Just A Girl
I cannot believe June is here.
Couldn't have asked for a better last week of May.
Man, I love the beach.
And my man.
And our dog.
Someone left the beach with a very sandy face and a belly full of mussels.
Gross.
Happy, happy weekend!
... Laura ...
I think it's obvious that I enjoy black and white photos, especially with my new camera.
I always find something intriguing about them.
This week was all about nature and experimenting.
I also FINALLY started to mess around with my camera for shooting video (I never tried before), and oh my, my, my, I am obsessed. Here's my first experimentation with it.
No, it's nothing remarkable - it's just me playing around.
This week was filled with lots of Tessa (finally got pictures of her in the bath), gorgeous weather when the sun decided to come out, and a lovely little $3 plant from CVS.
Would would have thought?
Happy, happy weekend. Time for some vacation :)
And don't worry, I've scheduled some posts for when I am gone.
... Laura ...
It's been a quiet, but busy week.
I am determined to finish my book this weekend (I've been reading it WAY, way too long).
Other than that, hello relaxation.
Happy Weekend!
... Laura ...
I never in a million years thought my style would evolve to involve clean, clutter-free neutrals, but it definitely has.
To give you an idea of how my style typically is, check out what my old room looked like before I moved to Charlottesville (and this was post makeover - removing what was before a CLUTTERED room). Funny, right?
What can I say? I like bright colors, pictures, art, and lots of things to look at.
Now that the idea of possibly buying our first house in the sometime near future (few months, few years), I've noticed how much my style has changed - even since when I first moved here.
How amazing would anyone of these rooms be?
I am definitely one that likes to revamp a space every six months or so, and what I am realizing is that when your base is neutrals, it actually gives you the ability to do that quite easily at little cost or effort. Getting a new set of different colored pillows and a vase that matches can do the trick.
Ahh - cannot wait to decorate our first house.
I LOVE how light and clean these rooms are.
Happy Thursday!
[this week flew by]
... Laura ...
This started as a stop motion animation, but it most definitely did not have the right flow.
I mean I guess the ocean is choppy sometimes, but it feels more fluid to me.
I think this works much better.
Here's a video based on my
Blurred Reality
photography series.
To see the whole series click
!
Hope you enjoy :)
I have a feeling I'll be doing a lot more video work the next few months - I always forget how much I love working with video (especially paired with photography).
Enjoy the rest of the day!
... Laura ...
This past weekend was filled with lots of fun activities -
my father was in town :)
Before we get to the fun - remember when I had long hair and my point and shoot wasn't broken (don't worry it's fixed). Well, my broken camera remembers...
Now for the fun.
We went horseback riding at Shenandoah National Park - it was a LONG drive, part the horseback riding was very, very fun.
We went to Lurray Caverns (last minute) and it was one of those places that was so unreal that you really doubt it's real. You know what I mean? For instance, this picture above, that bottom part - yep, that's a reflection. CRAZY.
And we went to Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. Look at the cuties.
I think I can easily say I did more around this area this past weekend than my entire time living here ;)
Happy Saturday!
... Laura ...
I finally got around to taking some pictures at the gallery.
Photographs of art, especially photography, never look good, but here's a glimpse of what my show looks like. The pictures in the beginning aren't part of the show, but it's some of my other work that's up in boutique portion of the gallery.
P.S. Red Dots Mean Sold :)
... Laura ...
"If you're too cautious to explore things, you miss out on things you need."
Temple Grandin
Animals in Translation
... Laura ...
Happy Weekend!
And here's to some daily pictures this week.
My pup is adorable, of course (especially when the blinds make funny shadows all over her body).
I am loving my newest camera necklace (thank you Betsy Johnson).
The man got me flowers for the opening and hydrangeas are my favorite. Happy girl.
Cute Pup. Spring.
I chopped off my hair!
Enjoy your Saturday.
I am waiting for the arrival of my father ;)
... Laura...
There is new life in the soil for every man. There is healing in the trees for tired minds and for our overburdened spirits, there is strength in the hills, if only we will lift up our eyes. Remember that nature is your great restorer.
CALVIN COOLIDGE, speech, Jul. 25, 1924
... Laura ...
I am having my first
sale and I couldn't be happier about it.
Since all my original paintings are at the gallery, I thought what would be better than 35% all of the prints!
And don't think that means no new products!
The sale ends Sunday, so you better hurry.
And did you hear - there is no longer shipping fees at
Turquoise Lollipops
. Ever.
Coupon Code:
Use it at checkout!
Here's the latest at the shop:
I call it
Camera Love
.
sigh.
I could not be happier with the opening at Firefish Gallery last night.
They did such an amazing job!
If you are in the Charlottesville area, please come check out my solo show
Blurred Reality
.
I sold seven pieces my first night - what a humbling experience.
I'll have pictures of the exhibit sometime next week, but here are few little samples of some of the pieces in the show.
And don't forget - new things coming (hopefully early next week).
Hope everyone has a great weekend and thanks for all of the support!
... Laura ...
Remember this?
For the handful of you that actually read this blog, you may have realized that I did not post yesterday (I know my man definitely realized - wanted to make sure I knew that there was no post up).
I've been stressing myself out over every little detail. In fact, I stress about all little details with most things in my life. I'm really not one to be open with my feelings, and believe it or not, this blog is the most open I am (even though I don't open up all too often here). I've noticed that there is that commonality among many bloggers these days - shy people who are able to show who they really are through their words and pictures.
Yep, that's me.
Anyway, I have always been an EXTREME person. I'm all or nothing. Although when I am in the "all" moments, it is extremely productive and efficient being that type of person, I'm really starting to notice how unhealthy it is to be that way.
I have constant to do lists, constant thoughts of what needs to get done, ridiculously high expectations of myself, and in return, my own perfectionistic ways leave me feeling less than average.
Needless to say, I often drive myself crazy.
My boyfriend keeps reminding me that this time I have is something that I am probably not always going to have, so I really want to take advantage of it. Sometimes I am so stressed that it easily turns into a "nothing" day, which just leaves me feeling terrible.
So I thought about how Turquoise Lollipops all started and well, it pretty much was the painting of the swimming elephant above. That painting was fun. I wanted to paint a swimming elephant, so I did. I didn't plan it. I didn't obsess over it. I just did it because I felt like it and to my surprise, it sold right away.
So I want to get back to that moment. To enjoy doing my work and not pressuring myself to do it and do the most of it. Quality is so much more important than quantity and I am noticing that with my blog posts too. I don't want to post just because I am "supposed" to.
So I am trying something new (or old). I am trying to ban to do lists for awhile. To post when I feel like posting - when I am completely inspired or completely frustrated or when an artist completely blows me away. To enjoy making work I am proud of and to not post work just because I completed something because I felt like I should. To finally doing an art journal. To more working out. More time to read. More time to play piano and guitar and take longer walks with the dog.
The moment I made the decision to be less structured (I know to some disorganized people this may seem crazy, but I do think it is possible to be
too
organized) it was like DUH, this is what I should have been doing all along.
So here's an attempt to change my life. Yes, dramatic, but it's the truth. Here's to being more grounded, less extreme, and well producing work I am proud of and happy to share.
Now...I just need to come up with 18 titles for my pieces for my solo show.
afkjlfkajflakfj!
Dropping off the pieces tomorrow, but I am actually feeling quite good about them.
Titles won't weight me down ;)
... Laura ...
What a great weekend!
Now it's time to get my butt in gear and get everything finalized for my show.
I can't believe how soon it's coming up.
Speaking of the show, I finished one more painting (only two more to go).
These two are the acrylic paintings done over the photo canvases I had made and was quite unhappy with. They are available as prints also. Don't they remind you of Tim Burton?!
There's something really striking to me about ocean critters in black and white, so I started some
Mini Love
paintings. Definitely more of these coming at some point. These are also available in square metallic prints.
The
Yes, I Swim (Polar Bear)
paintings are back from the gallery and back in the shop!
And finally, I started a new digital sketch series of course showing some
Camera Love
.
Here's the first finished one:
Back to the amazing weekend my man and I had -
1) We did an epilepsy walk in DC and it turned out to be a gorgeous day.
We got to see the new MLK memorial.
Although the Cherry Blossoms were already gone, there were beautiful tulips everywhere.
And there was an amazing kite festival going on.
It really was a great day (A LOT OF WALKING THOUGH).
2) Then we went to go see some Roller Derby Saturday night here in Charlottesville and it was certainly entertaining. I, unfortunately, forgot to take pictures.
So to end this
Mad Monday
post, how about some
instalove
?
Happy Monday!
I love checkered scarves, my puggle, and studded vests.
Don't you?
And one last thing. Remember that video of Kristin Bell freaking out about her sloth encounter?
Well as if I didn't love it enough, it's been auto-tuned (which I didn't know what it was until this), but you have to check it out. AMAZING!
Happy Saturday!
We're off to a Walk for Epilepsy in DC and then some good old roller derby tonight ;)
On Saturday, walking around downtown, I noticed one of the galleries was blocking out light, meaning the exhibition must have been in the dark, so I of course was curious.
I'm so happy me and the man walked in - what a fabulous exhibition at the
2nd Street Gallery
here in Charlottesville.
Daniel Canogar's
Reboot
was amazing.
Seriously one of the most mesmerizing exhibits I've ever been to.
Check out this video about it (and it does no justice to seeing it in person):
A Week In the Life of Second Street Gallery
Hope you enjoyed ;)
Oh Happy Monday!
I am excited for this week because I am trying (as always) to rethink the way I approach business/creating.
I know I try to get too much done each week, which jeopardizes the quality of each and every piece I make/thing I do, and then I get so hard on myself because I know I can do better.
So let's hope this week starts anew - no better time to have a fresh start than the beginning of spring :)
And speaking of spring, it has been absolutely gorgeous here in Charlottesville.
So happy spring is finally here.
Can you tell? Here's some
instalove
of the week:
And guess what - got to a 100 followers on Instagram :)
I got a few photo canvases made a few months ago from a Living Social deal, but I was very disappointed when I got them in the mail - the quality was terrible. Because I ordered a very abstract image split among two canvases though, I thought it would be really cool to paint over them. I actually love how the first painting came out.
I also started the second canvas (not finished yet), but here's a sneak peek (of some other paintings too):
Because I was so excited about the start of these paintings, I thought it would be pretty cool to do the same sort of thing digitally with my tablet. I am not so sure how I feel about them yet, but it was a good experiment I suppose.
That's all I have for you, but I did add a bunch of stuff to
, so check it out!
Enjoy the start of the week and the lovely spring weather..
I used to love wearing a lot of make-up back in the day, but now that I am getting older and entering the professional world, I really like to aim towards the natural look.
I realized though (thanks to comments from others) that my natural look wasn't so natural.
Isn't it just lovely hearing someone say, "Wow, you must love make-up?"
I think not. So I set out to find the perfect combination of products to obtain the natural look without going broke.
I know for me getting, oily at the end of the day was always a huge problem, so I always stuck with powders and matte finishes, which, surprise, surprise, made the problem worse. Cakey looking make-up is the worst.
So I moved to the liquid side (mostly) and I'm loving it.
Here's my new
Natural Look:
I am loving the two products in (1) the first picture - they are both foamy and light and actually cover and give color, which is great. I don't need any other coverup besides this light foundation. The blush is perfect too because it just adds a hint of color (I think blush is something I definitely used to over do).
To finish it off I just add a bit of shimmer (2) to my inner eyes and brows and I am done!
And to my surprise, I don't get nearly as oily at the end of the day.
Definitely try the first two products if you haven't yet :)
Enjoy your Saturday people!
I had such a great weekend - so nice having my man home and so nice having gorgeous weather!
This is by far my favorite time of the year - just need to get some beach time in ;)
In saying that...the
Sometimes I Just Need To Get Away
series is finally up on Etsy.
Check them out
.
I definitely need to get lots of work done this week (my solo show is coming up so soon!), especially after the lack of work last week.
I did manage to get two paintings done for the show though.
Check out the new
Blurred Reality
paintings.
Other than that, I am off to get my butt in gear. Who else is with me?!
Before I go, I of course have some
Instalove
.
Instagram isn't the worst addiction, right?
Enjoy your Monday and let's hope for a productive week ;)