the resulting smoke lingering over the Thames.

Also, this website will create a reproduction in any size starting at about $150. Hello. If I had any money, this would be on my wall. ANd I would stare at it while listening to this:

Paved with Good Intentions

I'm going to ignore the fact that the beginning of the well known proverb states that it's the path to Hell that's paved with good intentions.

Instead, I choose to believe that the path to a happy future is paved (a.k.a. awkwardly cobbled together) with good intentions, half-starts, mistakes, and refining moments, which eventually become less and less messy and lead to calm, authenticity, and joy.

I dropped out of school. I love art history, but I don't want to DO art history. I know. You can mock me. I pick something I want to do and I am gung-ho for a while, and then change my mind.*

In other (very much related) news, I have come to a mutual decision with my boss that I'll only be at my current job until April sometime. I'm not happy here, and we both know it. He wants me to be happy (and so do I), and he needs someone in my position who is passionate about it (which I am not).

So, lots of things to think about in the coming weeks. Lots of prayer, trips to the temple, self-reflection, and a lot of facing my fears. The things I think I would love to do for a living are not really that stable (painting, designing jewelry). The only exception to that is graphic design, which I am currenly considering. It's creative, which I love, and it also gives me a skill that will allow me to work for companies and organizations that I really believe in (UNESCO, art museums, anti-trafficking organizations, literacy organizations, etc.), without changing my qualifications every time I turn around.

Here's to getting a second Bachelor's Degree. Oy. At least this one will be marketable. :)

Wish me luck!



*And I reserve the right to keep doing so until I've found my happy place.

Research Proposal

For my research proposal, I decided to compare and contrast The Return of the Prodigal Son as depicted by three different artists: Rembrandt, Tissot, and Chagall. I'm going to talk about their religious backgrounds briefly so there is some personal context, and then I will address their artistic style and a few formal elements--most likely color, lighting, and perspective.

Fun, right? :) You probably don't think so, but I am actually really looking forward to seeing how the paper turns out. My rough draft is due tomorrow, so I'll be spending a few hours on it tonight and polishing it up over the next few weeks. The concept of a rough draft is weird for me--I usually just sit down and write it out in one sitting or two straight from beginning to end and then have a couple of people look over it. This will be a new adventure in disciplining myself to just getting the general ideas down and getting the structure and flow together without worrying about my exact word choice and whatnot from the get-go.

These are the paintings I'll be discussing:

Tissot's

Chagall's

Rembrandt's



Ooh, they just give me chills.

Change

I like change. I crave it. It's refreshing and renewing to me.

My college roommates used to joke about me being pregnant all the time because I always wanted to move our furniture around in different configurations. When I owned a house, the artwork on the walls changed about every 6 months.

So. Why bring this up? Well, I just realized today that it is an important factor to consider as I'm weighing different career options.

My most recent career decision is Museum Studies. And I happen to think it's a perfect fit for me.

For the past 6 months or more, I've been trying to decide between art, education, and public administration.

Museum Studies combines them all. I decided I would really love to be the education director of a museum--coordinating workshops, seminars, school tours, creating curriculum based on permanent and temporary exhibits.

Think about it: I would be involved in education (check), surrounded by art and constantly thinking about/researching/talking about art (check), and the content I develop would change regularly, as would the people to whom the information is presented (check). Art, education, public administration, and change.

It's been a long time coming... but I feel really good about it!

So, to help get some experience under my belt, I am volunteering as a docent at both the Springville Museum of Art and the BYU Museum of Art. I'm really excited.

(I just hope it doesn't mean another 4 years of undergrad studies before I can do a Museum Studies Certification.)

Keep your fingers crossed for me! ('Cause I'm going to do it all while working full time.)

Spring Break 2009 Mosaic

Just messing with Big Huge Labs' Mosaic Maker today. I rather enjoy mosaics. I also quite enjoy Europe.

(Sigh)

Many of you already know...

... that I'm a bit obsessed with earrings.

Well, a week or so ago I counted my earrings, just out of curiosity. I discovered that I had over 175 pairs on my earring storage/display racks, and if I'm going to be honest, I tend to wear the same 20 or 30 pair over and over, if that.

So--shallow as it may seem--I decided that I would challenge myself to wear every single pair of earrings I own once before I can wear any of them a second time. I'm also not allowing myself to wear any newly-purchased earrings until I've gone through the existing stash.

Some of you may care, some of you may not. But I started a blog about it so I wouldn't end up posting them all here. It's called the Earring Appreciation Project, and it's all about earrings: the ones I own and wear, the ones I wish I could afford but can't, and the ones I discover in different places (on people, online... wherever).

If you're interested, hop over and take a look. If you're not interested, feel free to mock me. (I'll only be somewhat offended.)

Roberts family reunion!

I don't remember the exact dates, but pretty quickly after I'd arrived home, the Roberts extended family had our annual festival of fun, food, and fire.

Well, the fire part isn't really annual unless you count a barbecue grill. But this year there was fire.

Anyway.

In what seemed like no time at all, I went from this to this:





And I'm not gonna lie... If I had to give one of them up permanently, it would be a pretty tough decision. I love the mountains. The trees, the crisp air, the wide open feel.
The reunion was at the Heber Valley Camp, and they had a lot of different activities that we could participate in, as well as a huge pavilion where we could hang out and enjoy each other's company. My favorite part of the reunion was the zipline on the challenge course.
I love the mountains, I love the rolling hills...

Musee D'Orsay: The exterior

I think the Musee D'Orsay is really pretty on the outside. Like many, many buildings in Paris.

Music at Place de la Chatelet

While I was waiting for a friend at the Chatelet metro stop, this was going on near the fountain.
This kind of stuff is one of the best things about living in a big city.

Caveau de la Huchette

Another reason I will always love Rue de la Huchette is that it is the home of the very first Jazz club I went to.

I wish I would have gone sooner, but I'm glad I got there before I left, at least. (And barely. I went the night before I came home, just after a teaching and dinner appointment with the Sister missionaries.)

If you like music and you're visiting Paris, this was a lot of fun. (Please also note that it is item #46 of my 101 in 1001.)

Rue de la Huchette

Rue de la Huchette is a total tourist trap.

And I love every bit of it.

Actually, in the off-season, you'll find just as many French people enjoying lunch there as foreign visitors. There is Greek, Chinese, Indian, Italian, and I don't know what other kinds of food offered on Huchette and the small streets winding off of it.

This street is just off of the Place St-Michel as well. (I'm not lying, it's a great area).

I spent a lot of time in this area because it was right by the school where I took grammar classes 5 days a week.

But I would never get a hotel room on that street. Way too noisy late at night. Just get a hotel nearby, and then you'll have access to the St-Michel Metro and the St-Michel/Notre Dame RER stops. You can pretty much get anywhere from this part of the city.

Promenade Plantee

I think it was the Design*Sponge Paris city guide that pointed me toward the Promenade Plantee as something worth visiting. I had never even heard of it, but it was a beautiful escape from the crowded, noisy sidewalks. I spent at least an hour walking along the promenade, which is built on an old viaduct that used to be the home to a set of elevated train tracks.



Some of the things I saw as I walked:

(My sad attempt at capturing myself on the Promenade. Let's be honest--this picture could have been taken anywhere. But I had to try.)

The Jardin de Reuilly park. A total hidden gem. (Well, not totally hidden, as you can see. But not packed by any means.)

If you visit Paris and have an hour or two that you'd like to escape the city for a while, this is definitely worth your time. I enjoyed it a lot, and I decided I wouldn't mind living in that area--it seemed pretty cool.

To access the promane plantee, take the Metro to Bastille, and you'll find the promenade plantee behind the opera building.