bethanyviolet photography & art

Things I like a lot that you should too-1/11/11 edition

2011-01-11T14:39:00.009-05:00

Guilty pleasures = Glee - I don't know why exactly, but I love this kid's voice even in songs that aren't vocally his best. Here, here for guilty pleasures! *less than three*

Pomplamoose - how into it the guy gets in their videos + the way the girl looks at the camera like she's having an inside joke + deadpan/tongue-in-cheek humor + interesting mix of sounds + clean visuals + actually working the Bieber "do" + being able to play (well) that many instruments and actually having somewhere to store them = love

Josh Garrels' Music - I really like this guy's music as a whole. Definitely youtube his stuff.

Acoustic instruments and A cappella (though not together obviously) - I will seriously never tire of this. There are too many to link to any one so I won't even begin to link any, but there's something about the complex layers in what can appear simple (like in acoustic instruments and a cappella voices) that always really strikes a chord in me.

Open expanses of sky over open fields, trees, and bodies of water and the smell of fresh air - The sky and the nuances of nature have never failed to soothe me, no matter what's going on in my life. I love living in a rural area where I can still get to enjoy this but can get to a bigger area within an hour or less. Below is a cell phone picture that I took on the Cape Fear River back when it was warmer. ♥

Our animals - Let's just face it. My dogs and cat are cuter than yours. You can't have them, but you can visit and get your dose of weiner dog, beagle, and big rusty cat loving nonetheless. ha Coyotes are going on my list of "Things I Hate A Lot that You Should Too" as coyotes killed one of our dachshund puppies recently, and we're pretty sure they're why we haven't see our white cat that disappeared too. RIP Sally and Little Cat :( (the white cat and the puppy on the far right)

Just the right shade of a certain color - I love a lot of colors and color combinations, but I'm really picky when it comes to the exact shade of a color. Here's to finding (I think) just the right shade of color to paint the walls in the new house. I'll try to post the finished product when we get it done!

Cheap, Blue Bic Pens and Prismacolor Colored Pencils, and Black Sharpies - Used separately or all together, I love them. A lot.

The following quote from Plato that you've probably seen somewhere before but I still really like it - "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

General Update: all over the place...

2011-01-11T11:40:00.009-05:00

Hi, guys. *ducks head in shame due to the sad, sad lack of updates on this end lately* This is just a friendly update to say hey and bemoan my sad lack of presence on my little piece of the web these last few months. Despite my lack of blogging, things have been going fairly well overall but have been pretty crazy busy on this end (hence the sad lack of updating). Done sort of in the style of my general update posts, here are some of the things I have been working on off and on the last couple of months and have been up to in general. *drumroll please... eh hem*

1. School. School. More School - Well, there it is. I'm still in cosmetology school, and it's going well, but it's totally taking up all of my time. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it's true. I've been on the school's salon floor working on real people since November, and it has been going well. Hopefully, I'll be able to start my apprenticeship in June and will go from there. I'm just taking it day by day and trying to enjoy it in the meantime!

2. Drawing When I Can - I've been doing some commissioned mixed media drawings on plywood that I'll try to post when finished, finished some other commissioned paintings and such (which I forgot to photograph before I sent them out. boo), and did some other various commissioned drawings of this and that. Additionally, I'm working on illustrating a children's book that a friend wrote as time permits. Personal art-wise I've worked a bit more on the Woodland Alphabet Drawings that I blogged about here and have been working on a series of family based pen drawings too. I've really been in a drawing mood lately, and I will definitely be drawing more when we get settled into our new place where things aren't so hectic/scattered which leads me to point number 3...

3. Who's Stoked They're Moving into a New Place?

THIS GIRL! -->

Seriously. I am so stoked. We've been staying between my mom's and our house for the last couple of months as the whole back end of our house flooded due to a malfunction with our washing machine, so, even more so than usual, we've not had anywhere to properly do work, cook, just chill or anything. Between staying between the two places and our house having a soggy floor allover half of it with a lot of our stuff moved largely to one end to lessen the strain on the floor, the stability will be appreciated. We keep getting delayed due to a heavy snow falling the day the house was to arrive and snow coming again the day the septic tank was to go in (Seriously, folks? It hasn't snowed heavily in years, but NOW it decides to be all White Christmas on us? I digress. haha), but, slowly yet surely, we will prevail. I am SO thankful. I will post pictures and will be doing dorky happy dances when it's ready to move into!

4. Photography, Writing, and Farming - I've still been writing for the BladenOnline each month, and have done a few photography sessions/weddings in the last few months, but photography has been kind of on my back burner lately with school and the house and everything. When things let up a bit, I'll pursue it more actively again. Writing-wise, I have been playing around and writing some stuff for myself. We'll see if it goes anywhere or not, but it's fun to play with anyway. Farming related, I haven't helped as much since school started other than working farmers' markets, but it's still doing well. We just ordered our first batch of day old chicks of the new year, so that will pick up again in the coming months.

5. Random-ish Music Stuff - I've been waiting until we move into the new place, but a friend is going to show me how to play the banjo, so I'm looking forward to that too. I think it will help me learn fingerstyle on the guitar more, so we'll see.

6. My New Laptop is totally making my day too. A virus got on the desktop where I edited the majority of my photographs, so we purchased a new computer. I'm really liking it though I need to get more of my photography software and such uploaded to it.

6. It's Official... I have too many interests and too little time. I guess it's better than being bored all the time though, right? Right. Well, "peoples," with that, I bring this post to an end with the hope of getting the chance to update soon (hopefully from a new place!), and thank you for sticking with me if you stuck it out and read this far. 'Til soon, my pretties, and I hope everyone is having a better than good 2011!

Guest Blog Post on Fantastic Spatula

2010-08-14T00:09:00.004-05:00

If you've got the time, please check out my friend's blog over at Fantastic Spatula and read a guest post I wrote for the blog's "Feature Friday" series. You know ya' wanna'. :)

General Update: Woodland Alphabet, Collages, This and That

2010-08-06T11:52:00.007-05:00

1. Woodland Alphabet - As I mentioned in my last general updates post, Wesley and I bought a scanner/printer/fax combo awhile back on a trip to Raleigh. Due to the ability to scan now, here are a few of the Woodland Alphabet series of calligraphy drawings that I had been working on off and on for a long while. I had more of these done and still have some half completed, but the other finished ones got messed up (um...really frustrating as they take awhile to draw -trust that there was much gnashing of teeth ha - oh well). The plan is to keep on with the method until I get all 26 letters and 0-9 complete. I plan to sell them as prints individually, on canvas with all 26 letters and 10 numbers aligned with no gaps on a square canvas, and as stationery. Despite the set back in the damaged drawings (about 4 letters got damaged), I am liking the way that they are turning out and am looking forward to keeping on with them.

2. Collage - I am still continuing gathering images for the piece that I mentioned briefly in my last update post, but here is a mostly completed, quick little collage study done on a 6x6 canvas panel. I want to attach a 2 inch thick block of wood to the back to raise the collage off of the wall and to give it a little more dimension when displayed. I may go back in with some paints too, but I need to go restock my paint supply before I do.

3. This and That - Cosmetology school is still going well but is taking a lot of my time of course. I'll try to post some pics of some of those developments all along as well, but I definitely need to update my flickr and such soon. That is one of the next things on my list, so be looking for a ton of uploads over there shortly as it has been forever since I have uploaded any of my photography jobs; it's purely shameful. I may share a few writing projects soon and will try to update and scan in more work all along as soon as I get a virus on my computer fixed today/this weekend. Until we meet again via ye' ole' world wide web, take care of yourselves.

Google-y Mucha Goodness

2010-07-24T02:25:00.008-05:00

In honor of Alphonse Mucha's 150th birthday, Google adapted their logo like they often do for various occasions. I've always liked Mucha's work, and they used part of one of my favorite works of his so...here ya' go.

General Updates: Collage Earrings, Office/Studio, Calligraphy Prints, Collage, Photography, Cosmetology

2010-07-20T23:19:00.012-05:00

1. I am in the process of experimenting with various collage materials to make earrings and necklace pendants out of. The pictures below are the first pair that I have completed. Since they are the first pair, I left them simple overall, but I like the effect as a whole and have a few others in various states of completion. The swagging chain of jump rings hang on each side of the tear drop shape though both of these shots only show one side at a time.

2. Alas, there is to be no office/studio made in the way as I planned as our queen-sized bed does not see fit to fit through the door of our second bedroom. Nonetheless, I have converted the shelves in our living room and a large section of the corner of the room nearby into a sufficient office/studio area. Though not what I had originally intended, it is working well and only suffers in lack of space for my sewing machine and for miscellaneous storage area. Baby steps, right? Nonetheless, I am liking it overall which leads me to general update numero tres...

3. Perchance, on a trip to Raleigh to sell chickens, my husband and I ran into a really good deal on a clearance printer, scanner, and fax combo at K-Mart. Can I tell you how long I have been jonesing for a good scanner? Let me just say that it has been awhile. After general squee-ing is complete, I plan to hook it up this weekend and scan in so many of the calligraphy pieces that I have been working on for a good long while but haven't been able to share well.

3. Collage-wise there isn't much to share here yet as I've still been accumulating images and materials for a large collage that I have been planning the last few months. Additionally, as I shared earlier in this post, I've been experimenting off and on with collage medium in jewelry making, so I will keep you posted as progress is made.

4. Photography has been keeping me busy too, and I've been editing a lot of photos from various shoots. Apologies for not posting some of them as planned, but the above projects, farm related work, and general update numero seis have hindered me from having time -which leads me to...

5. Cosmetology classes have been going well, and we are just completing our first official week. I'm really looking forward to getting into more of the hands-on work, and I really feel like I'm in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. Which, all in all, is a really big blessing. I hope to update again soon, and as always, until we meet again, I hope this post finds you and yours better than well. <3

first pair of earrings

2010-07-02T04:46:00.005-05:00

Here are two low light and quickly taken (aka not optimal ha) EasyShare pictures of the first pair of earrings that I've ever made. The color is truer to the first shot shown. I made them this afternoon using jump rings and a few beads that I had on hand. I thought they turned out pretty cute though; I had tried to incorporate some frayed cloth, but I didn't really like the way it was looking and had to go ahead and finish because I had to go to my niece's first birthday party so... here's what became the final product. I think I am going to try some other experiments soon that does use the cloth, so I will share the goodies as they develop.

New Blog Layout

2010-06-30T00:52:00.006-05:00

Not knowing much about the way blogger is coded and such, I really never edited my layout much; I never was a big fan of it though as it seemed a little cluttered. With a little tweaking and shifting, it looks much better now and is much easier to read I think. I hope it looks a bit more organized and is a little easier to navigate until the next upgrade.

Things I like a lot that you should too-6/28/10 edition

2010-06-28T22:56:00.020-05:00

The color schemes of Van Gogh and Alphonse Mucha, the texture of Van Gogh's paint, and the way that both seem to approach the 2-D format in a way that pays homage to its flatness while giving their compositions a sense of depth.

Rough texture paired with smooth

Music by the Avett Brothers
I've never hooped myself, but I really like the fluidity of this girl's movement. As a child, I never could keep a hula hoop on my waist, but it makes me want to try. haha

Well played violins and fiddles - there's always been something about the eb and flow in and out pulling and tugging that speaks in the "tune of me" for some reason.

Honestly, I never personally was a huge fan of Degas' style for some reason, but his compositions, connection to physical movement in his visual art, and the way he studies the way the body moves appeals to me a lot. In particular, I really like his statue Young Girl at 14. The above reasons and the contrasts of texture on texture is visually interesting to me in particular right now.

Old Photographs - I love old photographs and the way that they tie the past with the present and remind us of where we came from and where we can go. Specifically, I really like the three shots below. The first is of my maternal grandma around the time she got married; the second is of her and my maternal grandfather on their wedding day, and the third is my paternal grandfather and my paternal grandmother, Ada.

The following quote by Edward Everett Hale: "I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. What I can do, I ought to do. And what I ought to do, by God's grace, I will do."

General Update: Bible School Arts & Crafts, Photography, Jewelry Goodness

2010-06-28T20:20:00.014-05:00

Hi, all. To give my little blog a little more order, for now on, I will post a general update most Mondays with the above, "General Update: _______." Additionally, all along, I will post separate posts as a series just called "Things I like a lot that you should too." ha In it I just aim to keep a general record of things that are speaking to me right then creatively for future reference and such. Of course I'll just have other miscellaneous entries too, but I think these small changes will give it a little more structure and order and such. Of course the plan is always subject to change though.

Now...on to the actual general update...as I shared in my last post, I am no longer teaching art full-time, and am now officially enrolled in cosmetology school. My classes start July 20, and I'm pretty excited as, along with working on art/photography more, it's something I've wanted to be able to do off and on for the last several years. In the meantime, I'm still trying to get all of our house and soon to be actual, functional office/studio area in order. It is crazy how much stuff a person or two can accumulate over a few years! Organization has been going slow with other commitments and such, but it is progressing, and I promise to keep the blog posted when it ever comes to pass.

All last week, I worked with our church's Bible School helping with decorations and teaching the arts and crafts class. It was a lot of fun and went well, and I think the kids enjoyed it a lot and got something out of it too. Below are a few crappy cell phone pictures that I took the last night of class; I should've taken more with my regular camera, but I honestly forgot to! The theme for the week was "Galactic Blast" so I also made a little plywood stand up thing with two little astronauts with holes cut out for the faces. When Ms. Junie (the lady who took the pics of the kids in it) sends me a pic, I'll post it, because I thought it turned out really cute.

1. Can I say how much I love neatly arranged art supplies? It may be my inner art teacher or the fact that really I'm a 12 year old in a 28 year old's body. The verdict remains out.

2. These are the babies from the preschool class. My one year old niece who isn't in this picture won the award for finding the most ways to eat tempera paint this week. Only discerning tongues favor blue tempera over red. *wink*

3. Here are two of the high school girls with their teacher, Kimberly, out in the hall in front of the arts and crafts door with Ms. Junie who taught about mission work.

4. Here are the same two girls cleaning up a bit.

5. This pic is a snapshot of Mike and Donna. Donna led the preschool class and worked on the decorations and helped with crafts, and Mike led bible school and taught music.

6. Here is the middle and elementary school kids' class. They were a lot of fun...a lil' crazy, but fun. haha

In addition to Bible School, I've been taking photographs of course, and, instead of going all into what's been perking on that end, I plan to make another post on that subject later on in the week.

While brainstorming lessons for the kids at bible school, I remembered how we used to make friendship bracelets out of embroidery thread, and it made me want to make myself a nice thick one as a necklace to hold my wedding ring. It was a simple project, but I thought it turned out really cute, and, for some reason it made me want to get into making jewelry for a bit, so I plan to play a little bit with that after finally setting our room up too. Here it is on my neck and a picture of the clasp.

I had a silver necklace that's clasp had broken so I recycled it and used it again along with a little jump ring that I had on hand. I simply knotted the clasp securely on with the hanging threads, and, after bending the jump ring around a bit more, securely attached it to the other end in the same way. The color scheme in it has appealed to me a lot lately; I like the texture of my white gold wedding ring with the rougher texture, and I just think it ended up simple and appealing. I have some other ideas for some use with jump rings so we shall see where it leads.

'Til later this week, muh' pretties, and may everything be better than well on your side of creek.

Mini Vacation from the Web and New Pursuits

2010-06-11T09:24:00.007-05:00

Though I have known this for several months now, I thought I would share the info formally now. Yesterday was my last day formally teaching art, and though I will miss some of my fellow teachers and several students, I am definitely thankful for the chance to change. Next week, I will be rearranging/swapping out my bedroom with my art room to make what is currently our bedroom (a larger space) into our office for both my art which I will be doing more of and to serve as a better office space for our farming related work. In addition to working on the art as a more full-time gig, I will also be attending cosmetology school in July. I have wanted to do this for a long time and have been toying with the idea ever since high school but have decided that it is time to take the leap for real this time. I look forward to the jump, and may God bless you on your own endeavors to boot. Until then, I leave you with this verse that has spoken to me several times throughout the last few years:

"Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; And confirm for us the work of our hands; Yes, confirm the work of our hands." Psalms 90:17

New Camera, Made in America, and questionable Irish Proverbs..

2010-06-07T08:05:00.010-05:00

Wesley and I went to Murphy, NC for a family reunion during Memorial Day weekend with my dad's side of the family where we camped out, fished, and got to hang out with the family. I forgot my memory card for my Canon Rebel so I wasn't able to take any pictures that weren't cell phone pictures, which leads me to the next order of business...I had seriously been jonesing for a small "pocketbook" digital cameral that was easy to tote but still took pretty decent pictures for random "I saw something cool and wish I had a camera" moments and everyday snapshots when it wasn't practical to be toting around my larger camera. While in Murphy, we stopped by their Wal-Mart (which is very good compared to ours in Elizabethtown - literally the smallest Wal-Mart in America - seriously it's documented!) to peruse their basic digital cameras. We ended up getting this camera below, and so far I really like it.

Oh, and I am such a girl...the fact that it is purple with chrome (I have a thing for both purple and chrome/silver) makes me smile regularly too. Photos-wise though I really like it for what it is. The pictures are super clear, and for a basic camera, it has a lot of handy setting capabilities. Additionally I just like the way it feels in my hand - not too skinny, not too chunky, but, in the proverbial words of one "Goldilocks," it's just right. I will definitely try to post a few pictures that I have taken with it later on in the week. While at Wal-Mart I got to looking at some other cameras too, and I think I will be updating my Canon Rebel soon. It isn't super old as I bought it in the spring of 2007, but it is crazy how much cameras have developed in such a short period of time. I like my Canon Rebel a lot, and I really liked using the manual Canon Rebel for film prior to that, but there are some things about its picture quality that I would like to be different, so we shall see what some research turns up.

Speaking of Wal-Mart...while we were shopping at the one in Murphy, I started to attempt to hunt down "Made in U.S.A." labels in the camping section. It took me 15 minutes to find one on this container of biodegradable soap (documented pretty-crappily with the aforementioned cell phone camera):

What was super crazy about this to me, was that not only did it take this long just to find "Made in the U.S.A." but, other than one canteen made in Spain, the rest was made in China. I'm all for importing when it is necessary, but this just seems kind of crazy when we are all looking for safe, locally made products, and are having such a job crisis here - especially since Wal-Mart was founded largely on the principal of selling American made products to boot. < / personal diatribe! >

This is my last week of school with the kids' exams being this week, so I will definitely post more once it ends as there is no time for extra creative endeavors until it ends. 'Til soon, my pretties, and good luck to anyone giving or taking exams this week! I leave you this Irish proverb to get you through..."May ye' kick ye' old E.O.C. tests in the teeth mightily and with a vengeance." ha

Twin Creek Farms labels + a snapshot of spaghetti with our Whole-Hog Sausage

2010-05-20T20:06:00.008-05:00

I mentioned in my last post, Wesley and I have been working quite a bit lately promoting our farming operation. To read more about it and to see a few photos of our time at the Shallotte Farmers' Market, please read this post that I made at our farm's blog. Recently I made these two simple, MSPaint labels to be attached to my mother-in-law's honey and to our other products too as the need arises.

I cooked some of our meat the other night too and took this snapshot to share. We thought it turned out well. I cut the sausage into approximately 1 inch lengths, grilled them lightly in a small amount of olive oil, wiped up the small amount of excess grease, and simmered them in Classico Spaghetti sauce with a bit of added black pepper and basil. I served it on some Healthy Harvest spaghetti, and we really like how the simple recipe turned out.

Flea Market/Thrift Store Goodness

2010-05-20T18:00:00.004-05:00

Hi, all. Things have been going ok here, but, as is always the case this time of year with farming, photography, and teaching, it's a kind of crazy time. Creatively, I haven't had much time for "regular" creative pursuits, but I have done some photography and have been working on some mixed media projects off and on lately.

A lady that my husband and I have sold chickens to, invited us last week to come by her house and set up a table to promote our backyard chicken flocks at Raleigh's Tour d' Coop. It was a lot of fun, and we got to talk with a ton of people about chickens, farming, and a little bit of everything else. While we were in Raleigh, we decided to hit up the Raleigh Flea Market at the State Fairgrounds. It was a really pretty day that day, and there was tons of junk to look at and dig around in. I especially love looking through the old hardware and old photographs at the flea market and wondering where they came from and who used them before. I wonder what stories our old "junk" will tell in the future? Anyway though, I found two milk glass lamps there along with a few books (because we all know every house needs a few more books *wink*). I've always loved the look of milk glass for some reason...it always reminds me of my grandmothers' houses, and I always love the white on white look in houses too. The lady selling the lamps was super nice and, God bless her thrift loving heart, let us haggle to our hearts content. haha Here is a photo of one of the lamps with a purse that I got at the Elizabethtown Crisis Center Thrift Store a few weeks ago.

I laid my purse here after getting home from work, and there is something about the soft colors with the milk glass that really appeal to me so I broke my camera out.

The other milk glass lamp (below) is a little shorter and is on the other side of the room for the time being. I really liked that they are a little different, but matching at the same time (I've never been much of a fan of the overly match-y look).

Also, while working at the Shallotte Farmer's Market two Saturdays ago selling our meat and such, I walked to a church yard sale across to parking lot and found these two canisters for a dollar a piece:

I've always liked that milky aqua color in ceramic pieces and thought they would look cute with a lamp that I got at the Crisis Center Thrift Store awhile back. I still need to get a larger lampshade for this lamp, but I'm using this smaller one that I already have for the time being, and I still like it for now.

Lastly, because, let's face it, my cat is cute and is a certifiable camera whore, he wouldn't get out of the way while I was trying to take these snapshots so I figured I'd share a shot of him too. I really like this shot though because, it's a fact that Conway Kitty is definitely a looker. hee hee

I'd love to hear what any of you all have found digging around at flea markets and piles of junk. I hope this post finds you doing better than well, and, as always Godspeed until we meet again. :)

p.s As always these photos are hosted over at my flickr account so please feel free to drop by if you're feeling sociable. :)

Unexpected Blog Hiatus

2010-05-06T09:50:00.001-05:00

Apologies for the absence, all. My father died last Monday a week ago, and I have lost my voice this week and have been sick with the "crud" so I haven't been producing a lot. I did do some photography for a wedding in the meantime that went well, and I will be selling some of my older work at the Shallotte's Farmer's Market this Saturday along with our meat. Godspeed until our ways cross again, and 'til soon.

sharing a few shots from yesterday

2010-04-09T19:22:00.007-05:00

General Updates and a Few Miscellaneous Shots

2010-04-07T17:32:00.008-05:00

Hi, all. Just wanted to share a few shots that I took today while out and about that I like. Creatively, I've some portraits to do this week, and I am still working on stationery. While walking today, I found an awesome place for portraits that I hope to utilize soon. I hope to invest in a good scanner soon also, so I will be able to share a bit easier (especially non-photography related artwork like the stationery). I was kind of drawn to color and line today in these shots; I know the jeep in front of me that I took the snapshot of thought I was some kind of psycho stalker. Little did they know I just liked the red of their jeep next to the green of the trees! ha I wish I could have gotten a shot of it not through the haze of my pollen laden windshield though! Until soon, Godspeed, and I hope you are all better than well.

Another Photography Banner

2010-04-05T18:23:00.007-05:00

Hi, all, and I hope everyone had a better than good Easter weekend this past weekend. It is Spring break here, and I hope to post several posts of things I've been working on and haven't gotten to scan in, a series of prints and stationery I've been making, and photography too as time permits this week. For now, here is a simple little user pictures that I made for my photography's facebook page. I settled on the first this one over another as I liked the composition and clarity of this image at this size. Until soon, and, as always, take care of yourselves.

“You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club.” -Jack London

2010-03-29T08:33:00.008-05:00

Only 4 days this week and it will be Easter break! I am quite excited. haha. That said, I have been working on a lot of different art lately. I'll try to post some pics of a series that I am working on combining calligraphy, an Art Nouveau theme, and woodland subject matter. I'll try to share more about those tonight when I can take a good photograph of them. update: I'll post these later this week as they really need scanning to get all of the subtle color changes. Otherwise, I've been working on a couple of collages simultaneously though they are still very much in process. Also, I am looking for a good inexpensive source of plywood. Does anyone know where I could get some inexpensively? Any scraps would totally work, so any help would be greatly appreciated. I'd love to know what you are working on too. Is there anything that has been inspiring you lately? Below is a visual list of a few things that have been interesting me lately:

Woohoo, Spring is here and the weather is totally making my days. This weather is totally making me want to hit up the beach or go on the river...

The colors and the strength of line in the Art Nouveau style has been interesting me lately too. Here is an example that I found on the web that particularly illustrates the parts of this look that I like. I've always liked how Art Nouveau marries function with aesthetics pretty seamlessly. I'm also including another example of art nouveau inspired work found on the web. Art Noveau's color schemes have appealed to me a lot lately.

The latest edition of ReadyMade was particularly good I thought (sometimes it is hit or miss though I usually like it). The "How did you get that f*&%ing awesome job" article this month was particularly helpful I thought. Here is a link to the blog where they interview mostly designers and artists who have "f*&%ing awesome jobs" weekly.

Readymade's How Did You Get That F*&%ing Awesome Job Archive

Maybe because Spring is on its way, and clothes are changing to boot, I've also been looking at a lot of women's fashion and have been playing with the ideas behind it and what we allow to identify ourselves in an ongoing collage/mixed media project. When it is finished I'll definitely update.

What is speaking to you lately? I always love hearing what is speaking to people at the moment. :)

Interesting site

2010-03-23T10:21:00.006-05:00

I just wanted to stop in and share a site that I found today. The concept of visualizing data and translating what is generally considered a left-brained activity into something generally considered more right-brained is intriguing I think. I thought you might think so too, so, if you're feeling so led, go take a gander at Information is Beautiful. :)

Why do you blog and what's your reason for making art?

2010-03-22T07:41:00.007-05:00

hi, all. I read somewhere recently where people were asked why they felt the need to do artwork and pursue creative pursuits. In college, my classmates and I each wrote an artist's statement that tried to encapsulate in words what our work was. That has always been tricky to me since, I feel that so many things in life are hard to translate into clear-cut words and definitions. That said, glutton for punishment that I am, I need to make the attempt to refine my own "artist statement." A quick google led me to the following site, which I thought helped break it down into more manageable segments. I wish when I had been writing my artistic statement back in school that I had had this list as it does help to reign in scattered thoughts even if you don't follow it verbatim. The italicized text below is my statement today though I always plan on editing it. What is your reason for your art of choice?

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Even as a little girl, I have always felt the need to create be it through visual art, music, functional design, writing, putting ingredients together in a recipe, or through movement. My mind is always in the process of creating and arranging these elements. I create my artwork to answer the inborn yearning in me to create and to help people in their day to day lives know that they are not alone in their journey. I do not always aim to convey some profound statement in my work, but I do always aim to make work that speaks to people on a genuine and universal level. I enjoy the process of breaking down a concept to its essentials. The simple is often the most complex, and I often play with the juxtaposition of opposites in this way - simplicity vs. complexity, tangibility vs. abstraction, rustic vs. ornate, control vs. looseness. In this same vein, I often approach abstract concepts with tangible, realistic illustrations. I focus on the beauty and function of everyday things and the timelessness of human life. The ideology behind the old adage, “there’s nothing new under the sun” plays a lot into my work. Rich, poor, smart, average, black, white, ancient, or modern, we are all just people working together to find our place in the world with its share of sadness, happiness, and everything in between. I hope to speak of this universality in my work and in turn give people some comfort and encouragement to be the best version of themselves that they can be.

I employ the use of several different media. Different media speaks differently, and I like to choose my medium depending on the circumstance and often mix media. Particularly I am often drawn to tactile materials (such as wood and fabric), charcoal, pen, and pencils, and black and white photography. I enjoy pushing a basic material to its limit and bringing it back in again. My creative process is a constant push and pull – working large vs. smaller, black and white vs. color, looseness vs. control, working kinesthetically vs. stillness. I aim to have good craftsmanship, but I am more interested by the process behind a work's creation more than the final product as a whole.

Spring...didn't your mother teach you that teasing isn't polite? groan

2010-03-21T20:00:00.005-05:00

I didn't get a chance to make my weekly Friday update, so I will pretend that a Sunday one will suffice. I have been drawing some this weekend, working, taking care of this and that, and am working on garden stuff so I haven't gotten a picture of much work in progress. I do have this quick sketch from last week though that I did while walking in the woods and a quick photograph I took of one of our processed chickens that Wesley cooked. 'Til soon, and happy spring (it's taunting me...haha).

rearranged digs...

2010-03-15T21:23:00.019-05:00

Hi, all. I mentioned my rearranging our living room and art room in an earlier post. I'm posting the rearranged living room and work area in there today and will post my art room later. Hope you enjoy our little place. When I ever figure out how to make a jump on here, I'll make this post fill up less of my front page. :)

When coming into our living room if you look back at the wall to your right you will see these shelves and what I made into our desk area. The little table in the foreground is the white table in front of the couch (which you'll see in a minute).

The next few shots are just some details of the shelves. If there is one thing we have in our living room, it is shelves!

The area below is a detail of our desk. The monitor is resting on the actual shelves and the desk is butted up to it perpendicularly. The 4 little aqua and green crates on the magazines are from a Dollar Tree to keep mine and my husband's little odds and ends organized. I plan on painting this mirror that I got at a thrift store last week, but it hasn't happened yet. To the left of the desk is a floor lamp and a mosaic table that my mother-in-law made. There are white bowls on the little round mosaic table holding miscellaneous objects and covered with burlap-esque fabric.

As you keep panning past the desk you see this area. I realize I accidentally cut out pics of the whole dresser, which is kind of sad because I'm kind of partial to it. Nonetheless, I may post it later. The little white table houses our cookbooks, and the artwork above is a tie dyed piece I did a long time ago and a Van Gogh print.

As you keep panning around the room, you next see this opening which leads to our hallway and our couch and shelves to the left of the entry. The artwork above is a collage that I made, birds that I painted on the panelling with acrylic, and a print I got in college of a dancer. I like the print with the birds since her hands seem to suggest flight.

Here are two details of the shelves. They just hold miscellaneous books and pictures, boxes of stuff that I spray painted silver, the phone, and my guitar.

This is the corner as you keep panning around. The picture that is cut off on the right is the one of the dancer. The two intaglio prints are ones that classmates in college did. My wedding portrait and another bulletin board is on the left wall. I'm pretty partial to the puppies snoozing on the couch and ottoman too. :)

Here are a few more details of the wall and the paper crane mobile in the corner. I got the mobile from the NC State Fair a few years back.

I realized as I was posting these that I forgot to take a good shot of the short, wood, chest that holds the tv, but it is butted up to the right of the shelves below and is under the other end of the large window seen above. It is about the same color wood as these shelves so they kind of look like one unit pushed together. These shelves just hold more books, games, movies, and other miscellaneous stuff. I plan on getting a larger lampshade just like the one that is on the aqua lamp now but am using this one that I already have for the time being.

You can kind of see a little of the chest that has the tv on it in this snapshot that I took of one of our dogs snoozing on the floor later that same day.

To the left of the dark wood shelves is the heater that you see in the shelf shot and our front door. Our kitchen's floor needs fixing, so this shelf with kitchen stuff on it is temporarily here though it usually goes in the kitchen. The paper on the little diamond window is from a Pottery Barn bag from a few years ago. I need to replace it with some fresher paper since it has been up there a year or so now, but I saved it since I thought the paper was cute.

Hope you enjoyed the little tour, and, until we meet again, take a cue from our little weiner dogs by taking it easy and howling when necessary. :)

p.s. All of these photos are housed on my flickr over at http://www.flickr.com/bethanyviolet

A Few Banners for Photography Ads...

2010-03-13T18:16:00.008-05:00

These look a bit better larger like they are intended (since blogspot condenses photos), but here are three in progress. I have some older banners that I still like, but I needed to update them. I'm making another couple soon with black and white photography and the like but will post them then. Until we meet via the web again soon, Godspeed.

doodly mcdoodleton...

2010-03-12T15:59:00.004-05:00

I love checking out people's doodles during meetings and such. I cover a couple of local meetings for a local news source monthly and use this steno pad to take notes for writing my articles. During downtimes in the meetings, I proceed to doodle all over the cover. Now that this pad is all used up, I figured I'd scan in the front cover of it "just 'cause" (the back is covered too).

Here's to a new pad! ha