i will never not go to the ceramics studio at night

it's literally twenty degrees outside.
but in here it is warm and i have granola and everything smells like clay.

there's something magic about making things with your hands.
things you can hold, touch, mold, change.
this semester is already making me love working in three-dimensional ways.
it's cool to be able to have that in common with God.

that's really all i had to say.

color wheel.

I just finished painting my color wheel for color theory (as you can see). it was not as easy as some would assume.
the way color works is fascinating, so I thought I would share.
This is from my textbook (Color: a workshop approach, by David Hornung):

"Color is said to be contained within light, but the perception of color actually takes place in the mind. As waves of light are received in the lens of the eye, they are interpreted by the brain as color...A ray of sunlight can be conceived of as being divided, like a rainbow, into a continuum of color zones. Each color zone contains more gradients than the mind can distinguish. The boundaries between colors are blurred, not sharply delineated...The perception of colored surfaces is caused by the reflection of light from those surfaces to the eye...Lightwaves that are not reflected are ont perceived as color. (page 13)"

the wavelengths are, of course, created by the vibrations caused by the movement of electrons and protons. these vibrations are constant. interesting right?

Ellie the Elephant (three)

Part of my 52 weeks is to try to do a drawing as many weeks out of the year as I can.
I really have been pretty lazy about that...

I made this book for my niece. I think that counts as a "drawing".
It was such a joy to make and I so look forward to reading it with her!

both my eyes are fading

Tonight is:

Almost getting sick from the smell of lacquer thinner

Having paint and ink and graphite and charcoal all over myself

Fleet Foxes, Ray LaMontagne and The Civil Wars

Drawing without a real clue what it all means

Popcorn

Purple sweatshirt that says "Life is a series of ups and downs"

Sniffles

Dry coughs

Cranberry Sierra Mist

Open windows

How to transfer images with lacquer thinner:

You can use any image, just know that the older the image and heavier the paper, the less likely it's going to work. (also, note that the transferred image is going to be a mirror of the original-so words with be backwards and such). Place the image face down on the surface you want to transfer it to. Apply lacquer thinner (the fumes are awful, so make sure to do this outside or with lots of ventilation). Rub with back of spoon or a burnishing tool. The effect is sort of a cool, sketchy looking image. (You can kind of see it in the top photograph)

p.s. title lyric

I'm Here

After seeing "Where the Wild Things Are" again the other day, I couldn't help but be curious about Spike Jonze's other work.

So tonight, I watched his somewhat strange short film "I'm Here".

It's about robots.

and self-sacrifice.

and a sweet kind of robot romance.

and I loved it.

So if you want a fabulous alternative to "Wall-E"...you should watch this.

Musings of a silly girl on a Glorious Thursday.

Hi,
I love today. I'm having a fantabuloso summer. What about you guys? So my project for this week was the above picture. I sent it to Jen, who is now at camp. The top says "Hi, I'm Rod and I like to party."
Painting has been going well...although I definitely am struggling. Oils look a lot easier to use than they are. We are copying a Georgia O'Keefe though, and I love her style. A lot. So the thing that's on my mind today is honesty. Is it better to be a "nice" person or a "good friend" or to be honest? Something to think about.
ALSO
If you like She & Him

which you should,
then you should go to a concert with me! They're coming to Atl, and doing an outdoor concert in the botanical gardens downtown...awesome. I want to go very badly.

Okay. I must go now. Stay Sweet.
Mary Em

thoughts thoughts thoughts oh and happy may day

My mind is in a twisted jumbled mess. Because of that, I have a raging headache. Ouch. Happy May Day

Anyway, if you don't know me, this won't make any sense. If you do know me...it won't make sense to you either. This is basically a spill of my thoughts. So buckle your seatbelts and get ready.
first,
Yesterday, I laid...layed? whatever I sprawled out in the sunshine for a mere fifteen minutes on my porch. I just soaked up the sunshine and my heart smiled. God really has blessed me with so many things in my life. He has given me such peace with the world lately.Finals are here, I'm taking the SAT tomorrow, and I'm playing weddings and things all throughout May. Those are things that I would generally be stressing over. But no, I'm fine! So thanks, God. You are truly mighty and you care ever so much for your people.

second,
While listening to Jonsi (if you have not checked him out, scroll down and listen to his link on my page. OR if you really want a visual treat go to the jonsi website and watch the video entitled "go do" eek. it's good stuff) and Sea Wolf and Zachery James Dodds etc. yesterday, I was struck with such a violent fit of inspiration it wasn't even funny. Well maybe a little bit. But that's beside the point. So not only have I been blessed with peace, I have been blessed with so much inspiration for photos, collages, paintings, etc. that I will have something creative to do for the rest of the summer.

third,
I have a little playhouse in my backyard. It was functional for .2 years. probably. I mean that's how little we've used it. BUT my mom and I were talking about it, and she said I could turn it into my studio! It doesn't have heat or air conditioning...which stinks, but I can still use it 3/4's of the year. So yeah, I'm blessed with a space to work on all of my creativ things. AH God you are so good.

I once told Micah that I thrive on threes. It's true. So I'm going to stop there.
Hm technically this could have been entitled "three things from the chatt state library", because that is where I am...but I'm to lazy to go back and change it.

Have a sunshiny Friday!
Mary Em

Oh Lawd...

I spent a lovely afternoon the other day reading "Eloise" books. I slowly realized that I had been a seriously deprived child. I love the way they are written, and I adore the illustrations. Expect Eloise inspired photos/outfits in the future!


"There are a terrible lot of lies going around the world, and the worst of it is half of them are true."
Winston Churchill.

Mary Em

p.s. I have NO clue why the text decided to be underlined....

Someone sent me this link and I just wanted to share. I know want to cut up books and things and make paper art.

"A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject. "
Oh Mr. Churchill...how well you put it.

Painting and some other things

Blank canvases deserve to be painted.

I love green!

Hmm look at those hills...what do they need?

First: sky..DUH
second: a mysterious path whose origin is unknown

and then it needs a parked bike...some buildings, a mountain, sunshine and clouds!

"We rode our bikes through downtown...we took our hearts for a ride.

Ohh what a mess.

Project #2 has barely begun, I'm sorry to say. I just picked out the fabric for my strap a couple minutes ago. This might be a close call as far as deadlines go. I catered a reception last night.
Three notes to remember: When I get married, I'm going to invite less than a hundred people, have a mellow band, and I'm not going to have an open bar. Enough said.

Mary Em