D a c e

"Light,
Airy,
Natural,
Free"

If I had to choose, these would be the words I would use to describe the mood I am trying to incorperate in my personal style and in my spring fashion designs this year. So naturally when I stumbled upon the work of Dace Moore I instantly fell in love. Not only with her fashion, which convey a sense of classic femininity, but with her marketing. Perhaps it is terrible that the image and video I have chosen to showcase of Dace are a year (and a few seasons) old, but I was enraptured by them. When I have time to do a little heavier browsing I will post some things from the 2011 collection. If you have a minute be sure and watch the video!

Right Now...

After spending 15 hours on Campus on a Saturday (a gorgeous, sunny Saturday) I could really go for one of these.

Hello everyone,

Technically it is Sunday the 30th. But I am writing about Saturday the 29th. I wish I could write to you about the splendid time I spent at the zoo, or about the great Night Night concert at the Story Tellers Show (an event at Velour, a local venue, where the bands tell the stories behind their songs before they sing them), or about the fun time I had baking brie with my friend Ian. But alas, all of the above are what I had to give up today. Instead, I spent 15 hours of what was probably the warmest and sunniest Saturday of the season on campus.

These days I have been spending WAY TOO MUCH time at school. On average I am at school from 8am to 10pm working on various things. The following weeks and weekends don't look any more promising either. I may just have to change my address to that of the library's pretty soon. Yuck!

I know I shouldn't complain about school. Don't get the wrong idea I am very grateful for the opportunities I have been given to be educated. Especially after reading UNICEF's recent report on the reopening of the main girls school in Pakistan's Swat Valley. It had been closed for most of the year due to insurgency, ensuing military operations, and flood conditions. After hearing how happy this one school's reopening made so many it is hard to take my own schooling for granted.

My whining aside, today was actually a really good day. I got a lot accomplished! My type specimen (In my earlier post I called it a font book. That was an incorrect term for what I am doing, so sorry to mislead.) is turning out awesome! I am ready for my upcoming test, and my paintings? Well... they are coming. I may scream a few profanities before they are finished...but they are coming. I'll leave it at that.

On a side note, For those who live in the U.S. does anyone know anything about the whole "re-introducing the Internet kill switch" bill? It doesn't sound good. Especially with everything that is happening in Egypt now.

Carmen Sandiego

Does anyone remember the show "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego"? Carmen has to be one of my favorite cartoon characters of all time. She was a stylish international thief with a high code of morals. She only stole for the challenge of it. Many times she even teamed up with the heroes Zach and Ivy to stop the more corrupt criminals. I was fascinated by her when I was little, I even had a wallet with her picture on it that I took everywhere with me. Embarrassing? Maybe but it is true. Oh that I were as cool as Carmen.

In conclusion, I would so much rather be watching old Carmen Sandiego episodes than working.

Peter Can I Visit You and Tink in Neverland?

I would love to live in a place with pirates, faeries, and a mermaid lagoon. Wouldn't you? I may not be able to live there but last night I was able to visit such a place when my family and I went and saw the play Peter Pan. Its been a while since I have been to a play and I really enjoyed it.

It was a musical version of James M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan.” I really bought into the girl who played Peter Pan. She was energetic and nailed her role. Everyone did a good job in the cast. The orchestra was great as well.

When I was leaving my figure drawing class the night before I saw the play, I met the little boy who played Michael. He was so cute! He was still in character and spoke with a remarkably good British accent for a little boy from Orem Utah. Ha ha.

Next Month the de Jong Concert Hall is going to do Cinderella. I can't wait to see that one!

Art Has Consumed My Life

Whoever said that artist's were lazy was seriously deluded. This week I have started working on a font book for my typography class. For those who are unfamiliar with the term (as I was a few weeks ago), a "font book" is a book that displays original, digital typefaces and presents them in a systematic way. Although font books normally display many typefaces, my assignment is to focus on one. I am to market my typeface's strengths on 12 pages in a unique and flattering way. The best part of the assignment? I have to make and bind the freaking book myself in a professional and creative fashion.

Seeing as I have never made my own book I have spent the last little while in the library looking up and studying book binding techniques. I have a feeling that the binding won't be the difficult part. Figuring out the printing is going to be the nightmare!

I am excited for this assignment, these books can turn out really neat when they are done well. I found a woman online who is brilliant at them. If you are interested at all in graphic design check out Claire Smalley's portfolio: http://www.clairesmalley.com/index.html. Her work is incredible! I hope that mine turns out half as good.

Along with my font book, I have to complete a narrative painting and a children's fairytale illustration. Did I mention that they are all due on the same day? If my paintings turn out good I will post pictures of them on this blog and my new art blog: Ink Blots and Paint Stains.

For my narrative painting we were given scenario's to work with, mine is "Dining Alone." I had my friend Alyssa model for me and we spent last Friday running from restaurant to restaurant in Provo center street and University Ave until I found the perfect one. The restaurant we took the photos in and ate at was called Spark. It is beautiful inside. I'll post some of the images I am using as a reference. I apologize, I am not a photographer and the photos when enlarged aren't that great. They were taken with a basic point and shoot and I didn't want to disrupt the natural light so I didn't use the flash of my camera. Also, I focused my camera on the center of her figure vs. her face to help with the distortion the camera creates.

(I believe I am going to use the above image as my reference. I love how her white cardigan looks with the dark background and the red couches behind her. I also love how the couches lead your eyes to her face.)

(I love the shadows on her face in this image!!!)

(Here is a random image of the food we ordered, fancy huh?)

I really like how the reference images turned out. Plus it was fun to go eat dinner and hang out with my friend. She was a great help and I am very indebted to her. I am not that far in my fairytale piece, but I will post pictures of my progress work and the end result later.

Today's Thought

"Use everything in your means to bring about a better world." - Mairead Corrigan Maguire

Did you know that yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's inaugural address? The very address when the famous phrase "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." was spoken. I feel we can take the message of those words and apply them to more than our country. What can we do for our family, friends, community, country, and world? I don't mean to sound preachy, but I feel that each of us has the capability and responsibility to offer so much back. These acts to make a world a better place don't always have to be extraordinary. There was a time when I was saved by someone's smile and small acts of kindness. The very actions that meant the world to me I am certain she never thought twice about. We were both kids and she used what was in her means-smile, be friendly, be understanding- at the time to make the world around her better.

The term "human race" can seem very abstract when spoken. But the truth is that the human race is you and me. Humans are made to be interdependent. We need other humans to be human, because of human consciousness and capacity we have the single greatest impact on all life on this planet. This is a huge responsibility and one that needs to be upheld not neglected. We need to use our means to try and make things brighter.

Anyway, sorry, I kind of went off on a rant... If anyone is bored take a moment and read Kennedy's address it was one of the most influential political and presidential speeches in history.

Conte Animated Blew Me Away!

Tonight I was blown away by an exhibit in gallery 303 of the Harris Fine Art Center. The Exhibit showcased Ryan Woodward's work of Conte and his most recent animated work "Thought of You." The animation is a dance animation and it blew me away. The amount of talent and creativity exerted by some individuals never ceases to amaze me. Really, I was blown away tonight. Maybe some won't appreciate the rough gestures done in Conte. Trust me it is not easy to create, let alone make it successful and interesting. It is incredible the way he manipulates his lines and how he nails the shapes, and directions. His figures feel as though they are alive and moving!

Tonight was the exhibit's opening night and I was able to meet with the artist himself, he gave me some great insight on techniques and business. Sometimes it is daunting to go to shows where the work is so much better than your own. When the artist is leagues ahead of your own meager abilities. However, I also love it. I love seeing the possibility and what my work can someday become if I work hard. I almost feel it is dangerous to fall in love with your own work. The moment we become completley satisfied with our work and ability we become static and changless. I am a a little afraid of reaching a point I become so satisfied with my own work I feel I no longer need to grow. Such a state sounds dangerous.

Anyway to my friends and family who live in Utah or anyone else who lives here go see this exhibit ASAP! For those who are unable to go I will post the animated video below and some of his sketches from the exhibit. Here is a link to his Ryan's Webpage http://conteanimated.com/, go check it out :) Also Check the video out. I hope that you all enjoy it as I certainly did.

Wishing Everyone A Good Day

Hello everyone, I am currently sitting in the Tanner Building at Brigham Young University. Along with the JFSB, the Tanner Building happens to be my favorite building on campus. I love the way it is designed and its very atmosphere. It is wonderfully sunny outside. I wish I could write more but I have to work on a few projects and contact someone clear on the other side of the planet. I hope that everyone one, wherever you are, is having as nice a day as I am. :)

-Ashley

Oh My

My friend Ben is serving an LDS mission in Brazil. We write each other often and today I received an email from him containing a bunch of pictures. One of them I have to share because it is quite possibly the most frightening thing I've ever seen ha ha.

L.O.V.E.

William Shakespeare said: "Love is blind."
Pat Benatar said: "Love is a battlefield."
If both statements are true do any of us stand a chance?

I've missed writing

For the past year and a half my energy has been completely absorbed by art, work, school, and hanging out with my friends and family. Because of this I have become tragically negligent to my other love "writing." I miss painting with words as well as a paint brush. I miss finding ways to weave words to express any feeling. And really I miss blogging.

My "writers-block" is over and I really wish to begin posting more. I am not making any promises that I will repent of my blog-slacking ways. But I am going to try. Also I am not going to spend a lot of time catching up and writing about things that happened last year. I want to begin fresh, a lot happened last year and attempting to recapture it would overwhelm me. I want to post about events and thoughts as they come.

If I have any followers left I've missed you guys!

XOXO

Ashley

The drawing of the the typewriter was done by vol. 25