Photography!

I recently submitted some photos for a group photography exhibit & two of them got in. I'm so excited! I won't be able to attend the opening or closing reception, which is really a shame, but a girl's got to work. The theme for the February show is night photography & here are my pieces:



The exhibit will be on display at Silence Gallery in Pomona from Feb 13th to Feb 27th. Come check it on out!


Silence Gallery

jellyfish jellyfish

Last fall I started this jellyfish drawing. I liked how the jellies turned out but it still seemed really boring & I didn't know what to do with it next. This month I decided to get back to it & at a friend's suggestion add some paint. Well the only paint I have is guache & silly me not thinking how that would mesh with Nupastel chalks well... it got a little mushy looking. I think I brought it back a bit but I still don't know where to take it now. I'm stuck.

Favorites 2009

Every year I put all the photos I've taken that I love into a favorites album in Flickr. There are occasionally one or two I didn't take that have me in the picture & have to include b/c it represents what a good time it was, but usually it's 99% my photos. It's a great way to take a look back at all the good times from the year & it weeds out all the crappy photos I upload to Flickr. So here are my favorite shots from 2009. Thanks for the great memories friends. Can't wait to see what this year brings.

Far Off Places

Thinking so much about the places I like to go gets me thinking of the places I've been. Let's take a little photo journey of some places in the past. Things that make me happy. Things that I want more of.

Pittsburgh. Phew. This picture is from 1999 when I had gone back in the summer for a visit. I miss this town, not that there was much for me to do there when I was under 21 but I did love living there. I spent a lot of time walking over those bridges alone, sometimes w/ friends, but mostly w/ my thoughts. I came out of that place w/ one lifelong friend & some good memories.



Savannah. I went there on a road trip from Pennsylvania w/ Harmony to visit her brother & family for New Year's 2000. We rang in the millennium w/ fireworks & dancing & seeing the ocean. I was amazed by the willow trees. I've seen them before but never like that. I felt horrible that I didn't know how to drive a stick shift & poor Harmony had to drive the entire way by herself. If only I had known! And I'm bad at getting into conversation at times, especially when I don't see someone day to day, so I hope that ride wasn't too boring for her. When I do get talking about things though I never seem to shut up. ;) Harmony is the friend I got out of Pittsburgh & she's one of my favorite people in the world. It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since then.



My dad's house. Maybe the most stable thing in my life has always been my dad never moving from my childhood home. My parents are divorced & we lived w/ my mom. We moved around quite a few times but my dad always stayed put. There is a tree on the side of the yard that has bright red berries. It's a favorite of mine & makes me really happy just thinking about it. I took this picture in 2002.



White Sands New Mexico. I made a detour when I was moving cross country from NY to LA in 2003. My brother was with me & we wandered around White Sands for a while. It's one of those places I've wanted to go to my entire life & I'm not really sure why. It was pretty cool though - everything looked like it was covered in snow but it's all sand. So pretty & so weird. My car left w/ an insane amount of sand in every inch of it but it certainly was worth seeing.



Trees! Something that has always made me happy in life is the beauty of a good tree. This one lives in Beverly Hills. It's gigantic. I took this picture in 2006. I can only hope one day to have property & have lots of trees, all my favorite ones, just for me to sit & stare at. Ah to dream...



Huntington Gardens. This place is gorgeous! I can't get enough. And it deserves two pictures b/c it also has a nice fountain which I find myself being really interested in a good fountain for some reason. Also taken in 2006.



Letchworth State Park in upstate NY. My friend Erica got married here in 2007 (another one of my favorite people in the world). This place is beautiful but really it's an overall reminder how how beautiful things are in the North East. I miss it despite the blizzards & humidity. It holds some really pretty sights.



San Francisco. So pretty there. I loved the row houses & the park. I only went up there for a couple days but would love to go back sometime. This picture was taken at Alcatraz in 2007.



NYC. I have never really made up my mind about the city. For a while I found that every time I went there I was reminded of why I wouldn't want to live there. The time I went when I took this picture however (2007), I was able to spend more time wandering around & I find now that there is a lot I'd like to see still. Perhaps sometime in the future I'll spend a little more quality time there.



Paris. Wow wow wow. Finally. In the 10th grade I got the sad sad news that I couldn't go on the French club trip to Paris b/c there wasn't enough room on the plane. I was a late last minute payer & therefore had last consideration. 15 years later, 2008, I got to spend a few weeks - (yes weeks! That was my big vacation.) in this beautiful city. A friend of mine was studying there for the semester & I came to visit. There is still a ton I haven't seen & I would love to go back sometime w/ a friend. I took this photo at the top of Notre Dame & the other near the Eiffel tower. The photos below I took at the Louvre. That place is amazing & I plowed through it in 3 hours quite satisfied.





England! London! Kensington Gardens! I went to London for the weekend while I was staying in Paris. I loved it there except that I was in town alone & afraid to spend a lot of money b/c everything costs twice as much for an American in London. I would love to go back there again. So much to see. I went to lots of museums there. I walked lots & lots of places. Loved the huge clouds in the sky. It felt very comforting.



While I was in England I took a trip out to see Stonehenge - another place I've longed to go to my entire life. I went there super early in order to do the inner circle thing... which basically means I can go inside the roped off area to see the stones up close. While I was there a group of women were performing some kind of ceremony. It's all about timing right? Seriously one of the most satisfying trips I've ever made.



When I returned to France I visited Versailles & Pere Lachaise Cemetery. This sculpture emerging from the water at Versailles is absolutely breathtaking & that particular day it was gloomy outside & made it even more amazing. I wish I could have spent more time there. This picture from the cemetery was on my 2nd visit there. I definitely could have spent hours more there. I also made a trip to Monet's House & Gardens which remains to be my absolute favorite place ever. I wish I could live there. It's quite beautiful & the second I stepped into the garden I felt more at home than anywhere. It's quite inspiring.





This year I took a trip to Rochester where I had gone to college. I guess I have a thing for cemeteries. I wish I spent more time visiting this one when I lived there.

So I set my sights in the future on Seattle, Vancouver, Ireland & Italy. I want to see more far off places!

2010

So it's 2010. Nothing like the new year to make one reflect on years past & think about what you thought life would be like by now. It doesn't take the new year to make me think about those things but alright, I'll give in to indulge in it this time around. When I was younger I never had a clear vision of what I wanted to do with my life. I still don't really know. As a child I thought about writing a book or being a psychiatrist or making movies. I thought I would have a great career & make lots of money, enough to fill my closet w/ awesome clothes & to take me on a fancy vacation every year. I thought there would be nights filled w/ family & friends. It seemed to be better than normal & it seemed realistic. I saw a perfect version of myself in the future - one that knew how to play guitar and speak French & Italian.

It's funny how life turns out to be nothing at all what you thought it'd be like. My closet could be full of stylish clothes I suppose, if only I had more of a passion for shopping or the fashion sense to actually wear what styles I like. More of a relaxed jeans & sweatshirt girl I've become. I suppose the career doesn't lend itself to fix that much. The career has turned out to be a freelance-ish type situation in a very relaxed environment. Not really the secure future career I thought I'd have. I've been thinking lots lately about what to do w/ my "career". It's obvious to me there needs to be something more - but what that is I'm not really sure. The fancy vacations haven't been possible, although I did get one big one & a few small road trips & I'm ever grateful for those. I would make more of an effort to take one big one every 2 or 3 years if only I was not alone in this endeavor. I find myself thousands of miles away from family, sans my brother, whom I don't see taking a vacation w/ anytime soon. My friends all have their different ideas of what a good vacation is or where they'd like to go but most of the time, it just comes down to no one having money to do these things. I also have a few good friends scattered around the county. I really wish we could all live closer. Wouldn't that be nice? I barely know any French despite the years of high school classes & that college class I took. Learning another language is something that was in the back of my mind & I never really thought about diving into it when I went to college. At this point I'm not sure what to do about that but it still seems obtainable. And the guitar. Oh the guitar. I really need someone to give me lessons. I've been lackluster about teaching myself. I'm really the type of person that needs motivation & to be surrounded by people who are more active in that regard. The irregular work schedule doesn't really help w/ either of those things. I've thought about taking a French class or guitar lessons but the work schedule seems too difficult to manage doing it. Or is that just being lazy? Maybe both.

So I think about things to come. It's a new year. People like to make new starts. Well alright, let's do it. Maybe if I write it down I'll be more mindful to keep at it. Let's aim for that vacation. Let's actually finish learning how to play the guitar. Let's keep at the career & move it to a better place. Let's maybe even learn more French. Let's get outside & be more active. Maybe I'll even buy some nice blouses. It's all possible if I try hard enough & figure some things out.