Broadening My Horizon

Lately I have been trying to decide on a new project to undertake. I have lots of ideas already dreamed up, so coming up with an idea is not the problem. The problem has been which one to do! There is so little time and so many wonderful things to eventually (and hopefully) get done, but I can only pick one. So today I did. 

I'm just going to do it. I'm going to jump in with both feet and make a Tiffany-style lamp. Up to this point I have only made windows and panel lamps, so this will be a new experience for me... and hopefully one that will help me grow and become better at this little hobby of mine.

The major difference between a panel lamp and Tiffany-style lamp is that with a panel lamp, there are several flat sides and with a Tiffany-style, there are no flat sides, but instead is rounded. Panel lamps can vary from having as few as 4 sides up to several (as many as you can fit and however narrow you want them to be).

I have made a 6-sided panel lamp:

 

 And an 8-sided panel lamp:

Now...I am setting out to make this:

 

So we will see how it goes.

 I haven't decided on colors yet. It's a leaf pattern and I was thinking of maybe doing fall colors....but maybe I'll do summer colors... I don't know. We'll see...

...1 Year and 37 Days Later

Wow. I don't know what to say. While the year and 37 days since my last post has seemed like forever on the one hand, I don't know where it went. Actually, I do know where it went. It went to school and studying and internships and work. However, I have survived and am hopefully back to working on my art and getting caught up with the blogging world. In the meantime....

Several months ago I went to Indiana to celebrate my Great Grandma's 101st birthday. While in the city of Kokomo I came upon this:

I had never seen such a wonderfully creative building before. I had to stop and admire it up-close...

I did some research to find out more about this building, which operates as a convenient store. I was perplexed as to why somebody would put so much artistic effort into this. Apparently there is a style of architecture known as Fairy Tale or Storybook Architecture. What Storybook style usually  involves is a sense of playfulness and whimsy. They can have uneven roofs, lots of cobblestone and doors and windows which may look mismatched and odd-shaped.

This building in particular, was built using recycled materials, including lots of random objects that were inserted into the structure. The amount of detail is amazing. I walked around the building just noticing all the little, odd things they had used, including a bowling ball, a metal pig and a car's suspension coil. I love all the designs, the windows and lanterns that are on angles and the curvy chimney.

 They even continued their creativity with the sidewalk, parking lot and fence...

This just goes to show that even when you are least expecting it, you can come across something wonderful. The effort and creativity I'm sure it took to make such a unique building is inspiring. I have also discovered a wonderful style of architecture that I was completely oblivious to before.

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...