Thursday! yay! :)

The fair was fun last night and Rodney Atkins was great! So were the fried oreos and the ferris wheel! However it was ridiculous how expensive everything was! I guess I am finally getting to that age where I really realize those kind of things and how quickly it all adds up....oh well....I still had a blast :)


Even though I have been cutting for around two days straight now I'm actually not sick of this project yet... :)
To me it looks like something out of a whimsical story book! Which is completely a good thing :) :)

I decided to change the owl patterns that I was questioning yesterday, they caused a little to much jumble. I went with other patterns of green orange and blue and placed them across from their same color. I think it looks more unified this way :)  Once i get all the leaves and the little pieces that go on all the owl bellies cut out....I'll be done!

I don't know if anyone is familar with Pandora radio but it's absolutely one of the best things that a tech savy person ever thought of! It's completely free and you basically make your own radio station! All you have to do is just sign-up for an account and start listening :)


Example: I really like fleetwood mac...so if i went to pandora.com and typed in fleetwood mac it would start playing music that was like fleetwood mac's music.... I just did this and the eagles take it easy popped right up (ah! I really like that too!!!) seeeeee it's so cool! oh so then there are two little buttons that look like a thumb that's up and one that's down....if you really really like the song you can click thumbs up and pandora knows to play more like that....thumbs down and pandora will steer clear!!! you don't always have to click those they're just a little extra thing....you can also skip songs, but!!! you can only skip 6 times!!! you can change stations whenever you want just click create new station...


ok soooo correction I don't think you even have to have an account!one of the perks of having an account is that the site saves your stations....


Lately I've had my pandora set on Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, this morning in class I was listening and her song Nothing but the Water came on.....It's good stuff! I've looked for a version of it on youtube but they're all live and recorded so instead I'll just post the lyrics....


I have seen what man can do
When the evil lives inside of you
Many are the weak
And the strong are few
But with the water
We'll start anew


Well, won't you take me down to the levy, take me down to the stream, take me down to the water,
we're gonna wash our souls clean, take me down to the river, take me down to the lake,
Yes, we'll all go together, we're gonna do it for the good Lord's sake


I have fallen so many times
For the devil's sweet, cunning rhymes
And this old world
Has brought me pain
But there's hope
For me again


There's a little more to it but this is the best part. I'll keep looking for a recording of it. She isn't necessarily a Christian artist or anything she's just a newer fresher voice and she kind of does what she wants...




ohhh here's a picture from girl's night out the other night :)

I know all of this is a little random....but it's just one of those really random days for me....hehe :)

Rodney Atkins Tonight!

Aloooong time ago, when I was in the eleventh grade.... (hehe) I rode the bus to vo-tech everyday along with three other people, two of which were my closest guy friends (I think I said that right). Anyways, they sang a lot and they were hilarious. Somewhere between I'm a dinosaur and a pick-up truck and a dozen roses (they're country boys if you can't tell) they started singing something about a buck-a-roo...... It was a Rodney Atkins' song and I'll be seeing him live in a few hours at the Neshoba County Fair :) I know this story was of no importance what so ever, but I miss bus rides to vo-tech with those two.

I've been working on my project all afternoon and it's actually starting to come together quickly :)

This is the only piece that is almost completely finished. I still have some tiny leaves that I have to cut out and glue down.

This is everything else that I have done and completely glued...

The other little squares on this one will eventually look like owls... I'm still trying to decide if I like the ones that aren't polka dots.

Randomness: I want a tapestry to hang in my bedroom. Some of them are absolutely gorgeous. I've wanted one forever now so I think I am about to act on this want of mine and make it happen! :)

I was going to try and find a good picture to give you an idea of what I have in my mind but I'm not having google luck today....

Anyways, if you're interested and you'd like to see some really pretty ones here's a link......

Urban Outfitters- Tapestry

They show some of them laying on beds which is also really neat, but the apartment I live in doesn't allow us to paint....so I have to get creative :) Crazy people like me are probably the reasons they don't want us painting.

I hope everyone has a beautiful Wednesday evening :) This week feels like it's flying by!

Do what you like, like what you do...one of my favorite types of t-shirts is made by life is good, this saying is usually included somewhere on their shirts :) I like it! and yes, life is good....

I'm hungry (due to hunger I couldn't come up with a better title)

:) Last night, we ended up having to move girl's night to Old Venice since Restaurant Tyler is closed on Monday...We weren't too upset considering that everyone in the group loves Old Venice!

After we ate we got ice cream from Cold Stone........yeah......I had a few calories last night haha :)

Later on I made a trip to Wal-Mart to pick out scrap booking paper for my project. I'm pretty sure I want to be the person that designs scrap book paper! It's sooooo pretty..... I think I can combine the past couple of weeks and start a career.   

Stamped and Recycled Scrapbook Paper Maker at your service! :) :)

Our teacher had us look at an artist's work in class yesterday to try and gain inspiration for our current project. He asked us to google images of Charley Harper art and as soon as my screen popped up I realized that I'd recently seen this artist's work. In a split second I realized I'd seen it on display at the Memphis Zoo in May. I was pretty tickled that I had actually seen this man's work on display in person!!!

Here are some pretty neat ones!!! If you're interested in seeing more just google Charley Harper art :)

Last night, I also sketched out what I wanted my design to look like for this project....and tweaked it just a little bit this morning :) I tried to keep it simple, because I am doing cut-outs instead of painting.

After I had the sketch like I wanted and both my teacher and I were pleased with it I took it to have it copied 3 times on each side (I drew it on tracing paper so a copy machine could pick up the mirrored image). So in total I then had 6 pizza shaped pieces...........

Next step, cut them out and put them together! :)

I was sooooo excited when I put these together! Pretty sure I was doing a happy dance :)
I think it's amazing how this came together and looked so different by simply using a repeated pattern. :) :) :)

So, now for the time consuming part....every little shape will be cut out of scrap book paper.... I am trying my best to stay on top of things. I have already started cutting :)

At this point I am pretty excited! I think it has potential to be a nice piece for portfolio review next summer.

I think that's about all for today :)

I hope everyone has a great night :) For me, I think it's going to be a gym, grilled cheese, cut-outs kinda night!

Be not afraid of going slowly be only afraid of standing still  -Chinese Proverb

          I found this in one of the scrap booking things....I should probably take it to heart, sometimes out of fear of going too slow I think I mess up and stand still....

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

                         -John Lennon (from Imagine)

Creative Weekend and Final Project

Happy Monday!

Friday night, after an Applebee's family supper, I got to work on making recycled paper for my Design Project. I know I might sound like a nerd, but it was a blast!! I had so much fun and it turned out even better than expected. In fact, it was so great that I am dropping out of college to become a professional recycled paper maker!
Soooo maybe not dropping out :) but really it was fun and I plan on doing it again soon.

I'll explain a little bit about this paper making stuff :)

First, I blended scraps of paper with water in a blender and then I poured that into a large container. I did this a couple of times so that I would have plenty of pulp to dip my homemade screen into. I made this homemade screen by stapling (with my amazingly amazing staple gun!) fiberglass window screen to an 8 x 10" picture frame.

My Screen!!! Notice staple gun in top right corner.... :)



After dipping the screen into the pulp and pulling it out there was a layer of pulp on top of the screen. I then took a piece of felt and pressed some of the water out of the pulp. After, I flipped it over and pressed some more water out with a sponge, I thumped the screen so that the paper would turn loose and I could raise the screen up.

Reminder>> This is how I wanted to include my lyrics in my project and it also had to relate to weeds somehow. 

When I blended the paper up I threw some of the pages from Tiger Beat into the mixture. While the screen was still in the pulp I pressed whole paper into the pulp that had the lyrics printed on it. I also pressed pieces of grass into the mix to help represent weeds. I have to give my roomie credit for mentioning that I should press the lyrics into the wet pulp!

Here is a picture of the paper before I took it off the screen :)

This is the part where I am ashamed to tell you that before I turned this project in this morning I forgot to take a final picture of it.....oops......but I pinky promise that I'll post one as soon as my teacher gets them graded and back to us! :)

For a while now I have been wanting to try melting an old record. Sunday night on a whim I decided to go for it! :) It turned out completely awesome! The roomie agreed and it's now sitting on the coffee table. :)

I found one with an awesome center design a while back when I went road-tripping with the parents :)

Right out of the oven! It started melting within seconds...

The birth of a bowl....hehe ;)

A week from today I will be done with my Design II class.... :(

Our final project is somewhat complicated to explain....I'll do the best that I can ..

So far I have split a 17" circle into 6 pie shaped pieces. Now I have to come up with a design for one of those pieces and repeat it in every pie shaped piece. The design has to include an animal and things that relate to the animal. I picked an owl!! (I love them!) We have the choice to either paint or do cut-outs. I think I am going to do cut-outs and use different types of the cute scrap booking paper. I'll keep you updated :)

This is the owl design that I am kind of going by....

As you can see I am not going the realistic route :) I'm trying to keep the lines clean and  simple so that the colors and designs on the scrap booking paper won't make it too busy.



Waiting on 5! Tonight we are having a girl's night/send off/ fancy dinner at Restaurant Tyler. Send off -because a friend of mine is about to move out of town to attend pharmacy school. I think the rest is self explanatory :)

I hope everyone has had a great Monday and that the rest of the week will follow suit :) If your Monday was blah then I hope the rest of your week smiles on you :) :)

Cattails and Dandelions :)

Last night, I went with my mom and sister to see Winnie the Pooh :) It was adorable!!! I am pretty sure we giggled like little girls through out the whole movie. I for sure recommend it!

After the movie we ran to Wal-Mart so I could get supplies for my project... I am turning some of my weeds into cattails and I also made some dandelion looking little things to go with them.

I put the green glaze I was talking about over the magazine/stem part. Then to make the head of the cattail I unrolled cotton balls and wrapped them around the wire to show the thickness. After doing that I took brown yarn and wrapped it completely around the cotton balls. I thought it turned out pretty neat. :)

The dandelions are pieces of hemp cord tied in the center. I wrapped a wire around their center and attached them to flat wooden sticks. I was going to paint them but I think I might hold off on that, they kinda look cool just plain.

The next part to this project is creatively displaying the lyrics to the song someway. It still has to relate back to the object. My idea is to make recycled paper! Ultimately, paper is organic and recycling is organic...to make it relate to my project a little bit more I'm going to include blades of grass in the pulp mix! I am super excited about trying this out tonight :) Weird thing to do on a Friday night, I know...but this is due Monday.
I can't believe that I only have one more week left and I'll be done with Design II :( :( We have one more pretty intense project and we'll be done.

I wish I could incorporate this picture into my project somehow! I love the posters like this that give the Latin names of plants and animals. I saw one with butterflies while I was in Urban Outfitters in Baton, Rouge. It was awesome!!! The mushroom one they have is equally as awesome ;) (hint hint moma Christmas, just saying and if you think about it, it's kinda sorta educational) hehe :D

 Thought: I am just as guilty as the next but I really should stop wishing my weeks away just to get to two days that someone deemed "weekend". Everyday is amazing whether you have to get up and go to class, work, or whatever! Just smile, even if you don't want to, and think it could always be worse. The weekend could only be one day! (Eeeek!) hehe just kidding! really.... enjoy everyday, they are truly gifts :)

Happy Friday everyone! :)

Visit From The Muchkin!

I finally decided to make a run for it yesterday afternoon and just leave my art stuff at work since I was prepared in no way what so ever to fight the rain. Barefoot and running through the parking lot to my car in a white blouse....good stuff. :)

When I made it to the apartment the munchkin (my sister, this is just one of my many nick names for her) was waiting for me. She came running to my apartment door with her pillow over her head. Once inside she informed me that she brought cokes and lemon cookies because I don't have any junk food. In some ways I guess that could be a complement. I'm not really sure but I think my sister could do without sugar in her system...she's hyper enough as it is ;).
 We decided on Umi's for supper (sushi restaurant) and I invited my soon to be roommate and her friend to go with us. My sister wanted to give sushi another shot since the last time she tried it, it was an epic fail.....by epic fail I thought she was scarred for life and would never look at the stuff again. Normally if sushi is mentioned her face describes how she feels about it. It involves her tongue hanging out and rolled eyes. I have to say though I tasted what she decided on ordering last time and we like to describe it as tasting like a hospital. So you can see why I was shocked. Once there she decided to get a sushi roll that someone suggested she try. Thank the Lord, it wasn't round two of epic fail at Umi's. I have to mention that she referred to edamame as snap beans. Gotta love her!

After Umi's we went to Local Culture to get frozen yougurt, we decided it would be ok since we were going to play racquetball afterwards............but the electricity being out sort of ruined our plans and we didn't get to play. I was pretty upset about that but at least now she has a reason to come back and visit me! :)

My project is coming along nicely! I'm super excited to get back to work on it after work today.
This morning before heading to class I had to run by CVS to pick up one of those pre-teenagery magazines that are full of bieber and swift drama (to make the stems of my weeds out of). Tiger Beat, what can I say I was embarrased to pick you up off of the magazine shelf and proceed to the front of the store. Luckily at 7:40 not too many people are in CVS. I put the magazine on the counter....thought to myself that the girl checking me out would probably get a good laugh out of it when i walked out. I should've just smiled insanely and said I have Bieber fever, hugged the magazine to my chest and happily exited the store (as always, I think of what I should've done afterwards).

Through out class today we discussed music, all of it the good, the bad, the just plain ugly, and the stuff we just didn't understand what so ever (Friday by Rebecca Black, Youtube this and you'll see what I mean by we don't understand).

So when I stumbled upon the posters in the center of my Tiger Beat magazine, my teacher realized what I had and he found it necessary to put the one of Justin Bieber on the wall in our studio. Since most art students are opposed to such music it should be hilarious to see the response that this poster gets. We all got a pretty big kick out of the poster and even decided  that he needed caption bubbles around his face.

This is what my weeds currently look like.

I'm going to put a green glaze over them so that you can still tell that it's pages from a magazine but they'll resemble a plant a little more. I know they probably look sort of odd at the moment but they'll eventually get there :)

Sneezing Baby Panda 

If you need a good laugh check this out :) My sister watched it repeatedly and giggled every time it ended!

Smile :) and have a wonderful night!

Happy Humpday!

I wasn't going to post today but I just wanted to let everyone know that I have been busy painting all afternoon. I was attempting to get a jump start so I wouldn't have a busy night! My reason behind this is because my sister is coming to spend the night with me! *happy dance* We are planning on playing racquetball and going to Local Culture (frozen yogurt place). I'm almost positive that I will have tons to say tomorrow. When we were younger moma always said we were more trouble when we got along than when we were fussing. It still holds true! I'm trying my best to get her to move in with me after she graduates next year. I need a few more years of living with her, 15 wasn't quite enough.


This one is from a while back when she spent the night with me :) I think you probably understand hehe ;)

It's raining like crazy here! When you have artwork to carry around all day it puts a whole new spin on trying to stay dry.

Anywho! Have an awesome Wednesday night everyone :)

P.S. I just want everyone to know that my mom has been keeping me informed on how much everyone is enjoying this. I want to say thank you for enjoying it, knowing you do brightens my day. :)

Done with Printmaking and Moving on to a New Project!

I have some what recovered from yesterday, when I say recovered I mean I am just holding it all together a little bit better today...Eventually it'll probably get worse before it's completely better but it will all work out in the end.


I am done with printmaking and my collages :) I plan on doing more in my free time...eventually, because free time isn't something I have an abundance of!


Here they are!!

Open

Probably my favorite!

Monochromatic

Earth Tones

My Other Favorite!

Complementary Colors

Blue-Green & Red-Orange

Cool Colors with Warm Accents

I promise these would probably look better in person or if they weren't taken from my phone....

I'm thinking with a frame and maybe not such crazy colors and some different stamps some prints and collages like this would look great framed! I have been playing with the idea of maybe doing a few and framing them and seeing what people's reactions would be at some of the surrounding arts festivals.

New Project >>>> First pick a song or a poem that has an organic object in it. Examples: Strawberries (Strawberry Fields Forever), Flowers (The Rose), Small animals (The Raven), etc.

Then, we have to make the actual object we've chosen using items or an item that relates back to the object in some way.

For example a a bird >>> A girl in one of the previous classes used twigs to create the shape of a bird, because birds build nests out of twigs. It looked awesome wish I had a picture of it to show you guys!

We also have to have an actual image of our object that we've pulled from the Internet using google. From that image we have to match 8 paint samples out of the paint section at Wal-Mart or Lowe's. We have to make some type of color grid from that not exactly sure yet. When I know more I'll try and explain that part a little better. :)

So I deliberated for a while last night on what I could do.....When I do projects like this I like to think outside the box. I like to come up with a concept that the viewer has to think about a little bit more than usual to actually understand it instead of just looking at it and moving on... I like for people to be able to ponder the idea and make it their own. At the same time I want them to understand my motive, and appreciate the thought that I put into the project.

So I decided to do Waiting in the Weeds.... :)

After I made my second post yesterday and found the comment that Don Henley made about the song (see the post before this one if you missed it), the wheels in my crazy brain got to  turning and I'll try to explain the best I can....

Weeds are my organic object. As I explained above I have to make the object (weeds) using something that relates to weeds..... The song is more than just a love song as Henley spoke about in his comment. It is about how The Eagles waited so long (14 years!!!) to put out the long road out of eden album. They waited among the weeds (meaning the bad music years we've been through) and waited for the right time to put it out.

In order to make my weeds I am going to take pages out of magazines that show the likes of bieber, taylor swift, and lady gaga and scrunch/wrap them around wire. I'll probably go over it with a green glaze just to give it a green color. I apologize if this offends anyone that might prefer this type of music. I completely understand and respect the fact that everyone is entitled to their own opinion. :)

After a surprise visit, a heart to heart, and a dinner date with my Aunt Deb last night, I decided that I have three of the best sisters in the world, in my life.... My baby sister of course, my aunt (my mom's sister), and my mom (my aunt's sister).....I know it's a different way to say it and kinda weird but just think about  it, we're all sisters, just not directly to one another :)

There's nothing in this world like a mom, a sister, or an aunt! This way I can just include them all in one line! :) 

ok , I know I'm crazy ;)

Hope your Tuesday is going great! :) Smile!

Oh! Here are some pictures from this weekend!

Waiting in the Weeds

I was just going to post once today but I couldn't really wait until tomorrow to post this song....

It's just been one of those days....and this certain song is keeping me company at the moment....

Waiting in the Weeds - The Eagles
I have to give props to my mom for feeding my music obsession and making it possible for me to hear this one live....Truly Amazing....It's just as good coming through the speakers on my laptop tonight though :)

Waiting in the Weeds  <<<< click to hear it!!

Song facts:

Don Henley told Billboard magazine on October 12, 2007: "Here I am, just turned 60. I'm not complaining. I'm thrilled and delighted. None of us ever thought it would go on this long. But we are a determined bunch of guys. We take our time. We are not afraid of the passage of time, necessarily, and we've been sitting one out for a long time. That is kind of what 'Waiting In The Weeds' implies. Again, on the surface, that's a love song, but it's also about this band. We've just been sort of waiting for some of this bad music to die down, for certain trends to go away, so that we can get out there on the dance floor again. We are a band that knows how to bide its time, and how to wait."

Thoughts for the day...

I've come to the conclusion that life isn't always easy, and that the saying you don't always get what you want isn't exactly always true.

To an extent, you can get and have what you want but is it really what you need or  what God wants....
I know so far my blogs have been not so serious, but today I just need to get some thoughts off my chest.

I believe in God like there is no tomorrow. I believe he gave me everything that I have today and for that I am extremely thankful. Without him I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't have anything. I know that if I ask him to help me he will, because he has proven himself to me time and time again. Even without that I would still believe in him. He lifts me up when I am hurting and guides me when it's dark. I probably pray about things that some people would think I was nuts for but my faith in God is that strong. I don't give God ten percent of each check that I receive because I have to, I do it because I know it's right and I have seen the miracles and the wonders that he has worked because I am so faithful and willing to give to him. I give him the glory and tears come to my eyes when unannounced scholarships fall into my school account, because I know it came from his hand. I know that he has a plan and I know that if I trust him he will guide me. I fall, almost every week. My school work is tough and I often find myself doubting that I can do something or make a deadline. Those of you who talk to my mom much probably know the setbacks I have encountered in the past year and the hurdles that I have had to jump. (for those of you who don't: an added year of school and a failing hard drive, just to name a few)
I took the added year of school as God's way of telling me to slow down. And the hard drive failing days before a project was due, well to make a long story short, I got a new one in about two days.  Not to mention, I only had a short period left on a warranty that allowed me to get a new one free. Before I walked in the tech center to ask someone to look at my laptop, I told God I was giving my problems to him and asked him to let his will be done. The moment the guy in the office ran a test on it and looked up at me to tell me that my hard drive was failing, I believe God laid hands on him. He became my angel for the next few days and got everthing running smoothly again. In today's world people aren't always that nice, but God's people are.

Always trusting God is easier said than done.... it would be so nice if for once I could just put all my emotions to the side and follow what I know he wants me to do.

My problem with following it is that I don't know what to expect after I take that step. I know trusting him is again the only answer......but as I am sure all of you know it's easier said than done....

I am facing a pretty big hurdle at the moment. It isn't school related and it isn't life threating. Just one of those things that you sometimes have to face.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer and I feel God pulling on my heart strings, now I just have to take a leap of faith....

Day 3: Raquetball turned my giggle box over...

After work yesterday I played racquetball... This was a first for me and will definitely not be the last! However, I should warn anyone who might ever play this game with me that I get quite tickled. By tickled I don't mean just a few he he's.... I mean Shadow giggles.... Let me explain....At first I might be able to say a few words (to possibly explain what's so extremely funny that I can't control my giggling) then it turns into a breathless giggle and I can barely communicate at all for laughing so hard and at this point I most likely have my hands over my face to cover the huge smile that shows all my teeth and covers my whole face, Eventually I might have tears in my eyes and yes I'm pretty sure I look like a complete crazy person (sometimes you just can't hide the truth). You're probably wondering what in the world was so hilarious that I couldn't control my laughter to the point that my giggle box just turned right on over? I believe anyone who can laugh at their own mistakes and mess-ups is just a little bit better off in this world. That being said I can't always laugh at myself right away, but racquetball is a proven exception! (on my list anyways) I am sure you are gathering from this that I wasn't the best at racquetball. In fact, I am sure people who passed by laughed at me, but hey at least I made them laugh! My laughter could also have something to do with the fact that I named the ball "Critter". I don't know it might have been just one of those "you had to be there" things but it was hilarious. Racquetball is also a great work out! I was dragging afterwards and my arm was just a tad on the sore side.

After supper, I got to work on my stamping again! I have to admit I think I liked some of them better without the foreground stamps.

Left to Right:

Earth Tones, Monochromatic, Open, Cool Colors w/ Warm Accent, Complementary Colors

Monochromatic

In class today he had us start thinking of ways we wanted to collage are prints. Keep in mind they have to have a sense of balance. Pretty easy to manage with monochromatic. The others might be a challenge!

Open

We could use an colors that we wanted to on this set. My teacher wasn't crazy about the second one from the left. I believe we deemed that the kindergarten stamp.... It wasn't used on any of the others.... :(

Also, today in class he showed us how to use a glaze to strengthen some of our weaker prints.

(Notice which one was considered weaker) I have to say though it does look better now.

Our weekend assignment is to play around with combinations for our collages and we're going to finish up on Monday.

For our next project, he told us to be thinking of a song or poem that mentioned an organic object (strawberries, flowers, anything like that). I'll be sure and keep you updated on that one!

We talk about everything in class! My purpose for saying that is, I told them that my giggle box turned over while I was playing racquetball. My teacher (native land: California) had never heard the term "giggle box turned over" along with some of the other people in my class (the ones who were more local had). They decided that it must be a southern term.

I hope everyone has a spectacular weekend! I'm thinking I might check out Starkville's Community Market in the morning, I am excited and have been wanting to go for a while now!

Some interesting Lyrics...Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam...I love the intro music! Look it up :) Below are some song facts I found that kind of explain the lyrics...

There are two prominent theories regarding the title of this song:

1) The name "Yellow Ledbetter" derives from an old tongue twister in which you try to say "yellow better, red better" as fast as you can. Just a few times repeated, the words become jumbled and you get "yellow ledbetter." The reason they named the song this is because the lyrics are indistinguishable just like the tongue twister.

2) It's a tribute to Huddy Ledbetter (known as Leadbelly), who was one of the founding fathers of Blues in the 1930s, and recorded much of his music while in jail for assault. Leadbelly first recorded many classic tunes which have been covered by many bands, like "Land of the Rising Sun" and "Where Did You Sleep Last Night."

Eddie Vedder admits that he changes the lyrics and meaning of the song when he performs it, but he wrote the song with one story in mind, which he told at a concert in Newark, New Jersey on August 7, 2008. He asked if anyone had any questions, and a fellow asked what the lyrics to "Yellow Ledbetter" were. Instead of going word for word, Eddie simply told the story of the song.

The song was written during the first gulf war, when "Papa Bush" was President, as Eddie calls him. The story is about a young Grunger kid, all dressed up in his flannels with the long greasy hair. His brother goes off to fight in the war and gets killed. He gets a letter that comes in one of those yellow army envelopes and learns of his brother's death. So, all upset, he decides to go out and walk it off. On his walk he passes by a neat, middle-aged or elderly couple sitting on their front porch having some tea, and he sees that they have an American flag out. He gives a wave, because he feels like he relates: "The flag, my brother, you know..." But they don't know, of course. They don't know what's underneath the grunge and the long hair. All they see are the outward appearances, and they don't wave back.
The song has changed its meaning over time and Eddie changes the words to suit whatever is on his mind.

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=1417

 

 

 

Day 2: Slug, Prints, and Paint Everywhere

Yes, the title of this has the word slug in it.... I'll explain along with the update on my printmaking project.

My mom and sister came to town last night and ate supper with me. I love visits from them! I had an amazing club salad from Oby's. After we ate I headed back to the apartment to get started on my printmaking project. After the first one I was completely hooked!!! I have always said that I wished I could find that one thing that I can just do, no thinking, no doubting, nothing, just work and lose myself. I think this might definitely be one of those things....(*happy dance*) (for those of  you who don't know me or aren't around me on a regular basis, I dance a lot, randomly, without thinking, with or without music, ;) it's just a me thing). So right away, I knew I had to share my joy with someone! I called my friend (who I knew would appreciate this awesomeness) and told her she should come by and check it out. We both agreed a Saturday of making stamps and painting just for fun was a must. I had already been questioning one of my stamps and thought that it needed more detail in the design. I welcomed her to play around with it if she wanted. After grabbing an x-acto and elaborating on my original design, it turned out great! Kudos to her! She's way talented!

Somewhere around 10:30 and the 16th sheet that I had to stamp (there are 25 in all), I was standing over my trash can cleaning a stamp, when I realized there was about a 3 inch slug crawling up my wall...... Ok.... I don't don't don't like creepy crawlers....I may be southern to the core, not scared of getting muddy, jumped quiet a few hay bales, but I don't do critters. Especially slimy icky ones in my house! I shrieked and jumped and said ewe a few times and I am sure my face showed everything that was going through my mind. Salt,of course was the first thing to enter my mind, call me cruel if you must but I did it. Actually, OVER did it might be more along the lines of the truth. There is salt all around my back door. Probably should have brought out the yellow tape stuff police use and roped the area off. Crime Scene....definitely.....

Around one, I finished up with my prints and I was so excited, not that I was done, but at how awesome they had turned out! Normally staying up until one to finish a project is a drag, but not this! I was consumed from 7 until 1 (minus the slug murder).

YUCK! Forgot to mention, my mom got a phone call as this was happening. Thanks for the support Moma!

These are the stamps that I made.

The smaller stamps are foreground and the larger ones  are background stamps. I was only working on backgrounds last night. Tonight I will be working on foregrounds, and then on to the collages tomorrow in class!

Purple!

At this moment, I was hooked :)

The colors are better in person! I love how this purple turned out on this blue-green background!

These were some of my first to do.....

And here are all 25! Each different strip has a color scheme. From left to right: Open (anything we wanted to do, I chose orange, purple, and a light green color, Next are Earth tones, Monochromatic, Cool Colors, Complementary Colors (Red-Orange and Blue-Green).
 

I hope everyone is enjoying their Thursday!

:) Smile Big

Sun is shinin' in the sky,
There ain't a cloud in sight
It's stopped rainin'
Everybody's in a play
And don't you know
It's a beautiful new day.

I love lyrics! I am always jotting them down on scrap paper! If you don't know these google them and find out! Then find it in on YouTube to listen! ....I guarantee it will put a smile on your face, always works for me :)

Day 1: Design II and Primitive Printmaking

So, I'm new to this blog thing and I am still learning, if anything is crazy that's my excuse... :)

Earlier today I went to my Design II class and unlike most classes I hated that I had to leave. We are currently working on a project that involves printmaking, very primitive printmaking, but that's the beauty of it! You never know exactly how the project is going to turn out and sometimes what one (mostly the person who designed it) sees as a flaw or complete mess up, is perfect and incredible to another viewer. I can't wait to do some serious cardio after work (to work off that delicious cheese danish from this morning) and get to work on my prints! So I feel that I should probably explain what and how... We're using foam sheets (the cheap stuff found in any craft section) to cut-out designs. Then we paste those to a piece of scrap illustration board, to make a homemade stamp basically. Then we stamp those on to different sheets that have previously been painted. The project has different requirements and elements that have to be incorporated such as color scheme and  foreground/background images. After the prints are done, the idea is to collage different sheets together. I can't wait to see how they turn out. I'm hoping that these will be nice enough to include in my portfolio. I will try and upload pictures of the collages once I completely finish!

Hope everyone is having a gorgeous day despite the heat!

Owl Stamp

This is an example of what I am doing, just to give you an idea! The project is a little more intense and can't be a single stamp or something this defined.

much love goes out to this little owl

not exactly right for my project, any other time I would for sure try it...