We the Jury, find the Defendent...GUILTY!

I confess...I am guilty of grossly neglecting my art and my blog. It seems that it is all I can do these days to just survive school and work. It also doesn't help that I am skint. However, I need to find a way to make it work because I need a creative outlet...or else I begin to go crazy. So here I am, sending my oath out into the world wide web... I am going to work on my art. I am going to come up with an awesome...(wait, no...I make no promises that it will be awesome, but it will be something none the less)... stained glass lamp design to make. I will also continue to paint so that I can get better at that.

So there it is. Now that it is out there I have to do it. I no longer have any choice in the matter.

In the meantime...here are some paintings by my favorite artist, Leonid Afremov:

Oh, Utah!

Since it has been approximately forever since I put anything on here, and slightly longer than that since I did any art, I decided to post some more pictures that inspire me. 

As anybody who knows me probably knows, I love the outdoors and nature. I love being in nature and I love to just admire how beautiful it can be. Sometimes life gets crazy and it's nice to stop and take a look at how amazing the natural world around us is. 

This is Landscape Arch in Moab at Arches National Park. It seems to be one of the lesser known arches there, but I think it is one of the most beautiful. I have hiked here before and hope to again sometime...

Here is a picture of Rainbow Bridge, Lake Powell. It is the world's largest known natural bridge and is considered sacred by neighboring American Indian tribes...

 This is a picture of one of the canyons at Zion National Park...

This is a picture of a slot canyon that is actually located just south of the Utah border in Page, Arizona in Antelope Canyon. These are formed by erosion of the Navajo Sandstone due to flash flooding...

Autumn time in the mountains of Northern Utah is amazing in my opinion. The aspen trees are pretty all year long, but they turn to such a brilliant yellow color in the fall. If you manage to see them at their peak, they look almost as if they are glowing...

And in some areas there is a great mixture of different colored leaves to see... 

And this last one is known as The Wave. It is located on the border of Utah and Arizona. It was formed from sand dunes that turned to rock...

These are just a handful of the beautiful landscapes that inspire and amaze me. And that is just in the tiny speck of the world that is Utah.

Spring Break

Last year (in San Francisco) I discovered that the best kind of vacation is one where you don't have a schedule, but can just kind of wing it and go with the flow. My kind of vacation is also one where you walk around and see lots of different, but interesting things. So this year, I decided to go to Santa Barbara, CA. It's a small, laid back place, which is ideal for me (especially during Spring Break). There are lots of beaches, which is where I wanted to spend a majority of the time just hanging out, catching some sun. Santa Barbara is also known for it's Spanish Colonial architecture and has many historical sites to visit.

The first night, we went to the beach in Oxnard. We pretty much had it to ourselves, which was awesome!

There is something about just watching and listening to the waves that I don't think I will ever tire of.

There is also something infinitely better about throwing a frisbee on the beach compared to anywhere else.

The next day we went out and saw the sites of Santa Barbara. This is the Old Mission Santa Barbara...

I love the architectural style! The Old Mission was founded in 1786. However, it was destroyed in an earthquake in 1812 and the current building was rebuilt in 1820.

We then went to the Court House. This was built in 1929 in the same Spanish Colonial Revival style.

We climbed the stairs to the top of the clock tower to look out over the city. It was absolutely beautiful!

We headed to Stearns Wharf. There wasn't much to do there, but I did snap this picture looking back across the water:

 

The next day we actually decided to drive to Simi Valley to see the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. It was very interesting and Simi Valley is also beautiful.

They have the Air Force 1 that Ronald Reagan used there. We were able to go inside and look at it, but no pictures were allowed (LAME!!!)

They also have a room that is exactly like the Oval Office in the White House.

 On the last day, we decided to drive to Santa Monica Pier. It was really cloudy that day, but we still got some quality time in at the beach.

Again, I could sit and watch the waves all day long. But alas, I had to come back to real life, full of boring-ness and responsibility. Until next time California...

So, um....yeah.

Guess what? I finished my stained glass window of the Eiffel Tower. I feel like I kind of lost my motivation there towards the end so I'm not sure that it turned out as great as it could have been. But here it is anyway...

...and once again, the picture doesn't really show the colors very well. But you get the point.

Now I need to find where I left my motivation so that I can start on another project. I am going to get back on track and make a lamp for my brother and sister-in-law...that I promised them over a year ago. Oops. :)

Bonjour, Paris!

I apologize if that title was a bit misleading...No, I am not in Paris. I really wish I was, but alas! I have school and work and pretty much no money. So...(sigh)... here I sit on a cold, rainy/snowy night in January, typing away at my computer. Pretty lame, I know. On a brighter, more random note, that title makes me want to watch "Funny Face" with Audrey Hepburn really badly. If you have never seen it I highly recommend it. I especially love the part where she dances in that cafe! It is so funny! It makes me laugh just thinking of it.

Anyway, the point of this post is to give an update (as promised) on my stained glass window. This is the Eiffel Tower window that I started waaaaay back in the summer. So here it is:





It's hard to see the colors without any light shining through it, but right now I only have all the individual pieces finished. Before I can stand it up I will have to foil them and then solder it all together. You can still get an idea of what it will look like though.

Confession:

I know, I know! I've been completely slacking on my stained glass projects. And I know that I said

I was going to get some projects done by the end of the year and I didn't. So I guess I lied....school and work got a little out of hand and I didn't have as much spare time as I would have liked and then somehow I fell into a time warp because it is somehow already a new year. How did this happen? Where did the time go? I don't know the answer to either of those questions, but this year is going to be different.... starting RIGHT NOW! 2012 is MY year!

I don't really have control over how hectic school and work gets, but I am going to spend the spare time I do have more wisely (and watch my step for those pesky time warps). I am going to get serious about my stained glass and I am finally going to actually start painting. I'm just going to do it and that is all there is to it. Just you try and stop me!

 I have really started to notice Edward Hopper paintings lately and I think they are really amazing. I used to find them very plain and boring, but now I find them beautiful in their simplicity. Here are some of my favorites that make me want to pick up a brush right now and start painting on the nearest surface:

Here are some other paintings that I really love:



...by Adrian Wright

...by Karen Winters

...by Megan Andlars

So there you have it! I am inspired and I am going to do some serious stained glass-ing and some serious painting!