The Weekend Ended Too Soon...

This weekend was exactly what I needed! On Friday my friends' bands, Shawty & The Beast, Apt, and Chance Lewis played a free hip-hop show at Sammy's.

After the show I went and danced all night at Dance Dance Vinyl Monster! It was so much fun and I needed the release that dancing offers!

On Saturday, I was able to go to a lot of good concerts! Book on Tapeworm performed and to my great delight announced that they are in the process of recording! Yesss!!! Also, Wild Apples and Ferocious Oaks played a fun show at Muse. After the concerts we all went and ate and hung out at Village Inn.

Thank you all of my friends for the great weekend!

Here are some video clips of the show at Sammy's. These videos aren't of my friends' performances. Unfortunately I showed up a little late and only caught the last group.

Reflections: Feb 20th-26th

I spent the majority of last week being sick. So I will skip most of the details (you are welcome) and write about the only good day, Saturday.

Saturday the 26th was very fun and very French!

 

  

During the day I got a ton of work done and in the evening I went over to my friend Ian's house and he and I made brie in puff pastry! I was a little nervous at first (due to the mold on the outside of the cheese) but I am glad that I tried it. It was actually really tasty! After we cooked and ate the Brie with French bread we watched the movie Amelie. It was an excellent film! One of my new favorites! :)

After that I went and saw one of my favorite local bands Ferocious Oaks play a show to promote their EP release. They were brilliant as ever.

With a new cd, a new taste for moldy cheese, and a new favorite flick I felt a little richer after Saturday.

Reflections: Feb 13th-19th

Hello!

I am sorry I know it has been a while since I have posted a weekly reflection. The past two and half weeks have been very eventful! So much so, that I am overwhelmed trying to figure out how and where to begin.  But I will do my best to recapture what has been happening in my life here in Provo. I will begin with the last week, and a little of the week before that.

For starters...

The last few days (well...for a while) my hair has been seriously out of control. In some ways I have to admire its spirit despite its difficulty. It has refused to be tamed or manipulated.

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With that said, I will begin writing about the bigger and better things ha ha. On Wednesday the 15th I was blessed and privileged to meet with a very renowned Illustrator C.F. Payne (Chris Payne)!!! For those of you who are unfamiliar with him, he is a man who has been dynamite in the illustration world for a long time. He has won multiple awards from every notable illustration and design institution you can think of.

He came to my school to give a demonstration and a lecture. During the demo I lucked out! For four hours I was able to sit in the seat right beside him and ask him questions and watch him paint.

Here are some of the main points I learned from Chris:

• Always start with a gesture; look for dominant shapes.
• You are only as good as your reference.
• The work is the fun part of it- dive into it! It's where you want to be,  there is only pressure when you are not working.
• DESIGN is the most important! Communicate an idea and make it make sense.
• KEEP IT SIMPLE-To design successfully you have to see shapes. Look at the space and design the picture. Don't get so caught up in little details.
• Experiment!
• Don't work in isolation, network and communicate with other illustrators and artists often.

Spending the day with Chris (at his demo and at his lecture) taught me so much! I learned so much from him. I also couldn't believe how nice, open, and honest he was! He answered all of my questions and the questions of my peers. Not only that but when I spoke with him I felt like he was sincerely trying to help me; that he really wanted to do all he could to help me improve and succeed.

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On Thursday the 16th I received lots of letters from Ben! They were incredibly sweet and turned my Thursday, which is normally a LONG and exhausting day, into a wonderful day!

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 Speaking of letters! I owe an apology to many of you. There were so many who I wished to write a letter of love to but February ended up being super busy and school/work demanded most of my time. Please do not feel bad if you didn't get one!  My parents and some of my best friends were slighted too. >.< sorry!!! I will work harder next year to get them in the mail - delivered. 

I was able to make and deliver some on Sunday to my family on my Grace side who live in Utah. We met on the 20th and had dinner at my Grandma's house to celebrate my cousin Heather's birthday! Whoever said that "there is no such thing as fun for the whole family" obviously never met mine. My family is wild and I love spending time with them! I especially loved the desserts of the evening! My grandma made her specialty strawberry short cake and Danielle (Heather's sister) made cupcakes that looked like sushi.  I know to many reading this that will seem random but Heather works at sushi restaurant so really the cupcakes were quite clever and fitting. :) 

These are how my letters/valentines turned out.

Heather with her birthday strawberry short cake

 

Danielle and her "sushi" cupcake creations. Cute huh?!

My Aunt and Lucy

My dad playing with Lucy and Tyler.

Sick of Exams...and Just Flat Out Sick...

"Cher's Dad: You mean to tell me that you argued your way from a C+ to an A-?!

Cher: Totally based on my powers of persuasion, you proud?

Cher's Dad: Honey, I couldn't be happier than if they were based on real grades."

The above statements are from the 1995 movie "Clueless," my all time favorite film adaption of Jane Austen's classic novel "Emma."

While I do not need to argue my grades up, I wish that I possessed the ability to pursuade my teacher into  letting me retake a test I missed due to illness. I single handedly evacuated one of the most crowded restrooms at my school.  And by some miracle when I finally made it home I was so violently ill that I couldn't roll over without hurling.

Not only did I get to spend the day in that pleasant state, I received my very first "0" mark on an exam. And my professor will not budge with his decision. Brilliant.

A little help Cher?

A.M.

This morning with messy hair, chapped lips, and yesterday's shirt still on, I am feeling completely and delightfully human (alive).


Time to start a new day :). 

Right Now...

BERTA PFIRSICH

It is 2 a.m., I am listening to Hong Kong Garden by Siouxsie and the Banshees. My eyes are glazed over, and I no longer want to work. I want to sleep!

Monday Painting

For the first time in a long time I can say I am very, very happy it is Monday. Why is that you ask? Because here in the States it is Presidents' Day, which means I get the day off from both work and school! I hope that everyone is having a great holiday.  I have used mine mainly to work on a children's fairytale painting for my illustration class. The image above is how it looks so far, I still have a ways to go with it. Also, I apologize for the messy work space, the zebra printed thing in the upper corner is a blanket... I had to hang it up to block out the sun when it was setting.

Friday the 18th

Hello all,

I have decided to can the idea of only journaling on Sunday. Forget I ever mentioned it. While it still remains true that most of my free time to write will be on that day I prefer to write as it comes to me. Plus I would rather have lots of little posts than one gigantic post a week.

Without further ado, here is my journal entry for today!

-Morning & Early Afternoon- 

This morning I woke up early and had my hair cut, colored, and styled. I felt like such a girl and I loved it!

Shortly after I had my hair styled my work held a chocolate fondue party! They really went all out with it. There were many different kinds of chocolates to choose from, my favorite being the melted white chocolate dip yum! It was great to be paid to eat chocolate and hang out with my friends!

- Afternoon - 

I am a member of Students for International Development at BYU and it will soon be time for the annual Hunger Banquet they host to raise awareness about global poverty and to celebrate human dignity. Last year the organization hosted a creative competition for the event and I learned this afternoon that they are doing it again this year, woo-hoo! 

This year the competition is to promote their theme: "Peace by Piece." Artists can turn in pieces that express the theme with various mediums. I want to submit a painting. :)

 -Night (Glorious Night)-

 Tonight the moon was bright and the art was great! I went up to Salt Lake City to see the Big-Eyed Women show.

"Big-Eyed Women is a group exhibition of Utah female artists who meet together periodically in order to celebrate womanhood through various forms of creativity. These women represent diverse life experiences and backgrounds. They join together to explore the common strands that are woven throughout their lives as women. Their art touches on universal themes tied to womanhood." 

Okay, so I ripped that quote right off the flyer for the show...but honestly, I couldn't have written or described it any better... I went tonight to meet with the artists and to support my friend Emily's work (I wrote about one of her paintings earlier click here to view).  I was impressed with the gallery, the art, and the turn out. I was even able to leave with some poetry-creative writing books. Can you say score?

 Me being a dork by the art sign.

  

  

The girl in the red sweater is Emily! This is one of the paintings she did, isn't it great?!

 

Heather and Emily by her painting

 

After the leaving the gallery I went and ate dinner at the Rio Grande, a restaurant that according to many hasn't changed at all in 40 yrs. Their food is sooo good! If you are ever in Salt Lake City stop by there and order the #6. You will thank me.

-Conclusion-

Well, it is really late here where I am writing. To conclude, today was an eventful day, the weather was lovely and lots of good things took place. I hope that you all have a wonderful night!

Later days!

Journal

Hello,

I wrote and originally intended to post this on Sunday. From now on it is my wish to use Sunday as my day to document what has happened during my week. When the semester is over and I have more free time this may change, but I feel that Sunday is the perfect day to publish my weekly adventures. This post will cover two weeks so it may be a bit lengthy. Sorry!

School and Work

(We might as well knock this topic out first)

I haven't been as busy as I am now in a long time. I have sacrificed so much sleep for school and various work projects. Four nights last week I didn't sleep at all and I am still fighting to stay caught up with everything. Its funny when I was a little girl I used to fight and struggle so hard when my parents would try to put me to bed. To me the night seemed magical and mysterious, I felt that I wasted it with sleep. Many times I would lay in bed and think: "I can't wait until I grow up and can stay up ALL night!" I guess it's true when they say be careful what you wish for. If I'd only known that a time would come when I would be lucky and praying for time to sleep!

What are the culprits of my sleep deprivation? A massive essay for my ancient civilization class, a test in another, an outside figure study (the stupid thing had to be drawn on a HUGE scale), a type specimen book, and two paintings. The type specimens in my class turned out awesome. I wish that I could post pictures of them.

Even though I miss sleep I really enjoy the classes I am taking and am happy that I didn't try and lighten my load. In a bazaar way I welcome the heavy workload. You see the last few months my mind has really been stuck on certain things (okay fine a person) and with so much to get done I haven't had time to worry and stress about anything else.

Moving on to...

Last, Last Friday (Aka Feb 4th)

Lately I have been spending time with my mom and my family. My mom works at a university and last Friday she was able to check out a theater room and we watched the 25th Anniversary Edition of Les Miserables. I grew up listening to the 10th Anniversary Edition and I will never fully be able to describe how much this musical moves and inspires me. If I was a crying-type-person I would be in tears by the time the preacher gives Valjean the candle holders every time.

Among the many, many beautiful lines and verses in this musical my favorite is this:

"Take my love,
For love is everlasting.

And remember
The truth that once was spoken
To love another person
Is to see the face of God!"

At the end of the 25th Anniversary Edition they brought out 4 Valjean's who made the musical famous and had them sing "Bring Him Home." Although Alfie Boe is amazing the first Valjean who sings, Colm Wilkinson, is and always will be my favorite. Please watch it, it is beautiful.


After we watched the musical my mom and I went to the Gallery Stroll that takes place the first Friday of the month (click here to read more about it) here in Provo and saw a bunch of good art. My illustration program put on a show for the event as well. There was live music, food, and all sorts of fun.

Saturday the 5th

(Hip-Hop Night)

 Something people don't know about me is that I love hip-hop (well...good hip-hop that is), especially when it comes to dancing purposes. On Saturday my friends' bands Chance Lewis and Apt played. It was Adam's band Apt's first show and I have to say I liked it. Adam did a good job!

Skipping to the Next week and the following Saturday...

Saturday the 12th

(The Painting, The Bargain, and
The Bad Love Poetry Reading)

My friend (who happens to be an amazing artist) Emily did a painting entitled "She Saw Pearls." And guess who the model was? None other than me :). The painting along with a few others is now hanging up in a Barnes and Noble in Sandy and yes I was vain enough that I had to go get a picture by it!


While I was at the bookshop I found a treasure in the bargain book pile! For those who may not know I am OBSESSED with the ocean, marine life...and well all things water related. This obsession surfaces a lot in my art, making a book all about the anatomy of ocean creatures a very welcome addition to my bookshelf. :)

Later that evening my friends and I attended a "Bad Love Poetry Reading" at the Parlor. It was so much fun! I ended up reading a poem that I had written in middle school (it was bad) and my friend wrote and read a poem about the band White Stripes splitting up. My favorite though, was when a girl stood up and announced that her poem was called "Love on the Beach" and proceeded to make dolphin, seagull and whale noises.

I wanted to do a post that related to Valentine's Day, the following is a spilling of my thoughts, it is very rough and I do not pretend that it is perfect or that the list contains everything.

In love I need:

• A partner who is willing to show up; A man who has the strength to trust and open up
• A sense of belonging
• Someone who understands
• Desire and "EEEEE--!" (And "OH Yes!")
• Real genuineness
• A partner who will laugh and have fun and cherish me to my core
• A good work ethic
• I need to be able to surrender
• I need exponential

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On a different note:

To my friends and family,

I am still working on those valentines-letters (see reference here). School has been keeping me super busy. So don't fret if you haven't received one yet!

R.I.P. Old Glasses, Hello New Glasses!

I am very sad to announce that two weeks ago my lovely Karen Kane Lily Field glasses passed away. There was a tragic accident when I was leaving my figure drawing class. I happened to look down at something and they slipped off my face. They landed in such a way that they snapped completely and perfectly in half. Seriously, it looks like someone cut it on the bridge with a laser!

I remember the day I got them, they were the first to catch my eye in the display. Sleek black and lime green on the inside, I knew the moment I saw them that they were meant for me. Even their name, "lily field," was perfect. For those who don't know I am a sucker for lilies. They served as good glasses these past 3 and a half years, and they will be missed.

That being said...

This week the new glasses I ordered (shown in the pictures above) came in and they are freaking sweet! I adore them with their purplish-reddish color, wider lenses and stellar profile view. They fit me a little better than my older pair as well. Normally I am a contact wearer but with these new beauts I may just be seen sporting the "glasses look" more often.

Who says men don't make passes at girls who wear glasses?

February the Month of Love (And Sometimes Bitterness...)

Source via

I know I have posted a lot today, for the first time in what feels like ages I actually have a little time.

Well its here, February, the month we associate with love. The month that makes me think of the colors pink and red, of candy hearts, paper valentines and all things lovey-dovey. Although this notorious month can generate dread through the single community, I believe it is a good thing we associate "love" with February. Why you ask? Because of its dreary and cold weather (in Utah, especially Provo Utah, at least), lasting holiday bills, and the stupid groundhog who always sees his shadow, if it wasn't associated with "love" it would be associated with "hate." So I welcome the reminder that we all need a little more love in our life. :)

Actually, February happens to be one of my favorite months. I am a bit of a sucker when it comes to love. As the saying goes "I love to love" not just a significant other, but my friend's as well! I read a brilliant idea on a blog that I am going to try this month.

Image from Three Little Chickies

It is my goal to write 28 letters of love for my friends, family, and the boy I am crazy about. One for each day. I know this means that I will have some catching up to do, but I am excited. If you are in my inner circle look forward to a letter! :) Depending on how much time I have to devote to this project, I may turn the letters into postcards with some fancy doodle or ink work on them. That way it will be a good way to practice my art as well.

Well, it is late so I am going to go. Happy February everyone! Brace yourself for more mushy posts about Valentine's Day.

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.

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.