A Few New Things...

Today it was raining when I went out for my early morning walk. I walked a different route than normal and strolled through an old cemetary nearby. I wish I had brought my camera (isn't that always the way?). There was a thick mist hanging over the back portion of the graveyard, near the tree line. And (how perfect is this in an Edgar Allen Poe way?) there were ravens (ok, crows) standing in the front portion of the cemetary. It felt so mystical and I swear when I breathed in the cool, misty bits of air I felt charged somehow...

The photo above is my new friend...she's very quiet and always listens patiently~I took this on a previous adventure to the same cemetary. Other people may find me morbid, but I love old graveyards; all the ancient stones and sculptures and all the beautiful moss and wear that they often show off. Only OLD graveyards though, not new ones. I stay away from newer stones too, they don't have that same aesthetic beauty to me.

Along the line of new things like my friend above, I'm working on a new blog and a website to go along with it. I've hesitated writing about it here, because now I will have to be accountable for actually going through with it...which is exactly what I need. I realize I've come quite a long way in some regards, to the whole concept of ChicChick. I'm sort of in a transition place...working on changing careers and changing other aspects of my life right along with that. I will most likely keep this blog going, for sharing the day to day simple pleasures, but I feel a real need to begin somewhere with my new career, and a new blog and website to showcase my online portfolio is probably a great place to start. I'll keep you posted...

Seeing it New...

Have you ever seen something a thousand times, but never really SEE it? I'm reading this great book on digital photography called "How to do Everything with Digital Photography" by Dave Huss. I like it because it's (mostly) easy to understand and he gives some great pointers on photo taking...

Yesterday I brought my camera to work with me and kept it with me all day; on my morning walk at break, at lunch, even at my desk. It was amazing how many interesting photos I got during an "average" day.

I'm feeling doubly inspired, as I'm taking a Photoshop Elements course in July. I can't wait to learn tricks and techniques to improve my photos.

Isn't learning new stuff the best? It's one of my favorite things in life...especially if it's stuff I really WANT to learn.

Look around you today, bloggettes and see if you can't see something "average" in a whole new way. That's your homework for Tuesday!

It's in the Bag...

The South Burlington Art Hop is having an auction of bags created by locals to raise money for the fun fall event. A coworker told me about the project, and got me the canvas bag to embellish. Here are some pics of it~I just finished this morning (and it's due today!).

A Bit of Paint Here (and here, and here...)

Do you ever pick up one of your hobbies out of the blue and then feel so enamoured with it you just can't stop?

Last summer I took my first ever watercolor painting class. It was fun, but hard to pump out one painting after another. Also, my fellow students painted these gorgeous pieces that left me feeling a little inadequate.

But last week I pulled out my paints and brushes and thick watercolor paper and just can't seem to get enough of it!

The painting above is my favorite of the three...I'm really into pinwheels lately and I like the way this turned out.

This teapot was the first of the three. I like the red contrasted with the green and the way the shading came out. Shading for me is the hardest part!

The painting to the right is a first for me. I've never painted a human before. I found a very simple sketch of this man, (I think he looks like "The Thinker") from an art magazine and loved the lines and shadows. It was much easier than I thought it would be. One thing about painting (and writing) is that if I set it aside for a bit and come back to it, things really stand out to me that need to be changed. If I just forge ahead and try to finish it all at once, it seems that I miss subtle changes that would have improved the piece.