City Mouse, Country Mouse

my hump, my hump my hump my hump

I got around to decorating the cast of my backside my friend Kara made as a sample for her senior sculpture project last year. In an effort to make it not so obviously butt-like (if that's even possible) - I got out my magazines (okay, I printed pictures from Flickr) and my Modge Podge and got to decoupaging.

It's representative of my life and personality - half of me is cool and confident in the big* city, the other half of me longs for the quiet and the stars out in the farmland of Indiana, from whence I came. It's been six years since I moved to Cincinnati, but there are parts of me that are still very much Country Mouse.

Naturally there's a lot of text, sayings I find inspiring, and it serves as a reminder of where I've been, where I'm going, and who I am.

Despite its camoflauged appearance, it was still a little disconcerting to have a crowd of people at the housewarming party in September standing around contemplating the art. Apparently there are some puns that were unintentional at the time...

Ah well. Check it out!

*yes, I'm aware that Cincinnati is not really a big city. It's in the top 25 metros... It's all relative.

There's no place like Home.

I'm finally home!

It's been a little minute, chickens. I've gone through some changes in my life- good things. First and foremost - I moved! Not far - just around the corner - but it's definitely a move up. There's central heating and air, among other things.

It's a lovely place, and I'm sharing it with a lovely friend from high school... and the kittens, of course. Finally the things I've acquired are starting to match and become an aesthetic all their own. Does having a decorating style mean I'm starting to become a grown up?

I have a record player, and a dishwasher, and a view to wake up to in the mornings that is both green and urban landscape. It's not much, but I finally feel settled. The boxes are unpacked, the pictures are framed, it's clean and spacious and peaceful.



Best of all I'm still smack dab in the middle of my favorite neighborhood, surrounded on all sides (literally) by friends and neighbors that I'm getting to know better. It feels like home.

I'm who and where I want to be. No change of heart - a change in me.

an ode to typography.

I love words. since the time I started "reading" (memorizing) Doctor Seuss books, up to now with my incessant habit of analyzing and collecting fonts for my personal use, typography - the shape and influence and sheer art of letters - has been an influence in my life and style.

Every piece of artwork I own is typographic in nature. my senior thesis project revolved around the positive and negative and in between space of language and letters. I can't get over the power of letters, combined into the perfect words, to communicate exactly what I mean.


The weight and context of the written language - the ability to exactly convey emotions, and thoughts- is the most precious gift.

It is art.

I am innately drawn towards art through words. the shapes and forms the letters in their different styles take - an f is an f is an f is an f - so many ways to make it depending on its font.

So many ways to paint a word depending on its size, slants, curves, negative and positive space.

 

Words! We are so lucky to have language with which to communicate! EXCLAMATION POINT! and so many of them.

Words are so important. They carry weight. emotion.

I love you.


you're fired.


I'm sorry.

Writing them down fixes them in space. Makes them important and memorable. Keeps them forever.

Even typing on this screen seems less permanent.

Typography takes the beauty of language and makes it visual art.

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They say a picture's worth a thousand words.


I say the perfect word paints a thousand pictures.

Balluminaria!

One of my very favorite Cincinnati events of the entire year was last weekend. Every year the Parks Department and several local hot air balloon companies come together to present the public with a balloon glow over Mirror Lake at Eden Park.

The array of colorful balloons glowing and reflected in the water is a photographer's dream, and I used the opportunity to play with the settings on my camera. This is why some of the pictures are very dark and others have a visible backdrop.

My favorite balloon was the one on the very end. They all had names - that particular one was Socrates. He looks so cheerful!


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I picked up a part time retail job for the holidays, and my first shift is on Black Friday. It's not a ton of money, but working retail (this store especially) helps me learn more about design in a hands on way. They also said I can help with setting up displays and stuff! Plus, the employee discount is pretty sweet. I'm sure I'll have loads of harrowing tales to tell once the season is over.

Until then, here's hoping the rest of this week is full of thanks.

yeah, yeah, Shepard Fairey

I'm in art school. It's practically required for me to take awkward self portraits in front of art.

He's a plagiarizing jerk. He's a bonafide genius. The point is, he came to Cincinnati and made it that much more awesome. Not only did he improve some already beautiful buildings, but he got the city excited and proud. That's an artist I can stand behind.

I went on an adventure to find all the buildings that Shepard Fairey pasted his propaganda. I love the closeup shots that people have been posting, but it's just as or more interesting to see the artwork in its context.

Check it out!





My favorite aspect about the whole trip were a series of white helium balloons that actually tied in with a different show at the CAC by Shilpa Gupta. They were tied flying close by several of the Fairey pieces. Beautiful, with a message I can really stand behind.